Rating: 
Summary: A TRIBUTE TO MOM...
Review: This book is, indeed, a tribute to the author's mother. In it, the author, a man whose mother was white and his father black, tells two stories: that of his mother and his own. Tautly written in spare, clear prose, it is a wonderful story of a bi-racial family who succeeded and achieved the American dream, despite the societal obstacles placed in its way. The author's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who migrated to America at the age of two with her family during the early nineteen twenties. They ultimately settled down in Virginia, where she led an isolated and lonely life; shunned by whites because she was Jewish and shunned by blacks because she was white. She was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood, where her father, a despicable and harsh man who brutalized his handicapped wife, ran a local grocery store, where he priced gouged his black clientele. She left home and moved to New York when she was nineteen and never looked back. She met and married the author's father, a black man, when mixed race marriages were still frowned upon by both whites and blacks. Still, she always felt more comfortable around blacks than around whites.
When he died sixteen years later, she married another black man who nurtured her eight children by the author's father and proceeded to give her four more children. The author tells of his childhood, of his family, and of the issue of race that ultimately colored his life while growing up in predominantly black neighborhoods, where his mother stood out like a sore thumb because of the color of her skin. It was always an issue his mother avoided discussing with him, as for her it was not an issue. It was not until the author wrote this book that his mother discussed the issue of race within the context of her own life. From this dialogue emerges a fascinating look at the issues of race, as well as religion, and how it impacts on an individual's identity within our race conscious society. It is also a very personal story. While the author's family was economically disadvantaged, his eccentric and independent mother always stressed education. She was a strict disciplinarian who brooked no nonsense from her twelve children. A convert to Christianity through her first husband, with whom she founded a Baptist church, she provided her children with the will to succeed. Consequently, all twelve eventually went to college and did her proud. The story of this unique family is told from two distinct, parallel perspectives: that of the author and that of his mother. While both are interesting, it is his mother's story that dominates this beautifully written book, which is, indeed, a tribute to her. It is truly a story told from the heart, as the love that the author has for his mother is evident with every written word.
Rating: 
Summary: What a mama.
Review: Though somewhat stiff in delivery, the story is an incredible tribute to a most unusual family. A good read.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: That McBride could write so convincingly in the voice of his mother surprised and pleased me. He explained some aspects of Orthodox Jewish life, and black life that I'd only suspected or had wondered about. Some of the attitudes and experiences of life in those economically challenging years reminded me of my own parents and of my own upbringing with multiple siblings. The less interesting parts of the book are when McBride tries to relate and psychoanalyze his life. I couldn't make the connection. But that's okay, I still give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Survival
Review: I know that I have never read another book that is quite like this one, and I have never come across a person who embodies anywhere near the same strengths and contradictions as Ruth McBride. Her story is extraordinary and simultaneously uplifitng and painfully sad. I was only able to read this book a little bit at a time. It is a story of personal survival and achievement but also of the pain and loss and inner conflict that can be the cost of that survival.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful tribute to a mother...
Review: McBride did a good job of writing a tribute to his mother. She should be so proud of her son. I liked the story of the jordan family. Some of it seemed fictionalized but, that's just my opinion. The book is rather long i thought but I guess he needed all those pages to tell his story or should I say his mother's story. McBride's story became so touching at one point when he described the love his father had for his mother. I think those few chapters intrigued me the most and were the highlight of the novel.
Rating:
Summary: "Don't Tell Anyone Your Business."
Review: The Color of Water, by James Mc Bride, is a wonderful story about "a black man's tribute to his white mother." The way that the book is written gives it a unique style and keeps the book interesting, by switching back and forth, from the author's point of view to his mother's. It is very easy to distinguish the two because the mother's voice is written in italics.
I enjoyed the way that McBride talks about his mother and creates a voice for her, so that she can explain things in her own way. You can really see how the family lived and what the situations were like in the 1950's and 1960's, and how they dealt with their hardships. I liked how he went to explain many things for example how his mother rode her old bike through the black neighborhood with out a care. The way that he writes you can see what the children thought of their mother, "I sure wish you wouldn't ride that bike, Ma,"his sister Dotty would say, and James would say "I silently agreed, because I didn't want my friends seeing my white mother out there riding a bicycle. She was already whit, that was bad enough, but to go out and ride an old bike that went out of style a hundred years ago? And a grown-up no less? I couldn't handle it." (8). In the society that she lived in she really did not fit in any place at all she was the minority every where she went either by religion, race, and her mixed children. You can see how she had to put up with racism like, "I stayed on the black side because that was the only place I could stay. The few problems I had with black folks were nothing compared to the grief the white folks dished out" (182). This woman led a very courageous life, first of all she was white, Jewish, and was around a different race of people but did not judge any one and held her tongue. I liked the story about when James was young and getting off of the bus how she did not meet him that first time at the buss stop. His mother always told him, "Don't tell anyone your business." She never did tell much about herself to others. I also enjoyed how McBride would tell how important his mother was to them and what all she had done. She was "the commander in chief", who sometimes forgot their, but "had no time to remember silly details like names." She taught me that you can ignore someone that has nothing good to say, and get away with it. When you walk away you always walk away a winner.
