Reviews for Pilgrim Journey

The average rating for Pilgrim Journey based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-12-31 00:00:00 Glenda Deyloff For a project next semester, I need to become familiar with the work of Naomi Long Madgett. I started with this autobiography because I obtained it through interlibrary loan and will have to return it soon (no renewals allowed.) Most of her poetry, though, is available in my local library. Reading this felt very much like listening to my grandmother's reminiscing. Madgett tells her story thematically rather than chronologically, with sections focused on topics that might span decades or even a half century: international travel; all the houses Madgett lived in as an adult; her founding and work on the Lotus Press; two early marriages that ended in divorce; genealogical research on her parents' families (to name just a few.) This was occasionally confusing, as the narration jumped back and forth in time, and the content often felt superficial. The focus was strongly on names and dates and details of daily life, with very little said about national events, how they affected her or what she thought about them. I was glad to get to the chapters about the Lotus Press and Madgett's interactions with other Detroit poets, among other topics addressed in the last third of the book. The superficiality was a little perplexing for the autobiography of a poet, which I thought would spend more time describing a rich inner life. I wonder if Madgett's feeling while writing the autobiography was that she had already spent her life writing about the things that were most important to her, and didn't need to repeat them. In any case, reading her poetry will be next.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-10 00:00:00 Michael Perry Maya Angelou was a poet and Nobel laureate who once gave an address at President Clinton's inauguration. Before she won her multitudes of awards and honors, Maya was raised in rural Stamps, Arkansas by her grandmother and uncle during the depression. First published in 1969 and now considered a modern classic, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings details Angelou's tumultuous childhood in poignant detail. Born Marguerite Johnson and often called Ritie, Maya and her older brother Bailey were taken to live with their grandmother at young ages following their parents' divorce. Even though the south was still in the throes of Jim Crow and Stamps was at the forefront of segregation, young Maya appeared to enjoy a loving childhood. Raised by a strict, church going grandmother and uncle, Maya and Bailey turned to both books and each other for comfort. Devouring books like candy, both children quickly advanced through the Stamps educational system, two grades ahead of schedule. When Maya was eight and Bailey nine, their father came to Arkansas and brought them to live with their mother in St Louis. Coming from a multi racial family, members of Maya's maternal family were light skinned enough to pass for white and some integrated into the German community. It was in St Louis, a city that should have afforded Maya more opportunities than rural Stamps, that she experienced the low point in her childhood. Physically abused by her mother's fiancé, Maya recovered and returned to Stamps and a loving environment. She and Bailey continued to live with their grandmother until they had advanced beyond what the education system offered them in the segregated south. With no future other than a house servant or cotton picker, the two were returned to their mother, now living in desegregated California. While in California, Maya experienced highs and lows as well as Jim Crow rearing its ugly head, the low point of which was living in a car in a junk yard for a month. These experiences, including being reunited with both parents and establishing relationships with them, made for events that Maya could reflect on later on in life in this volume. I find it extraordinary that Maya could overcome being abused as a young child and still manage to graduate school two years ahead of schedule at a high academic level. This is a testament to her grandmother as well as her personal fabric. This fabric lead her to be the first colored streetcar operator in San Francisco and later on the poet laureate that people recognize to this day. Maya Angelou noted her writing influences as Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar, as well as Booker T Washington who encouraged a generation of African Americans to achieve employment through a stellar education. In her dedication, Angelou also cites her parents as being positive influences in her life after they reconciled. A gifted author and poet who was advanced well beyond her years as a child, Maya graced us with her powerful prose in all of her works of literature. A poignant look into a childhood in the Jim Crow, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reveals the upbringing of a remarkable American woman. A courageous glimpse into Angelou's life, this first memoir of hers easily merits 5 bright stars.