Questions About Hum If You Don't Know the Words

by Bianca Marais (Goodreads Author)

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Hum If You Don't Know the Words, please sign up.

Answered Questions (4)

I have this book on the table to read. I also have UNDERGROUND and HOMEGOING. and will read them all. Question: I have to recommend a book for our 2018 book group, I wonder if any of the three would be a good choice. I am not thinking of the books but my group. We are level headed, and open but we are white. How can white women fully relate to any of the above? What can we bring to the conversation?

Amber I am starting this one now so I can't say between all three, but have read both of the others, and I'd choose Homegoing over Underground Railroad for …moreI am starting this one now so I can't say between all three, but have read both of the others, and I'd choose Homegoing over Underground Railroad for a group. There are two drastically different styles of storytelling (although I feel both are very important stories): Underground for the most part stays with the main character Cora throughout the story, and Homegoing transitions through characters over a long period of time. The reason I would recommend Homegoing, especially for a white audience (I am white), is because I was constantly left wanting, wondering what happened to ____ as the the story progressed. But that's the whole point though. White generations have had their stories told and endings documented, and for the most part if you want to find out your genealogy you can do so. The stories of black generations for so long went unfinished. People would literally disappear without a trace. It's profound and devastating. And what I took away from this (and Underground Railroad, and The Fire this Time, and others like it) is that as a white person I will never understand the plight of descendants of African slaves, but it makes me self-aware of my own white privilege (which in the case of Homegoing is the fact that I can trace my ancestral heritage... without a prevalence of unthinkable violence). I think in a book group you couldn't go wrong with either of the two I've read. (less)

flag

Does anyone know if there will be a sequel? There was indication, near the end, that the women's lives were intertwined in the future.

Mary-anne Wagenveld I don’t know but she seems to intimate that there will be!

flag

WHY IS THE BOOK CALLED HUM IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE WORDS?

Rica

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

flag

Is anyone else reminded of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible when they read this?

Chris No comparison! Kingsolver's book was wonderful, this one was so-so at best. PB gave the story and let the reader make the judgment, but this one was s…moreNo comparison! Kingsolver's book was wonderful, this one was so-so at best. PB gave the story and let the reader make the judgment, but this one was so heavy-handed, beating you over and over again with what you should think. (less)

flag