Re: The Color of Water -- English Discussion Group

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Date Posted: 10:37:44 02/13/00 Sun
Author: Raymond Ravinsky
Subject: Re: The Color of Water
In reply to: Sharon Tzur 's message, "The Color of Water" on 15:45:15 02/08/00 Tue

Your reaction is understandable, Sharon. I, too, found the book very disturbing, until a point. The point was where James journeys to Suffolk, Virginia, exploring his mother's roots. There he meets kind Jewish folk. There, for the first time, he sees Jewish folk in a bright and loving light. The Chapter about the Jewish wedding of his friend, is very positive and well-disposed towards the Jewish goings-on. I don't have the book on hand, but I believe that McBride makes an explicit reference to a "beautiful side" to Judaism. I read the book quite recently for my Lit. course at the Open U. Prof. Isabel Berman pointed out, that the story of James McBride's mother relates to that one (Jewish) family, and by no means to Jewry as a whole. Also, apparently, James and Ruth (his mother) were recently in Israel, visiting relatives. I think we need to be cautious and realize that this is the story of Ruth Shilsky and her Jewish background. There are no general statements about all Jews. Perhaps we just need to accept that this type of thing (the abuse) did and does happen in Jewish families, too.

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