I find difficulty rating some books – and writers – and Alice Walker is one of those writers I often find it difficult to "rate" using stars. Star ratings, I think, are misleading and somewhat misguided. People make judgments on the basis of star ratings, forgetting that reading is a largely personal activity; therefore, what moves me in a book may not move the next person.I say all of this to say that I am a fan of Alice Walker [and/or her writing], in spite of the difficulty of her work. What I mean by difficulty is tricky. It makes sense to me, but I don't know how to put it in words for other people to understand. Basically, Alice Walker's writing requires work. Sometimes, it is difficult to get through an entire collection, because Walker deals in difficult "truths." She deals with topics that the average person feels comfortable ignoring, because - really - who wants to be depressed by the state of the world, right? This book moved me greatly, and I gained some new illumination about myself in the course of reading.I am giving it a five-star rating, in spite of everything I wrote at the beginning. Five stars for feeling; for literary merit; and for beauty. Five stars because I learnt new things and thought 'new' thoughts. Five stars, not because it is necessarily interesting - see: "misleading" - but because it is educational – inspirational, if you will – and it contains some truths about the world that we all need to hear.Favourite quotes:Father“...that visceral understanding of a situation that for a poet can mean a poem.”Trying to See My Sister (On Dessie Woods)There is no story more moving to me personally than one in which one woman saves the life of another, and saves herself, as slays whatever dragon has appeared.The Old Artist: Notes on Mr Sweet"He was an artist. He went deep into his own pain and brought out words and music that made us happy, made us feel empathy for anyone in trouble, made us think."- "the greatest of the old black singer poets, Langston Hughes..."Coming in from the cold"When we hold up a light in order to see anything outside ourselves more clearly, we illuminate ourselves."- "to permit our language to be heard, and especially the words and speech of our old ones, is to expose the depth of the conflict between us an our oppressors and the centuries it has not at all silently raged..."Nobody was supposed to survive"Grief: that feeling of unassuageable sadness and rage that makes the heart feel naked to the elements, clawed by talons of ice."
