The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: Ruth Brown finds herself through a long journey of heroism
Review: The book The Color of water is a great book to read because it shows how a
person can overcome the hardships of life, about one person journey's to find
their true identity and shows their heroism along the way. This story portrays
how Rachel Shilsky changes to Ruth Brown and struggles to cope with her
difficulties relating with her family, her religion and racism.

In this hero's journey, she faces many obstacles. Among these is her family and
how they changed her. As a young child her father, sexually abused her making
her hate him. She felt guilty and had low self-esteem. He was a very
unloving man that treated his family cruelly. He did not love her mother
and also put the children right to work. They would work in his store from right
after school until dark. Another factor in her family was her mother. Her mother
had a stroke when she was younger and lost all working motion of her left side
of her body. This crippled her, yet she still was a great Jewish wife, never
giving her husband a reason to be upset. Meanwhile, Ruth had to hide what she
wanted from her family and was always running away to see her boyfriend Dennis
whenever she could.  Dennis came to create some controversy between Ruth and her
family, especially when they found out he was African American. She comes about
overcoming her family when she moves out and goes to live with Dennis leaving
her loving mother and sister at home. She later returns to help her crippled
mother but leaves again afterwards.

Another factor that shows Ruth's heroism, is the fact that she came to love a
black man. Her family did not want her to be involved with any African American
people and were very upset with the whole idea of it, as were many people at
that time. She chooses to marry Dennis and in result her family doesn't accept
her anymore. Even though Ruth and Dennis were singled out and unaccepted by
society, all they needed was their love. Ruth and Dennis lived together for many
years not caring what anyone thought and at the same time risking their lives
every time they were seen together. Ruth learned to accept people for who they
were and to overcome racism.

Another obstacle that Ruth had to face throughout the story was her religion.
She was brought up in the Jewish faith and practiced it until she got older. Her
religion and her strict father kept her from doing many important things in
life, including graduating from high school. When Ruth left home to be with
Dennis she accepted his faith and later on became Christian. By becoming
Christian she left behind her memories of her past and started brand new with a
new family and home. She became dependent on Jesus and put the faith of Him in
the hearts of her children. This showed that Ruth could overcome some of the
worst things that happened in her childhood and become a better person for it.

This book shows that Ruth could overcome the many perils of her life and create
a better life for her children even if it was hard at times. She showed her
strength and heroism by standing up to her father and leaving home and also by
coming to grips with her past after she had healed from the pain of remembering.
She is a true hero for being strong and keeping faith through the toughest of
times and she has showed us all that hard work does eventually pay off.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book for your mother!
Review: This is one of the best books i have ever read!

the racial issue between a black man's perception of his white mother is presented equally with the outpouring of love and respect he has for her; simply as a mother of 12 children in Harlem who put all her children through collge and grad school. the stories about trips to church, to camp, riding public tansport, getting homemade haircuts, and how awful a cook his mother was are universal and are presented evenly with the tender moments of love and respect and joy he has with his mother.

the other half of this book is his mother's autobiography; the story of a young polish Jewish immigrant living in Jim Crow Virginia, abused by her father. the thinly veiled pain and anguish of memory that McBride's mother reveals futher illuminates his respect for his mother in his own chapters as he describes his mother founding a Baptist church in Harlem with his father.

this book is a gift to mothers everywhere!