This was and wasn’t what I expected. I think I underestimated the historical context and so failed to appreciate the significance of the story I was being told. I found out after I’d finished it that this was effectively the first novel by a Black woman to be so graphically descriptive of the issues that all Black women were facing in the US at the time. Thus, it broke literary barriers and set a standard that has rarely been matched, in part because society has moved on, albeit not entirely.
This first volume of Angelou’s seven volume autobiography, tells the story of her growing up away from her parents in the southern US. Segregation was a daily reality and the two encounters with White people are shown in their horrific detail. But it was, ironically, at the hands of one of her own family that Angelou was to suffer most with an episode that it must have taken considerable courage to relate even 30 years after the event.
The writing style I found frustrating. On the one hand, Angelou is a master storyteller who has an ability to craft poetic prose and use metaphor to an astonishing degree. But there were pages and pages where the writing seemed very banal, events were narrated with a humdrum and routine monotony that made me wonder why the writer was bothering to relate them. This inconsistency was my only gripe with a book which has a huge legacy and an impact on US literature to this day.
| OPENING LINE |
What are you looking at me for?
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| 99TH PAGE QUOTE |
This far into the book, some of the plot might be revealed. If you want to see the quote, click show
Momma said, “Sister, I know you acted like a little lady. That do my heart good to see settled people take to you all. I’m trying my best, the Lord knows, but these days…” Her voice trailed off. “Go on in and change your dress.”
In the bedroom it was going to be a joy to see Bailey receive his cookies. I said, “By the way, Bailey, Mrs. Flowers sent you some tea cookies-”
Momma shouted, “What did you say, Sister?” You, Sister, what did you say?” Hot anger was crackling in her voice.
Bailey said, “She said Mrs. Flowers sent me some-”
“I ain’t talking to you, Ju.” I heard the heavy feet walk across the floor toward our bedroom. “Sister, you heard me. What’s that you said?” She swelled to fill the doorway.
Bailey said, “Momma.” His pacifying voice- “Momma, she-”
“You shut up, Ju. I’m talking to your sister.”
I don’t know what sacred cow I had bumped, but it was better to find out than to hang like thread over an open fire. I repeated, “I said, ‘Bailey, by the way, Mrs. Flowers sent you-’”
“That’s what I thought you said. Go on and take off your dress. I’m going to get a switch.”
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| QUOTES |
The act of rape on an eight-year-old body is a matter of the needle giving because the camel can’t.
I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God’s will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale or responsibility at commensurate speed.
I knew I knew very little, but I was certain that the things I had yet to learn wouldn’t be taught to me at… school.
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| CLOSING LINE |
This might reveal the ending. If you want to see the quote, click show
She turned out the light and I patted my son’s body lightly and went back to sleep.
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RATING
Key: Legacy | Plot / toPic | Characterisation / faCts | Readability | Achievement | Style Read more about how I come up with my ratings
