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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
Ms. Angelou had such an amazing voice, such amazing experiences. I am not sure I would have picked this up without the Read Harder Challenge and I am so thankful I did?
2017 Read Harder Challenge- a travel memoir
2017 Read Harder Challenge- a travel memoir
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou (1991)
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Mais uma vez Maya Angelou abre o meu coração e guia-nos de forma delicada na sua história.
Na sua viagem de autodescoberta sentimos a dor de chegar a um sítio que achávamos que seria casa e mesmo assim nos vemos como outro... Com cameos de gigantes da história negra mundial este livro deixá-nos no meio da ação.
Na sua viagem de autodescoberta sentimos a dor de chegar a um sítio que achávamos que seria casa e mesmo assim nos vemos como outro... Com cameos de gigantes da história negra mundial este livro deixá-nos no meio da ação.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
“The black American is a shadow in white America, a moving, walking, talking shadow.”
Maya Angelou’s All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes is a reflective and deeply personal memoir that follows her time in Ghana during the 1960s, a period when she, like many Black Americans, sought a connection to Africa as a homeland. The book is rich with Angelou’s signature poetic prose, insightful cultural observations, and moments of warmth, but it doesn’t always come together as a wholly satisfying narrative.
One of the memoir’s greatest strengths is Angelou’s ability to capture the emotional complexity of her experience. She explores themes of identity, belonging, and displacement with moving honesty, detailing how her idealized vision of Africa meets the reality of being an outsider even among those she considers kin. Encounters with other expatriates, Ghanaian intellectuals, and even Kwame Nkrumah add depth to the story, but at times, these moments feel more like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive memoir.
The pacing can be uneven, with some sections feeling overly drawn out while others—particularly those addressing the larger political and social climate—could have benefited from further exploration. Additionally, while Angelou’s lyrical writing is undeniably beautiful, it sometimes overshadows clarity, making certain passages feel more like poetic musings than a fully developed narrative.
Despite these shortcomings, All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes remains an insightful exploration of identity and diaspora. It may not be the most gripping installment in Angelou’s autobiographical series, but it offers moments of brilliance that make it a worthwhile, if occasionally uneven, read.