"This is the first of Maya Angelou's five volumes of autobiography, in which she evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. She learns the power of a white skin and suffers the trauma of rape by her mother's lover.

Piqued by a dare, Angelou wrote this first book as an exercise in autobiography as art -- and succeeded. Her novel is a story of the difficulties of black women and the eventual victory of spirit that comes from being a soulful fighter.

Superbly told--with the poet's gift for language and observation, and charged with the unforgettable emotion of remembered anguish and love--this remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are unaware of." (adlibris.se)

I like this novel, a lot. What a life that woman has lived - and this is only the first sixteen years of her life. I just have to read the rest of her books too.

I can't imagine what it must have been like, growing up as a black kid in the US then, but Angelou's novel helps me a bit on the way, just as Morrison's novels.
In the beginning of this novel Maya thinks about God: "Of course, I knew that God was white too, but no one could have made me believe he was prejudiced." This is mind-boggling to me. Not even religion stands outside of the issue of black and white.
Later on Maya thinks about adults and the way they behave against children: "There was an army of adults, whose motives and movements I just couldn't understand and who made no effort to understand mine.". This is how I remember feeling when I was a child. The adults and their world was somewhat of a mystery to me. They did and said things I couldn't understand and as a child I just had to tag along and get on with it, more or less.
The story of Maya's first work as a maid made me angry. The woman she worked for decided to call her Mary in stead of her real name. This is the history of the African American - since they first were taken from their home and brought as slaves to the US, they have been robbed of their roots and their names. Imagine being treated like that?

This novel really belongs in the 1001 list of books you must read before you die, in my opinion.

#367 "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"

Grattis till att ha klarat Spark-i-baken etapp 9! =)

Tack så mycket!

Finally I got around to reading this. Reading The color purple last autumn I remembered having this in my bookshelf. A capturing and important story. I am grateful for being able to learn about the story of her life. As with all books covering important issues concerning race I am reminded of that this all took place very recently. I loved the way she woved in more and more of the racial issues as she grew older and encoutered more problems.

Picked out of a VBB. Enjoy!

Thank you, Vilda, the book arrived today. I look forward to reading it, sounds intriguing.

This was a good book. Often sad and heartrending , occasionally happy or funny. Maya Angelou has perceptively described her experiences growing up at a time when racial segregation was a norm - and required by the law. It is difficult to think that it was as late as in the '60s when the Civil Rights Act forbade discrimination on the basis of race, etc. Thanks to Maya Angelou and other human rights activists.

This book goes to dacejav next. It is a replacement for the book she chose from Meg72's Women in Fiction VBB round 13 - one we agreed upon after she received her first choice from somewhere else before mine arrived. Hope you enjoy Maya Angelou's company!

Thanks, Paulanni! The book arrived after I'd already left for Georgia but it's no problem - I wouldn't have got to it this year anyways and I already bought tickets to Latvia for the New Year!