I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Before reading this book, I regularly came across Maya Angelou's quotes, and her words often resonated with me. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud,” “Nothing will work unless you do,” and “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you” are my favourites. So I was glad when an opportunity presented itself to read the first of her autobiographical books, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” Despite the disturbing topics the author touches upon while sharing her memories of her childhood and younger years, surprisingly, it turned out to be a gentle book. While reading, I felt like I saw Maya Angelou smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners. The healthy dose of humour, which she used to describe the bad things that happened to her, shows, in my opinion, acceptance, something that exists on the other side of hate directed not only at one’s offenders but at all humanity. I admire it. I also felt, though, that the author did not share everything, skipping and blurring some details, mostly about her family. It didn’t affect the enjoyment from reading, as it sometimes does when an author tries to hide something in order to make themselves appear better than their actions or thoughts would have led readers to believe. With Maya Angelou, the reason for evasiveness was different. At least, that’s my impression. I completely understand her wish to shield, for example, her mother from public scrutiny and condemnation. The part that I particularly enjoyed is where the author shares her memories of the time she and her brother spent living with their grandmother in a small town in the South. Although she had written the book when she was an adult, she managed to convey her memories through the lens of a little girl. And it was fascinating to learn about life in the US in the 30s-40s as a black girl saw and felt it. At that age, we don’t judge, we watch. We draw conclusions according to our still pure system of values, not yet fiddled with by society, mass media, and politicians. When Maya Angelou described the scene where white girls demonstrated disrespect to her grandmother, she told us about what she was thinking and how she was feeling at that moment, rather than what we should think and feel. That is what I loved most about this book. I was offered the facts, not necessarily objective ones, but such as the author perceived them. And I was given the freedom to ponder and decide. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.

I have heard the name Maya Angelou more than a few times through my friend on Facebook and on a predominantly black forum when she passed away. Curious, I bought this book misunderstanding it to be a collection of her poetry. Instead, I found the very insightful memoirs of a black woman growing up in a very racist america, not even a century after slavery had been abolished. There is no even timeline, only a roughly chronological account of memorable periods in Angelou's life as a young black girl in predominantly black entourages. Many readers on here complain that the book is more racist than it is entertaining. While I don't believe the phrase "blacks can't be racist" as I do not believe it takes power dynamics for racism, it can be clearly understood why Angelou sounds extremely disdainful (and hence, in my opinion, racist) towards white people. White doctors refusing to treat blacks are just one example in this book of black people getting dearly little incentive to like white people. Not that they do today, but back then, when Angelou was a kid, slavery was a mere two or three generations gone and her accounts make it clear that white people felt rather bummed it was over. The entertainment complaint strikes me as ridiculous. This is not Harry Potter, this is not 50 Shades of Gray. This is the true story of a woman who is sharing a very insightful account of how a black girl at that point in time, is raised to view the world: religious factors, societal factors and race politics all become clear from her memoirs, and as someone who hasn't spent more than 4 days in america and, for a long time, didn't understand the claim of racism and white supremacy, I find it very educational in terms of race dynamics and where today's "situation" between black and white americans comes from. I started reading the book a bit bummed to find it's not poems but a 300 page memoir about someone I didn't think I could identify with. I continued reading it for wanting to know what it's like for a black person to live in a white supremacy. I wanted to read about white supremacy in its subtle and less subtle action. And this book provides that insight because it's from an everyday person's point of view, not a politician's or a movement leader's or celebrity's. It also provides insight into the weirdness of being raised religiously and what it does to one's mind. All in all, the book is, I repeat myself, very insightful when you want to know about race dynamics and religious upbringing from a late 20's African American's point of view. If you're not looking for that, then yes, the book is boring. But unless we're talking about a famous person of epic achievements, whose memoirs aren't more than a rant about oneself? At least this long rant is educational. I liked reading it. I wasn't entertained, but I was interested and appreciative and found myself more educated thanks to it. The Kindle version is full of missing periods, by the way.