She does not talk bad about the Jewish she had understand that not everything Jewish was bad. Just because she grew up in a horrible environment does not mean that it is the same everywhere.
Their was nothing that I did not like or argue about while reading this book. The language of the book is used appropriately which makes the book more interesting to read, and to follow the structure. I think that it would appeal to everyone in our society because it deals with some major issues that we are struggling with today. Maybe this book would enlighten many people on what a issue racism still is today.
Rating:
Summary: A Mother Ahead of Her Time
Review: Are you and your mother of different races? More than likely your answer is no. James McBride's mother is white and he is black. He has written a great book about her and how great a woman and mother she is. If you have ever had any questions about interracial marriages, regardless of your stance, you should read this book. McBride's book is about his white mother who raised 12 black children in the projects of New York City. She grew up in a Jewish family and married a black man while leading a devoted Christian life. All of her children attended college and graduated and are extremely successful today. McBride offers a wonderful tribute to his mother, and he tells his story about her life and her kids' lives, and then in italicized sections, he gives his mother a "voice." Although it would have been an easier book to read if it did not have two points of view, the voices did in fact offer different perspectives that added substance to the story. It was not overly difficult to read, but the flow would have been a bit easier to keep up with if there had been one consistent voice. While reading the story, I found myself getting into a nice groove until I ran into her "voice." When I did, I had to gather my thoughts and do too much thinking and analyzing while reading. In some ways it does add to the story, but I would rather just grab a book and read it. McBride did a masterful job of letting the reader know exactly how his mother felt about many different aspects of life, and how he feels about his mother. Although he had problems dealing with having a white mother when he was young, he shows his feelings that he had for her later in life when he writes: "There are probably a hundred reasons why Ruthie (his mother) should have stayed on the Jewish side, instead of taking New Jersey Transit and the F train to go to a Christian church in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with her shvarste children and friends, and I'm sure the Old Testament lists all of them, but I'm glad she came over to the African-American side."
While writing the book, McBride visited his mother's past homes and met her past friends and acquaintances. During the process he learned a lot about his mother and a lot about himself. She never talked about her past to him until very late in life.
He has a great and unique relationship with his mother and the rest of his family which I had a great time reading about. Here is an excerpt from the story that illustrates the unique relationship between the family members and the togetherness that they shared. "Like any family we have problems, but we have always been close. Through marriages, adoptions, love-ins, live-ins, and shack-ups, the original dozen has expanded into dozens and dozens more-wives, husbands, children, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews-ranging from dark-skinned to light-skinned; from black kinky hair to blonde hair and blue eyes. In running from her past, mommy has created her own nation, a rainbow coalition that descends on her house every Christmas and Thanksgiving and sleeps everywhere-on the floor, on rugs, in shifts; sleeping double, triple to a bed, 'two up three down,' just like the old times." He goes on to talk about how they revert back into nutty behavioral patterns and act like kids when they get together at their mother's house, which I can relate to.
His mother was such a refreshing person who was ahead of her time. She was the only white person in large black projects in New York. It truly did not phase her, all she was worried about was raising her children. When her kids asked her what color she was she would just say light-skinned. When James asked her what color god was, she replied with "the color of water." If this book was merely a biography about her it would have been a great read, but the stories McBride tells about himself and the anecdotes he shares give the book more flavor. This is shown at the end of the book where he gives details about his family's holidays spent together. I would recommend this book to anyone who can read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story With A Happy Ending
Review: James McBride grew up in a family of twelve children in a housing project in Brooklyn, New York in the 40's and 50's. His father was a black minister and his mother a white Jew.
This book is a wonderful story of strength and overcoming hardship. It is also the story of James McBride's life. In the search of his white mother's past; McBride tells a beautiful story about life with his mysterious mother and his eleven siblings. The book grabbed my interest from the dedication. "I wrote this book for my mother, and her mother, and mothers everywhere."
The story begins with Ruth McBride Jordan's bitterness toward her Jewish family who have disowned her. This immediately makes the reader want to know more. Running from her abusive father, she flees to New York and becomes a Christian. She marries a black man and has eight children. After his death she marries another black man and has four more children. Much of the story is about the embarrassment James McBride felt as a black man with a white mother. The children did not grow up knowing about their maternal grandfather, their handicapped grandmother, or their Jewish aunts and uncles. McBride's mother raised her children emphasizing education and a deep religious faith. One thing that stands out in McBride's tribute to his mother is his belief in her exposing the children to the right kind of people. In her case the right kind were the black church people. Her life demonstrated all the positive aspects of her Jewish upbringing and of her chosen black community.
