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Summary: Why We Like This Tribute
Review: For as long as James McBride and his eleven siblings could remember, they weren't allowed to ask questions about their mother. Questions like why they didn't look like her, as she was obviously white and they were obviously black, were considered nosy and dismissed. What they didn't know about their mother was how hard of a childhood she had or how hard it was to be shunned by her family.
While searching to find himself, James realized that he must go back. He must go back to a branch on his family tree on which he has never climbed. In between his mother's story is his. Though the McBride-Jordan children do everything they possibly can to stay on the right track, will not know a part of their mother's history, and therefore their history, mess them up in the end?
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother is a beautiful account of strength, determination, and love. These critics agree: this book is a hit.
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Summary: A Brilliant Rite of Passage
Review: Gripping, this is a book filled with passion and emotion that forces the reader to re-examine the world in which they live. With an unusual format and loads of street slang, the reader has to take several pauses to reread or rethink the material.
When I began reading this book, I found myself somewhat confused as to what was going on. I did not initially understand that the chapters swapped back and forth from McBride speaking, to his mother speaking, and I wondered if this had occurred with other readers. So, on the campus of my university, I sought out other students who had also read The Color of Water. Seven out of ten of the students that I found, had also had difficulty understanding the format in the first few chapters. I saw that I was not alone.
Once I figured out that I was simultaneously reading about two different peoples lives, my interest in the book escalated. I think that James McBride avoided writing strictly based on his own experiences because the reader would not have a complete understanding of why his life was the way it was. Almost every major life experience that McBride endured tied in directly with the concurrent events of the life of his mother.
Not only filled with a variety of events in the characters lives, this novel really allows the reader to find a relation to the characters. McBride and his mother both undergo life challenges that, while many relate to race, can correlate with readers of any ethnic background. No matter what ethnicity the reader hails from, they can sympathize with the major themes in this novel. Life and death, love and acceptance, and rebellion, are all issues that the "average" reader faces, regardless of their race. And for the "standard white" reader, it really helps to give an understanding of a part of society and the world that they may not entirely comprehend.
This memoir posing as a novel is a piece of literary brilliance. Whether the reader is a parent raising children or a teenager struggling to find acceptance, they will be able to relate to this book. It touches the hearts of all whose eyes fall upon it's words and reminds the reader that there are things in life so much bigger than the color of skin.
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Summary: Religion and Education
Review: I am not that enamoured of the heroine of this book, Ruth McBride Jordan, nee Shilsky. I wonder if there may have been something in her Jewish heritage that instilled the love of education in her and which she passed on to her 12 children. Did she have to become a Baptist to do this ?
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Summary: You've Got to Respect this Mother!
Review: I enjoyed this book about an Orthodox Jewish girl marrying and living in the black community. She raises 12 children through many trying circumstances. This is a true story written by the woman's son, James McBride. It is amazing the obstacles that the family overcame, as well as the successes of her children!
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Summary: Great
Review: I had 2 read this frashman year in HS and was mad because we had 2 read over summer break, but i sure was happy we had to read this. every page gets better and better.
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Summary: I CRIED
Review: I read this book in two days while on a cruise ship. Instead of partying it up on the ship, I was in my room reading!! I could not put it down. It was a very sweet, intimate book... more like a lover letter... from a son to his mother. I rarely cry from books, but this one had the tears flowing!! A strong statement, but I would have to say it is probably my favorite book. Read it!
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Summary: Entertaining to read, but excessively shallow and preachy...
Review: I read this book on the advice of a friend. For the first 3 chapters, I found the story of 'Rachel' Shilsky and her son James McBride deeply moving. After further reading however, the writer revealed himself to be race-obsessed if not racist and anti-semitic. The author(/s) knew the expectations generally placed on books with this subject matter and did not fail to deliver - a contrived and self-contradictory tale of strength in the face of oppression. While McBride delivers a beautiful story about the colorless nature of god and importance of equality and forgiveness, almost all of the hardships faced by the McBride family are blamed on oppression caused by 'the white (and jewish) man. Furthermore both McBride and his mother refuse to take responsibility for their actions. They are able to justify all manner of behaviour: prostitution, stealing, drug-use and abuse by blaming others for their position. ie Repeatedly approaching to ask a well-known pimp for work as a prostitute, then moving out of his apartment to her family's residence to escape his evil 'clutches'. Ruth McBride unquestioningly suffered at the hands of her father's abuse. She went on to abandon her mother and sister (and arguably her children) all the while feeling pity for herself and blaming her family (and collectively white people and jews) for her uncaring and irresponsible actions. Any hardships she faced at the hands of black persons is ignored and justified on the basis that white oppression forced their hand. Perhaps the story of Ruth McBride and her son would be better told by another sibling who was not so embarrassed by their childhood that they needed to blame all their problems on the actions of others.Regardless, the color of water is an interesting book to read, if only to look for contradictions and obvious ploys for sympathetic responses... Read this book so you can tell others not to bother.