Maya Angelou wrote her life story so nonchalantly. I love that because that’s how life should be. We survive much better when we live through our traumas and healings in a casual calm, and relaxed manner. No need for anxiety, interest or enthusiasm. Bad things can happen. Good things can happen. Stay on your course what ever that may be. That one lesson, though there are many more, is worth five stars from this reader.

This is a very compelling insight into racial bigotry in 1930s U.S. I thought I had some understanding of what it must have felt like to be black in the "Jim Crow" era, even though I grew up on the other side of the racial divide. But this book really gave me a compelling new insight. Maya Angelou, sent, with her older brother Bailey, to be raised by her paternal grandmother (called "Momma") in Stamps, Ark., described graphically what it was like. In compelling prose, often bordering on poetry, she described her feelings, sensations, and fantasies in the oppressive apartheid environment. She describes how she was so segregated from the white population that she was not sure there really were white people. The most compelling description was when she needed emergency dental treatment. Stamps had only a single white dentist. Maya was in unbearable pain. Finally, "Momma" decided to defy the system and ask the white dentist to treat her granddaughter. "Momma" thought it might work because she had loaned money, interest-free to the dentist when he was on the verge of bankruptcy. Maya and "Momma" were forced to wait outside the back entrance to the dentist's office for a long time before he would emerge to talk to them. He was adamant--no matter what "Momma" had done to help him, and no matter how much pain the little girl was experiencing, he would not treat her. "I would rather put my hands in a dog's mouth than a niggah's." "Momma" then instructed Maya to wait outside while she went inside. The book describes Maya's fantasy of how her grandmother was confronting the bigot and putting him in his place. In fact, "Momma" extracted bus fare from the dentist as compensation for the earlier loan that had saved his practice. Then grandmother and Maya took the bus to the nearest African-American dentist in Texarkana. This autobiography takes us through Ms. Angelou's high school graduation. It was a remarkable experience as she and Bailey moved from Stamps, to St. Louis, back to Stamps, then to San Francisco, as they were raised first by paternal grandmother, then by mother and maternal grandmother, then back to paternal grandmother, then back to mother (with an intervening visit by Maya to father in Los Angeles). She goes through many of the trials and tribulations of adolescents and teenagers, but all through the lens of depression era racial bigotry and a splintered family. This is one of the most compelling books I have read a long time. I could not put it down.

Angelou is highly regarded and for good reason. This book is on the level of classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, and My Bondage and My Freedom. It’s a beautiful story, and also has an introduction by Oprah Winfrey, which is a lovely edition to read. It’s a book that gives me personally a little bit of hope in life, every time I read it.

Beautiful story - and hard to read sometimes because it can be triggering for victims of sexual assault. I didn’t know what to expect as all I’d ever read of Maya Angelou was her poetry. I was remiss in not reading her work sooner. She is an amazing storyteller (explains why she was Poet Laureate). I highly recommend this for anyone looking to give the one finger salute to the people banning books…and especially for those who just enjoy a good read.

