I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.75 You Save: $2.24 (32%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Book Review: The early years of Maya Angelou
Summary: 5 Stars
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou, is the first volume in this author's extraordinary series of autobiographical narratives. "I Know..." begins with her childhood and takes us into her young womanhood. This book has, since its publication, become a beloved contemporary classic of African-American literature.After their parents' separation, young Marguerite (her given name) and her brother, Bailey, are sent to live with their strong-willed grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, deep in the segregated South. Angelou also describes her time spent with her other grandmother in St. Louis, as well as her young adulthood in San Francisco. The overall time period of the book overlaps that of World War II.
"I Know..." offers important insights into the world of racial segregation, and painfully records the toll taken by racism in its various forms. Also powerful and important is Angelou's recollection of surviving a brutal sexual assault when she was a child. Angelou recalls vividly the authors who made an impact on her during her childhood and young adulthood: James Weldon Johnson, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and others. The book concludes with her sexual awakening as a young woman.
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is an American classic which has lost none of its power in the 30 years since it first appeared. Angelou's prose is direct and personal, and marked with passages of wit and beauty. For scholars of African-American literature, women's studies, or literary autobiography, this is an essential volume.
Book Review: Maya's Eyes
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is incredible! It represents a part of the author's life that she feels is her growing process. Maya Angelou, a tenderhearted, merciful, insecure black girl in a white world, explains her daily struggles and lessons that she must go through. The part that held my attention the most would have to be when Maya was raped. After moving to St. Louis with her mother, Maya and her brother, Bailey Jr., were in heaven. They couldn't be happier. Maya's mother was dating a man by the name of Mr. Freeman. During those times everyone had to help out, so Mr. Freeman watched the children during the day while their mother was at work. When no one else was around, Mr. Freeman started sexually abusing Maya. At first she didn't know what to think. She just thought it was a way to show his love. Eventually, after she was raped, she figured out that what Mr. Freeman was doing was not right. Because Maya liked it the first time, thinking it was his sign of affection, she felt guilty and believed it to be her fault. This was the cause of many of her social problems later in life. Many people can relate to the various situations she endures, and if they cannot, they still feel a sort of bond. From this book an involved reader could learn about life conscious topics they perhaps did not know before, such as racism, rape, blending families, a dysfunctional home, etc. The readers have a clear view of the world through Maya's eyes. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about life.Book Review: A Fine Disappointment
Summary: 1 Stars
Our english class made this work required reading and the subject of a large literary criticism essay assignment. From the first, the book seems to lack direction and a point. Supposedly this is explained by the fact that it's an autobiography and that Maya is still 'finding herself' and unsure as to where her life is headed at the time. These claims, from my perspective, amount to nothing more than meager excuses for a poor story. One might expect such a revered poet as Maya Angelou to write a brilliant work of literature that would have direction and a driving point to it, and still be at least an interesting read. My expectations in these areas were not met: the story jumps around, seemingly lacking any concrete direction or logical order. It seems as if each chapter is its own individual and seperate story, and these seperate stories have simply been thrown together and called a book. That would still all be well and good, if there was even the slightest difference in message between each story. Instead, the constant theme of racial prejudice and how horrible it is to be a black girl in the 1940s is drilled into your mind over and over and over and over again. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but after being told something 17 times, I don't need to hear it another 16. I know some of you enjoyed this book, and find that it speaks volumes about the human condition and all that... Call me blind, but I just don't see it. If I were you, I'd save my money and pick a different book.Book Review: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Summary: 4 Stars
Marguerite (Maya) has lived in Stamps, Arkansas for most of her life with her grandmother and out of the blue her father comes forward into her life. In this unexpected visit Maya and her brother are whisked to St. Louis to live with their mother. After awhile, Maya and her brother leave because her mother's boyfriend violates her. Time passes, and they are sent to California where Maya is shipped off to her father and his awful girlfriend. She finally runs away to a wrecking yard where she eventually goes back to her mother. After feeling "finished" with high school, Maya gets a job on the streetcars as the first African-American and some months later becomes pregnant. I really enjoyed this book and somehow could relate to it, even though I'd never been through any of the same experiences. Maya Angelou has a distinct writing style with an intricate slow pace which I usually dislike although in this book her vocabulary painted a picture which kept me interested. Maya's life has been really hard and reading this now, I wonder how you can overcome all of what she has went through. Her life with her parents was a wreck and yet she still held herself together, probably because of living with her grandmother who helped instill morals, stability, and how the world really worked. It's a remarkable story and that's just what it appears at first. The moral of her life shows how will and determination cannot change your inborn character, that you become stronger through it.
Book Review: If only this scale had negatives...
Summary: 1 Stars
Never before has such a poorly written book received such acclaim. Maya Angelou wrote this story not with candor and grace but with a bias rarely allowed to sit on shelves let alone the top of a best-seller list. She was not humorous but had a heinousness of character and action that places her beyond the limits of human pity. This "inspiring author" did not demonstrate poignancy and depth but the crude rudiments of writing skill below that found in the essays of a primary school student.
Maya Angelou has portrayed herself as a victim of fate and yet at best her actions can only be described as foolhardy. In an attempt to prove to herself that she isn't a lesbian (a term she apparently doesn't understand) she initiates a deed without thinking of the consequences. She repeatedly gratifies her ego by exalting her academic accomplishments, yet doesn't grasp the fallacies of her own actions until it is far too late.
Several fans have seen her as an example to women. I must disagree with this ardently. Every teenage girl using her as a role model and demonstrating such lack of forethought puts herself at risk for sexual assualt, neglect, STDs, and teen pregnancy.
My only hope for this book is a quick and discreet cremation. May her name never be mentioned in the same breath as Margaret Atwood or any other great modern writer of either gender, and ANY nationality.