Ruth met her second husband, Hunter Jordan Sr., a few months after her first husband died. Ruth always included her children in her life and put them first. When Jordan asked Ruth if she would like to go to the movies, her devotion to the children spoke. "Yeah," she said, "But I got eight kids and they go to movies too." It is beautiful the way McBride speaks of his "Daddy", Mr. Jordan. "When I was about six or seven, he came to our apartment in the projects, piled us into his car, and drove us out to St. Albany, Queens, parking in front of a large, pink stucco, four-bedroom house and disappearing inside while we played on the lawn, tearing out the grass and rolling around in the leaves." "After ravaging the lawn for about an hour, one of us had the presence of mind to ask him, 'Whose house is this?' He laughed. I never saw him laugh so hard. He had just spent his life's savings to buy the place."
His bicycle-riding mother embarrassed McBride when he was an adolescent. Everything was so secretive with Ruth. She would not answer questions, normal questions. Why didn't she look like the other mothers?
Some parts made me laugh and I wasn't sure why: One scene I enjoyed was when McBride was a boy getting on a school bus. He and the other children were looking out the window waving at their parents. One child, a Black Panther's son, waved to his father. McBride recalled looking out the window at all the black faces and seeing his white mother standing there waving, right next to the Black Panther. He felt that his mother was in danger standing there looking so white and different from the others. He recalled: "When they were out of sight, I turned to the Black Panther's son sitting behind me and punched him square in the face with my fist."
The title of the book comes from a conversation McBride had with his mother about God and His color. She simply told him "God is the Color of Water." The book is easy reading. The chapter titles are very intriguing: "Dead", "The Old Testament," "The New Testament." The chapters alternate between the author's story and his mother's.
I feel that the following reviewer missed the story all together. Spcbbas from NY, USA January 11, 2003 felt that McBride was "...race-obsessed if not racist and anti-Semitic." That reviewer should read again the scene when McBride visited his mother's synagogue. He wanted to see the inside. "I wanted to see it, then later tell my black wife and my two children about it - because some of my blood runs through there, because my family has a history there, because there's a part of me in there whether I, or those that run the synagogue, like it or not."
Mothers everywhere will love this validation to motherhood. It is the tribute we would love to hear from our sons and daughters. Our actions of love sometimes do not appear to be expressions of love but our motives surely are. Those trying to overcome their own racism will benefit immensely from this tribute to equality.
Rating:
Summary: Embracing vs. Rejecting The Past
Review: James McBride's point for writing the book is to show that people are whoever they let themselves become. They should not change because of what their background limits them to. They are not their ancestors; they are who they are, who ever they say they are. I think that is the reason why his mother decided to participate. Her children were grown so whatever they believe about themselves, and about their and their mother's identity, should not change just because of their mother's past. So she could just make sure they have their family history without an identity crisis, since roots are still important to have. His mother's participation helps people with an identity crisis (and I think I could safely say every has one at one point or another) understand and remember that they are whoever they say they are. However, that is only if they work hard to get or become it. Or in the words of Mrs. Ruth McBride-Jordon "educate yourself or you'll be a nobody." They are conveying the same message, working hard will make you accomplish your goals to be whoever you want to be. However, their mother's reason for telling her story was to tell her family their history. James McBride's reason was to tell the world how her story affected his life and how his upbringing made him and his siblings the men and women they are today. This is so readers could think about if this life was a benefit or a burden.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing Read
Review: The Color of Water is dual biography documenting the stories of both James McBride, the author and his Mother Ruth McBride Jordan. Ruth, a Polish Immigrant was raised as a white Jew in rural Virginia. An abusive father, however, caused her to flee to the sanctuary of New York City. There, defying all expectations, she married a black man, converted to Christianity, and raised 12 successful biracial children. James then tells his story of his confusion over his racial identity and his falling into drug and alcohol abuse. His mother prevailed, however, and James started once again on the right path. It is now, though, that he desires more than ever to discover the roots of his heritage and in doing so finds, for the first time, himself and his mother. The Amazon.com book review describes this book as "a success story, a testament to one woman's true heart, solid values, and indomitable will." Amazon.com emphasizes the address of racial identity found in the book and also the remarkable odds of racism and poverty through which one woman not only survived, but thrived. Their story is said to be, "in a word, inspiring." It will give you, they say, an "unalloyed admiration for a flawed but remarkable individual." I agree. This truly is a success story. A story of perseverance of one who has all stacked up against her. Even when faced with poverty and racial oppression Ruth still manages to raise 12 children. And not only that, but put them all through college, and some even graduate school. She is certainly the remarkable person the reviewer described. And also flawed. Her struggles lead her through plenty of mistakes and at times the reader may even goes as far as to question her sanity. Indecision and irrational decisions seem to flow from this woman's mind, yet her strength is never doubted. I find the word "inspiring" to be true of this book. After reading, one feels ready to take on the world in all its imperfection. Reading this will give you the desire to carry on and make the very best, whatever the hand life deals out.
|
