"The Color of Water" - James McBride

The other day, I asked someone what one of their favorite books is,
and they said "The Color of Water."

I became curious and found the following link (below) to Penguin
Reading Guides, which looks like a useful site.

Last night I saw McBride's book on sale, and flipped through some
pages.

I am looking around at so many different books, but only certain ones
attract me. My "problem" is that years ago I became "hooked" on
philosophy, metaphysics, symbolism, and psychoanalytic
interpretation. It got to the point that I felt that only such books were
worthy of study (and notice that my instinct is to say study rather than
simply read.)

Recently, I began to feel self-conscious and guilty about the fact that I
am age 55 and have read so many books in my life, but have never
read a book by an African American (not that I consciously avoided
such books, or considered the ethnicity or gender of an author before
reading.) I decided to remedy this deficiency and chose James
Baldwin's "Go Tell It On The Mountain." I find the story fascinating,
riveting. I rather doubt that there is symbolism or philosopy woven
into the novel after the fashion of someone like Milan Kundera. It is
just a really good story and true to life. Of course, one may always
"psychoanalyze" any fictional work, since there are always characters
with personalities, gifts, flaws, desires, motives, etc.

Speaking of the analysis of stories, an acquaintance of mine recently
pointed out something about Spielberg's movie "A.I." which had totally
escaped me. She pointed out that one might analyze the robotic toy,
"Teddy," with regard to his desire to be seen as "not a toy" and his
devotion to David. I have watched the video several times and never
thought deeply about it.

It is funny how we miss things and then, suddenly, we read or hear
something which makes those missed things jump up and stand out,
in our face.

Yesterday, I was discussing Germany and the World Wars, and "All
Quiet on the Western Front," and someone comment that he could not
understand Nazi position, but added as an afterthought, that if we
could REALLY understand someone elses position, then we would
ADOPT it as our own position. His insight seemed very significant to
me.

I have often felt that one could not truly understand Doestoevsky
unless one truly understood the Russian Orthodox Church and
monastic spirituality. But to truly understand Orthodoxy and
monasticism, one must embrace it and become part of it, and live it, if
only for a period.

Of course there are various levels of understanding. We may read
books by Jacques Cousteau and watch deep sea diving
documentaries, and read "The Sea Around Us" by Rachael Carson and
come to understand much about the sea, but such an understanding will always be vicarious.
It is not the same understanding
as the first-hand, subjective understanding of someone who
actually dives and works on board a ship.

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http://www.penguinputnam.com/static/..._of_water.html

THE COLOR OF WATER: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
by James McBride

James McBride grew up one of twelve siblings in the all-black housing
projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, the son of a black minister and a
woman who would not admit she was white. The object of McBride's
constant embarrassment, and his continuous fear for her safety, his
mother was an inspiring figure, who through sheer force of will saw
her dozen children through college, and many through graduate
school. McBride was an adult before he discovered the truth about his
mother: the daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi in rural
Virginia, she had run away to Harlem, married a black man, and
founded an all-black Baptist church in her living room in Red Hook. In
this remarkable memoir, she tells in her own words the story of her
past. Around her narrative, James McBride has written a powerful
portrait of growing up, a meditation on race and identity, and a
poignant, beautifully crafted hymn from a son to his mother.