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Amazon.co.uk Review
The impact of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (which evoked the author's adolescence and sexual abuse in Arkansas) was unprecedented. It combined frankness and emotional force with a nuanced, poetic style--a style that Angelou has perhaps found more elusive recently. But it's here again, as affecting as ever.
The new book deals with the years 1964-68, a turbulent period in which Angelou came back to America after her African sojourn. This, of course, was the time of the murders of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King; Angelou was on the point of working with the latter in the civil rights movement. As always, her voice is fresh and exhilarating as she deals with the tragedies and triumphs of a packed life, and there are some set-piece moments, such as her account of a misguided revenge she took on an ex-lover.
Many women have become celebrated as writers and poets, but Angelou has also enjoyed a distinguished career as a civil rights activist, producer, performer, actress and filmmaker. With all of this under her belt, she can be forgiven the note of self-congratulation that creeps in at times. But for those who've followed her unique writing, this is a journey into a fascinating life and a riveting picture of divided America, always informed with that clear vision Angelou is famous for. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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In the novel we see Maya reunited with her mother and brother, before being told the news that the man she had come to work with - Malcolm X - had been assassinated. She is devastated, but tries to put her life back together - starring on stage in local theatres and conducting Market research on black women. She discovers that many of the people she surveys in Watts, an area of Los Angeles are unhappy with their lives - having to cope with very little income because their husbands are not working and having to raise their children. This desperation is captured perfectly with Maya's wonderful writing style -"Without steady salaries, the people could not envision tomorrows." Soon riots break out in Watts, which she is a first hand witness to.
In 1968 Maya travels to New York to meet Martin Luther King Jnr., who had asked her to be his coordinator and to travel the country to pass on a message of non-violent protest to black preachers. Before she is able to make this journey, she is confronted by the terrible news of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jnr. This time, unlike the period after the death of Malcolm X, Maya totally withdraws from the world, finding it impossible to cope with the tragic death. But James Baldwin, a black and openly gay preacher is able to remove her from her isolation and invite her to a dinner party, where the idea for writing the novel 'I know why the caged bird sings' is born.
While her first book concentrated on the childhood horror that Maya experienced including the divorce of her parents and being raped by her mother's boyfriend, this final instalment concentrates on a different time of turmoil in Maya's life with the deaths of two people she was fond of and looked up to, but also plants the seeds for hope, when she begins writing the first novel of the series, which went on to become a critically acclaimed bestseller.
Although, I don't imagine that this will be anyway near as popular as 'I know why the caged bird songs', it still contains the wonderful and beautiful prose that she was famed for, "Some words are spoken and not heard because the ears cannot hear them." With this descriptive writing she actually TAKES us there, and relives her torture in such detail that it is easy to imagine that it is a work of fiction, rather than the completely true and autobiographical account that it is. If you were lucky enough to have seen Maya reading extracts from the book at the Hay-On-Wye festival you'll know that she is not just a talented and inspiring writer, but also a wonderful performer, bringing aspects of her book to life with her beautiful voice and expressions.
If you've read any of Angelou's other books then reading this will probably be like chatting to an old friend, but if this is your first time reading her books then you'll still be pleasantly surprised by this, the final memoir in her autobiographical collection which also gives a summary of her life thus far. Something that might have improved the book would be the inclusion of something at the end about her writing her novels, so the reader is given an idea of one of Maya's big successes, to end the collection on a joyous note. It is also incredibly short with large fonts and big margins so I finished it within a few hours. But these are minor quibbles when you realise how beautiful and inspirational this novel is. A heart-warming, engaging and excellent summer read, a celebration of a phenomenal and brilliant woman.
I recommend this to anyone. Please buy it, read it and enjoy it.
Angelou's path to success was a rocky one. As a child she was the victim of abuse and her young adult life was far from easy. She shares her experiences with candor and grace, I never felt as if she was telling the glamorized version of her experiences. She shared both her triumphs and her regrets, her successes and her failures. Her writing was conversational, and as I read through this book I felt at times as if we were sitting and chatting. Maya's relationships with such figures as Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and Martin Luther King Jr., were discussed at length in this novel and several other famous figures were featured with less detail. I appreciated that she didn't "dish dirt" about these people, instead she portrayed the people behind the work for which they were famous.
This book continued the journey of Angelou's often difficult life, but I felt like I was left hanging. I respect her decision not to write about writing, but after reading about so many of the difficulties she had to overcome in her life I wanted to hear about her ultimate success as a writer. Still, I appreciated her openness and willingness to share her life's arduous journey with readers. I truly believe that her life symbolizes strength of character and perseverance in a manner that should serve as an inspiration to all, and particularly to women. As such, I highly recommend Maya Angelou's final chapter of her collection of memoirs.--Reviewed by Stacey Seay
Maya tells of her trip from Africa to Los Angeles and then to
New York. During this time she experiences the absence of her son, who stayed in Africa to continue his education, and the lost love of her African spouse. With the help of family and friends Maya gains the strength to rise again. The story ends at the beginning of her first book in this bio series.
In this reader's opinion, a song flung up to heaven is a silent prayer for the strength to go on in this life, and the prayer always returns with the needed relief through the thoughtfulness of those around us. The joy of this book was listening to the author read it in her own voice through recorded books.
This sixth memoir starts with Dr. Angelou's return to the U.S. from Ghana, West Africa. It ends with the time she was about to write her first memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. In between, the book is filled with her encounters with various people and her experience during some disturbing times in American history - the murder of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Watts riots in California.
I most enjoyed reading about my favorite personalities from Dr. Angelou's past memoirs - Vus Make, her handsome, intelligent, charismatic African husband; Bailey Johnson, her older, caring big brother; Guy Johnson, her intelligent, independent son and Vivian Baxter, her smart mother.
Reading Dr. Angelou's continued memoir is like sitting with an old, trusted and respected friend; there's a treasured feeling as you listen to her stories as they come one after the other.
Fafa Demasio
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