Reviews with content warning for Rape - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

311 reviews

nlo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I saw someone in the reviews wrote that it would have been better if it was fiction ??? its an autobiography ... and to top it off it was written by and about *the* talented Maya Angelou. That seemed like such an odd comment to me.

Anyway, this book satisfies my taste for autobiographies of famous American culture literature writers. While I might not relate to most of what Angelou shares, I would have been telling a complete lie if I said this piece of literature was not moving. Not only does this autobiography show you what it took for Ms. Angelou to become who she became, it also showed me a glimpse of what it was like to live in the United States as a black woman in the 30s and 40s. Angelou does a great job of sharing some of the smaller details and larger themes that encompassed American society at that time in a way that puts American history books to shame.

Content Warnings

mharrison13's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

atuin's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective

5.0

A beutifuly written memoir about growing up during the 30's and 40's. I'm glad I listened to the audio version, as one of the events in the novel is Maya Angelou learning that speaking text gives it more life than just reading. All of the people she writes about are so well written they seem to jump out of the recording. As a memoir, it goes through different moments of her life that she remembers, some funny, some terribly sad, but all are interesting and paint a picture of a fascinating and well lived life.

Content Warnings

fjcrow's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Content Warnings

juliaosk's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Interesting book. I thought it interesting to be able to see what it was like for Maya and her family at this time in the 20th century.
Made my sad and angry, and also happy. Interesting to see the difference in life back then and now, and how white people looked at colored people and vice versa.
Do recommend this book for people who like autobiographies, to catch a glimpse into another world and/or time.

Content Warnings