"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning."
Publisher: Virago; New Ed edition (26 Jan. 1984)
Fun Fact: I'm named after Maya Angelou.
(Warning: Spoilers)
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was a beautiful masterpiece. It depicts the beginning of her life story. Maya and her brother Bailey are sent by their mother to stay with their grandmother in a small southern town. The book has a tasteful and sensitive approach to issues of molestation, rape and racism.
I approached this book from a different angle. I listened to the Audible audiobook version, and it was the best media in which to understand her journey. Maya narrates the book herself, and as a result, her essence is weaved into every word. It makes the book even more personal and helps you better connect to her story. She has a deep, sincere, softness in her voice that is drawn on her worldly experience of life.
In my favourite chapter, Maya depicts the scene of people crowding inside the Store to watch a heavyweight boxing match. The atmosphere was tense as they watched Joe Louis, the hero of the entire black community, defend his world title. Maya understands that his loss would have represented so much more than it appeared.
"My race groaned. It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another Black man hanging on a tree. . . . This might be the end of the world. If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help."
But Joe did win and proved once again that they were the strongest race in the world. However, their happy dances were short-lived as the reality of their continual daily struggles set in. Here, we can see the way she can describe a scene and encompass the tone of the entire room effortlessly. It is one of the things that I love about her writing style. It is so descriptive; she can evoke so much in very few words. It is beautiful.
This book follows Maya from a young girl, to a young woman. We read as she deciphers the world around her and acts accordingly. She drives her drunk father across Mexican mountains back home. Maya fought passionately to become the first black female cable car conductor in San Francisco and succeeded. She carried her baby boy through gaining her high school diploma for eight months and one week unbeknown to her family. Maya Angelou had faced unimaginable hardship and battled through it all. She was fierce and intelligent, even from a young age.
And I am proud to be named after such a strong woman.
Great to hear your take on this book and the audiobook. It’s admirable to see how the essence of Maya’s words came through the passion of her writing and didn’t lose its authenticity.