A Caged Bird

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm not keen on reviewing this book. It's so revered, it would feel like blasphemy to criticise it in any way. However, here it goes. For me, the narrative was disjointed and was made up of mostly unconnected vignettes. It skimmed over things I would love to have known more about (her time living in a junkyard?) while dwelling on incidents that didn't add anything to the memoir. This didn't distract from the often grotesque racism and violence she endured as a child, which made me livid with rage for her. But I couldn't understand her parent's motives from what was offered; what they actually did for a living or why they dumped their children with their grandmother when they seemed to be relatively well off. A book, although often beautifully written, which left me frustrated and unfulfilled. Then I saw there were six more volumes, and I knew I wouldn't read them. Disappointed.



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