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Summary: A Heartfelt Tribute
Review: I really enjoyed this book. James McBride tells the story of his mother and of his own life, intertwining chapters to give you an understanding of his mother's struggles and how she has affected and impacted him. James McBride's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who never felt completely accepted by others. To whites, she was different because she was Jewish, while to blacks she was different because she was white. She moved to New York when she was 19, married McBride's black father and had 8 children. After her husband died she married another black man and had 4 more children.
This book is a tribute to James McBride's mother, but more than that it is the story of a family who was able to achieve success and prosperity. McBride's mother was one of few whites in a predominantly black neighborhood, and his family one of the few bi-racial families at the time. His mother made education a priority and all 12 of her children went to college. McBride's writing makes his love and admiration for his mother clear, and the writing is quite moving. I really enjoyed it.
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Summary: Superficial and lacking in depth
Review: James McBride's mother is truely a remarkable and awe inspiring woman. Raising 12 children, mostly by herself, with little to no money, and getting them all into college is beyond amazing. However, I found his book to be an atrocious read. His mother's story is more linear with random stories of McBride's childhood thrown in between chapters. The book jumps around with McBride's story from different points in his childhood that don't seem to have any point or merit.
My bookclub choose this book because the subject matter was appealing. However, collectively we were very disappointed. McBride's attempts to show his true emotions fell short as they came across very superficial and in some cases, cliche. McBride is truly a lost sole and this book reflects that.
His mother's story was very appealing and I was very disappointed that the book didn't focus on her more closely. McBride's story of his childhood growing up in a time of racial unrest with a white mother has a lot of appear, but he fails to really show the reader what that life must have been like. In many instances it seemed that just as he started to scratch the surface of his emotions, the chapter would end and he would move on to another random and disconnected memory.
A very disappointing read.
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Summary: Inspirational Story But Don't Bring High Expectations
Review: James McBride's The Color of Water was a quick and easy read. The main reason for its quickness came from the fact that it was an irresistible page-turner. McBride does an excellent job of portraying life in the projects as well as tackling the racial issues of intermarriage. He discusses the Jewish side of his family with surprising accuracy in terms of vocabulary and traditional background, and simultaneously manages to express the hardships of his mother's life as well as his own. The Color of Water is a choice book for memoir-lovers and those who appreciate topics that deal with race. McBride handles the issue beautifully, as he is most fit to do so, being of mixed color himself. An especially moving recurrence in the story comes from the gruff responses by McBride's mother to any question of race, belonging, or any other topic concerning the rest of the world. McBride set the childhood view of his mother on a pedestal fortified by her own beliefs: education, religion (Jesus), and privacy among others. At the same time, the chapters that alternate between mother and son show a weaker side of Mrs. McBride, but provide a good balance to the book. While watching his mother's story unfold as McBride makes certain realizations about his own life, a basic question is answered. Often in memoirs readers wonder what it was in a person's upbringing that impacted that person's personality. Here the reader is allowed the opportunity to make that connection himself.
If there were one area of lacking, it was the description of McBride's siblings. I would have like to have known more about his relationship with his brothers and sisters, as this area seemed strangely weak in comparison to the focus given to his parents. The additional background would have strengthened the book by providing and even broader picture of the lives of those who shaped James McBride into the author of the autobiographical, The Color of Water. After finishing the book, there was an unsettling feeling of unfinished business. I had enjoyed the book but would have had a better experience had my family not built it up to me so highly before I read it. Unfortunately, starting the book with such high expectations was disastrous for the outcome. This does not in any way mean, though, that I do not respect James' McBride's work on this piece and the hardships he has grown from, because I do. I only wish that I had had the opportunity to read the story having heard nothing about it. My recommendation to all prospective readers is to go in with a clean slate and try to read the book devoid of outside feedback.
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