Wonderful. I really don't know what to say. Maybe I fear saying much as a white woman. I can say that I related to many experiences as a woman and that I held back from crying many times (only because the large majority was spent listening to the audio while driving my daily commute) over the injustices she portrayed. I did not know much about Maya Angelou before reading this first book in her autobiography. I had read some of her poetry and used it in my lessons as an English teacher. When I began, I really didn't even know that this was an autobiography. I just knew that it was a popular book, and as such, I should read it. I try not to think too much about what books are about when they are on so many lists of popular books to read. If it is so widely acclaimed, then I should find some experience contained therein helpful to me in understanding others. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is not the first book that has helped me to understand the struggles faced by African Americans, and certainly not the first book I've read concerning women's issues. It is the first non-fiction book on the matter though, not counting a biography of Louis Armstrong that I read the summer before 9th grade for summer reading about which I have forgotten almost everything. Angelou's book reads like fiction, however, which suits me perfectly since it is what I prefer. The knowledge that it is non-fiction, though, set a different tone while I read. I could easily detach myself from books like The Help knowing that it is a work of fiction, purely for entertainment value (though, of course, there is something to be learned). The realism of the book - the honesty of hindsight, the awareness of youth, ignorance, and innocence - brought gravity to a tale that was not a tale. It was still tall, however. Through this book, I became a little more aware that my own life has been safe and sheltered. I knew this before, but reading about another's life reminded me that lives interesting enough for others to read about are fraught with difficulties. My own life might not be glamorous or even memorable, but in a way, that is comforting. This does not stop me from wanting to change anything, though. In my own small ways, I hope to lead a life that makes others' lives more full of joy than of hate. I hope to show those who have experienced even a small portion of the injustices that Angelou faced that times have changed, even (hopefully not "at least") for a white woman from The South.

This book is worth reading on a lot of levels. First, her use of language describing her insights and observations is profound and beautiful. Example 1: "Then the wife who had been so charming and ready to smile changed into a silent shadow that played infrequently along the walls." Example 2: "The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance." Example 3: "The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education." Example 4: "He was a simple man who had no inferiority complex about his lack of education and, even more amazing, no superiority complex because he had succeeded despite that lack." Second. The stories she tells give a flavor of living in that place and time, as well as the cultural differences. For example she tells a story that starts with: "One afternoon, I was invited into our smoke-filled dining room to make the acquaintance of Stonewall Jimmy, Just Black, Cool Clyde, Tight Coat, and Red Leg. Daddy Cidell explained to me that they were the most successful con men in the world, and they were going to tell me about some games so that I would never be 'anybody's mark.'" Third. She gives specific examples of how the Black culture differed form the White, specifically the educated Black youth. Example: "We were alert to the gap separating the written word from the colloquial. We learned to slide out of one language and into another without being conscious of the effort. At school, in a given situation, we might respond with 'That's not unusual.' But in the street, meeting the same situation, we easily said, 'It be's like that sometimes.'" Fourth. She depicts the good, the bad and the ugly, not only in herself and her family but also in the Black and White culture. She does not gloss over her fears and failures. She does this not in a judgmental, mean or racist way, but almost as a non involved bystander would, or a journalist trying to be fair. There is much wisdom in this book and I hope my review will encourage you to read it.

The book arrived with a rip on its cover

So easy to read and so fascinating. Highly recommended book for anyone who has heard about Maya and her genius.

El libro es maravilloso y devastador al mismo tiempo. Fácil de leer y difícil de no enganchar, de no sentir impotencia, y frustración y cariño. Lectura obligada para entender un poco de lo que significa ser una minoría.

子供の頃から、恵まれた環境になく、むしろ過酷な経験ばかりを経ているにもかかわらず 筆者の暗さよりも、明るさと強さが感じられる作品でした。 自分が落ち込んでいる時に読んだので、彼女を比べると、私の辛さは大したことではないと、 反省しました。 私の彼女のような強さとたくましさを身につけたいと思いました。

Versão econômica, mas achei ok pelo o preço pago: 8,20 durante a promoção Mega Ofertas (acho que é esse o nome das ofertas que teve agora em Outubro). Tem muitos outros livros em inglês que são versão econômica e mesmo assim são um horror de caros, então achei um preço justo e não me importo muito com o tipo de papel usado. Ainda chocada que paguei só isso em um livro novo em inglês! Seria ótimo se tivesse mais promoções de livros internacionais com preços de fato baixos. Quase sempre mesmo com descontos, mesmo sendo capas comum/econômicos, a maioria que quero estão sempre nessa faixa de 60-80 reais. Que ofertas são essas!?!?! Entrega dentro do prazo pela Loggi e sou cliente prime. Produto internacional vendido e entregue pela Amazon.com.br.