The Color of Water by James McBride
Reviewed By Kevin Dervishi
The Color of Water is a very unique book about and written by James McBride. It is not an action book or a large bundle of emotions. It’s a memoir of a man’s life, James McBride. And his life, just like the book, is very unique. The book shows the entire path of his life; and the life before him. Around half the book is told by his mother, Ruth McBride whose tale is just as interesting. They both show the roads they took, all the stones they passed, and what lies underneath them.
Ruth McBride is a different woman with a strange tale. She's a white Jewish woman converted to Christianity that had two husbands, both black in a time of segregation and racism. As a young girl she ran away from her sick mother and cretin of a father. After dealing with trial after trial she finally manages to get a home, and raise a family with her husband. She has a baby. And then another. And another. And another until eventually she had 12 kids.
James McBride is one of those kids. All 12 kids (including James) had to deal with racism and everything it causes. As you can imagine his family was incredibly poor, and adding that to the struggles they've all been dealing with, well, that might just drive everybody crazy. James has to cope with this all, and make a future for himself in the chaos of his crowded house.
The Color of Water is a book many people wouldn't like. Anyone under 13 probably wouldn't be interested, and it does contain some mature themes, but aside from that, the main reason is that this book is all about life. It doesn't have some lesson out of a made up situation, because it's real, the whole book is real, and it's them is life. It's theme is life and nothing but. It's a riveting tale of a mother and her son's life that deals with all the elements of life itself, and you have to be the type of person that can enjoy that and appreciate it. I did, and I give it a four out of five.
