The Color of Water: Part 2

After 18 chapters, I'm starting to kind of like The Color of Water. I've enjoyed his mother's story about 12 hundred times more than his, and I'm not quite sure why. I feel that his story in this book is supposed to be about racial hardships that he's faced, but nothing's been that extreme, or even worth telling, to me. He has more of a problem with his mother being white than he does with himself being black. His mother's story, however, has captured me. Both he and his mother faced racial persecution at some point or another, but he had a loving family at home to help support him, and she didn't. The one part that really bothered me however was the abortion. She talked a lot about her Christian transformation, and I was hoping she'd realize what a mistake she had made to abort the baby in the same way. I found it bizarre that she never said she regretted that decision or how it later effected her because I don't think there's any way to go through that and not have it deeply effect you. Her independence in leaving her family and moving away was great to see though. Especially for a woman in that time, that had to be hard to do, and I have to give props to that. In all honesty, I have no idea how this book is going to end, but I'm actually anticipating finishing it.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

To be honest, When I first heard the title of the book we were to read next, I was not excited at all. The title alone sounded boring and did not make me want to read a single page. Mrs. Leffler said that most students either love it or hate it, which concerned me. I'm one of those people who have a strong opinion about almost everything; something I love I can complete with utmost passion, but if I don't like it, it's an act of congress to get myself to finish it. But I gave The Color of Water a stab.

Oddly enough, I don't have a strong opinion about the book yet. I'm not losing sleep to see what happens in chapter 10, but I am slightly anxious to see where the story goes. I find this story hard to relate to. I come from a loving Christian family and haven't had to deal with racism in daily life. That may be just because I've only lived 17 years, but I hope to never have to face that.

I do really like the story of how she's converted from being Jewish to Christian. It's neat to hear her explain how she now finds the rituals of Judaism legalistic and unnecessary to her faith. I think that's still a major problem in even "christian" churches today and not a lot of people address it.

I'm going to give this book the benefit of the doubt. I do want to enjoy it, so maybe in the next few chapters it'll get even better.

Final response to King's "On Writing"

In On Writing: A Memoir to the Craft, King states his motto of "Read a lot, and more importantly, write a lot." His dedication throughout the years prove that if one wants to excel at something, practice really does make perfect.  Even in the hard times, King gives examples of how living this motto out can bring success to unexpectant people.

When King first began writing, it would've been easy for him to give up. King faced rejection and criticism (not always constructive) as early as high school while writing for his school's paper. He didn't let pride get in the way of continuing to write though. He found that he loved writing fiction and stuck with it, even when others thought he shouldn't.

Once older, King started to face hardships. Drugs and alcohols became addictions, and even though some of his best books came through this, he says he wishes he could remember and enjoying the actual writing of these works. This would have been an easy time for King to give in to the struggles and stop writing, but he didn't. Help through this rough patch came from his wife, Tabitha. She is a writer herself, and many times she was the first to read his latest novel and honestly critique it. When King threw away a draft of Carrie, Tabitha dug it out of the trash to read. Her encouragement and availability aided King through his addictions and urged him to keep writing.

In 1999, King was hit by a car. It's truly a miracle that he survived at all. The injuries were extensive and provided yet another opportunity for King to give up writing once and for all. He had money from his previous works, so that wasn't an issue. His recovery time would be long, and for a while, King didn't think he'd ever write again. Once again, Tabitha came to his rescue. She found his old writing desk and set it up where he could access it. he wrote for three hours and 45 minutes straight. That amount of time has to count as "practice". Even if he has to deal with pain, King still "reads a lot, and writes a lot".

King summed up his view of writing best when he concluded, "Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over."
This memoir can be an encouragement and extremely helpful tool to any young writer.