Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I agree this book is amazing., March 26, 2004
In a poetic, yet detatched way, Maya Angelou captures the heart of her struggles growing up female and Black during the Depression. Her style and description draw in the reader and keep her spellbound even during the most painful scenes. You feel deeply for the author and her little brother as they drift through their lives living for a bit of affection. Neglected by their divorced parents, Maya and her brother get sent to Arkansas at ages 4 and 5 to live with their grandma and handicapped uncle. Although life is hard and love not demonstrated, Maya learns much from her grandma and uncle. The theme of this book is the quest for the child to be loved by the adult. Maya feels inferior. She feels ugly and compares herself to her magical brother Bailey. Both children are starved for true affection and daydream a white movie actress on the screen is their long lost mother. Maya and her brother are eventually united with "Mother Dear" in St.Louis when she is eight. Unfortunately Mother's boyfriend begins to abuse Maya(...). This is graphically portrayed in the book. Maya's feelings of not belonging and not being truly loved are compounded after the abuse. I admire all the autobiographical books by Ms.Angelou. She has achieved a lot in her life for a person who started out in such a sad situation. This book should be read and re-read.
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60 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The early years of Maya Angelou, March 30, 2001
"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.
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47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very moving life story, January 26, 2002
I don't remember who, but someone once said something like, "One death is a tragedy, but a thousand deaths is just statistic." This is sort of the way to describe the way I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings impacts the reader. Through her story, you can really come to understand the life of an American black female in the 1930s. From the first years of Maya Angelou's childhood, life was very difficult. Shipped away from her parents to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, pretending for years that the reason she lived with her grandmother was because her parents were dead...then finding out that her parents were in fact alive, making it seem as if Maya was not wanted. In a segregated town full of prejudicce and injustice, Maya lives until around age 7, when she is finally taken to live with her mother. Although this may seem to be a change for the better, things take a turn when young Maya is raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. When Mr. Freeman is put on trial and is later murdered, Maya believes it is her fault and stops talking. After a long time of silence, Maya meets people who will change her life forever, including Mrs. Flowers, who introduces Maya to the wonderful world of poetry. With the help of Maya's mother, Mrs. Flowers, and other influential people and situations, could Maya finally find happiness? Everyone should read this book, because it reveals the true emotions and feelings that were felt by American blacks. This book will make you cry, laugh, and run right out to buy the sequel, Gather Together In My Name.
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by Mary Robinson
by Maya Angelou
by Maya Angelou
by Maya Angelou
by Maya Angelou
