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Summary: Truly Remarkable Reading
Review: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is easily one of the most passionate books ever written. Maya Angelou did an amazing job of telling the early years of her life story. This is just the first book that depicts her autobigraphy.The language in this book is so nicely detailed and the words just mesh together so well, it's hard not to enjoy reading this book. Maya Angelou describes her early life and the troubles she had as an African American woman growing up in the 1940s. She had an amazing life and her stories can teach us all a thing or two. I almost cheered out loud when she stood up for herself to get her first job. She describes her personal stories with such compassion and mixes in some humor to allow the book's flow to be smooth. Maya Angelou is a remarkable woman with an incredible story to tell, no matter how shocking some of it really is. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a great starting point. This book is an excellent, pleasurable read.
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Summary: sexual molesting episodes are disgusting
Review: As a parent of a young teenager who was assigned this book as a summer reading slection I am very disappointed. I think Maya Angelou is much too vivid in her descriptions of sexual encounter. I was disgusted at the thought of a brown ear of corn as she described the male parts. Although the book may have a wonderful story and great lessons for young people to learn about times in the 40's they do not need to have so vividly described sexual encounters. Times may have been hard for people in the 40's who were black...but the man who molested her was also black. Maya Angelou could have published a beautiful book without all the sexual trash. If she was trying to appeal to young readers she should have shown more respect for youth and eliminated that garbage. I do not recommend this book for high school students. The book is loaded with sexual trash. Our children get enough exposure to that in real life...I would much prefer classic novels than this trash.l
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Summary: I Know Why Da' Caged Bird Sings
Review: Hi, my name is John Rocker and I just love Maya Angelou books. I remember this one time when I was at the Million Man March as a young African-American and Maya approached me to exchange poetry. She invited me and my best friend in the whole world, Tiger Woods, to a fried chicken dinner on her and we gratefully accepted. We stayed up all night sharing stories of single black motherhood and when dawn came, while Maya and Tiger were both in a drowsy haze, I slipped on my dew rag and started chanting old African spirituals. They both sprang to life and in seconds we were having the time of our life. Anyway, we were carryin' on so loud and cheerful, we didn't even hear the sirens of the police car that was approaching Maya's house. When she saw the policeman at her door she assumed that he was there to arrest her for stealing a Wu Tang CD, but upon closer inspection she realized it was just her good friend Don Shaft. Oh Lordy did we have a grand ole time. Now I know why the caged bird sings. CAN YOU DIG IT!
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Summary: OK, But Nothing Special
Review: My high-school English teacher had this on her list of required reading for her senior class, and as a result, I didn't read it until after I had graduated from college. On the whole, I found it a rather dull book. Angelou goes into detail about what it was like for a young black girl to grow up in the United States in the 40's. As you can imagine, it wasn't really very pretty. She mentions about how she very eagerly lost her virginity, was molested by her mother's boyfriend, he relationship with her brother and so on. The most impressive part of the book was when she stood up for herself in order to get her first job -- the book is almost worth reading just for those few pages. But for the most part, I just couldn't get interested in it. I found it rather dull.
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Summary: A better understanding
Review: Hi, i am from Melbourne Australia. I am 19 years old, when i read 'I know why the caged bird sings' as one of my books for year 12. It discribed to me how the African Americans felt about, White people and the discrimmination there was between white and black people. Dr Maya Angelou, discribed her experience very well. She discribed in detail what she thought and how she felt, i could piture the scene in my head. Especially the shop her and Baily lived in, and how the sun set over the store. It was a grate experience for me, it has tought me a lot about the African American history. Dr Angelou inspired me as well as my class, and from then on, i have been reading all her books.
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Summary: The First Book that Made Me Cry
Review: This is the first book I've ever read that made me cry. It's such powerful writing, yet simple in a way, it can stir even the most cold-hearted (like me) to weep. Maya Angelou's language is hard to describe: she writes with a certain simplicity that is at once rich and deep. Like most anything Angelou writes, this is very good read out loud, even just for yourself.
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Summary: An adult review--and one teacher's viewpoint
Review: May I tell you why I choose to have my ninth grade students read it? I have noticed a lot of reviews by young people, which I applaud, but an adult perspective might be helpful. I don't particularly feel the need to defend its merits. (I am not articulate enough to do justice to that task.) As with any book, some will love it and some won't. Guaranteed, it will make you uncomfortable at times, because one chapter describes the rape of a young person--which is painful for any compassionate human being to hear. Plus, there are other sexual issues, largely stemming from the earlier assault, but also because she is a teenager in the last phase of the book. Such questions about love and sex are characteristic of the teenage years. Many young people, as well as adults, are confused about such topics. While these are generally the most controversial segments from the book, the fundamental lesson of the book goes far beyond the survival of one victim. I won't supply you with the answers as to what one should take away from the text. It is a personal experience for each of us. We can all learn from Maya's honest account of her childhood journey. We can all try on her experiences and live vicariously through her for a while, and see how it changes our own perspective on what it means to be a human being. I'll be the first to admit, this book is a challenge for all my students in one way or another. Some because they are white and live in the northern US. Some because they are male and it's difficult to view life through a woman's eyes. Some because of the adult vocabulary and extensive use of figurative language. Some of these experiences are so remote from their own, while others are very close to home. It helps them to see how much we actually do have in common with those who at first seem very different. They all can benefit from reading it, if they give it a chance. (Adults may be better equiped to appreciate fully this text. However, young people can take so much from it. Maybe one day, we can have an abridged version, so it is still rich in language and meaning, yet condensed so more young people can access its many gifts.) Beyond the darkness of some of those experiences (discrimination, rape, humilation and fear) lies a powerful sense of hope, dignity, determination and resilience. One of my favorite aspects of the book is its emphasis on the power of education, language and literacy. Throughout Maya's life--books, poetry, impassioned voices have all inspired her. Her autobiography is a moving tribute to a literate way of life and an enduring legacy to that tradition.
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Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Maya Angelou can write, there is no question about that. Her descriptions in this book are so vivid and expressive that I feel, in a small way, I know what it might have been like to live in Arkansas during the 1940s. I found in the reviews that there seemed to be 2 reasons that people didn't like this book: 1) kids forced to read it for school - I'm not surprised. If I was 14, I probably would have hated it too. Kids want books with action and a story. 2) suggestions that Maya Angelou is a racist - this book is told through the eyes of a young black girl who rarely met a white person and those she met treated her in ways that stripped her of her dignity and her personhood. Any negative feelings she had are entirely understandable. Maya writes with honesty and such feeling that at times it is almost painful to read but I'm glad I did. I'll never know what it feels like to be black and the target of bigotry but Maya has helped me understand just a little by letting me walk a while in her shoes.
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Summary: Don't make students required to read it!
Review: This book is very boring to read. I have found myself falling to sleep reading it because she goes off in tangents that don't have to do anything about the book. There are many other books out there that follow this kind of theme, but are much better than this.
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Summary: I Know Why THe Caged Bird Sings
Review: My, ( Margurite ) Johnson, was always a very bright child. From the time she and her brother left their parents to travel to Stamps,AR to live with their grandmother, until the time she graduated Salutatorian of her 8th grade class, My ( later known as Maya ), was soaring to great hieghts. She lived her life between the states of Illinois, Arkansas, and California. She traveled to Mexico with her brilliant father and battled with her stepmother. She suffered sexual abuse by her mother's boyfriend, and she witnessed the hatred of the segregated times. Though she went through many struggles, My still succeeded. She became Maya Angelou; A brilliant women with numerous talents such as writing, speaking, and the ability to overcome the hardships of life.
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