Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now (1997) - Plot & Excerpts
Maya Angelou, author of the best-selling books I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Gather Together in My Name, and the Heart of a Woman, has also written several collections of poetry, including Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’fore I Diiie. She read her poem On the Pulse of Morning at the inauguration of President William Jefferson Clinton on January 20, 1993. She also wrote 10 one-hour programmes for the television series called ‘Blacks, Blues, Blacks’, which highlight Africanisms still current in American life. However, the book under discussion here is Angelou’s 1993 book Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now which is considered by many to be an inspirational book. Written in the form of short essays, this memoir muses on spirituality, people who have been important in her life, womanhood, racism, travel and other topics. In ‘New Directions’ she writes: ‘In 1903 the late Mrs Annie Johnson of Arkansas found herself with two toddling sons, very little money, a slight ability to read and add simple numbers. To this picture add a disastrous marriage and the burdensome fact that Mrs Johnson was a Negro.’ Mr William Johnson too was dissatisfied with the marriage. He told her he wanted to preach in Enid, Oklahoma but he did not tell her that he knew a minister there with whom he could study and who had a friendly, unmarried daughter. The couple parted amicably. Annie, who was sturdy and over six feet tall, decided that she would not go to work as a domestic servant and leave her ‘precious babes’ to someone else’s care. In Annie’s words: ‘I looked up the road I was going and back the way I come, and since I wasn’t satisfied, I decided to step off the road and cut me a new path.’ Each morning Annie, armed with an iron brazier and coal, would walk three miles to a cotton gill, carrying two five-gallon pails filled with chicken pies. On reaching the venue she would cook fresh pies and sell it to the labourers for lunch. Then she would walk another five miles down the road to a lumber mill where she would sell her remaining pies. Towards evening she would walk back the eight miles to her house to take care of her babies and her home. The next day she would first walk to the saw mill to sell her pies and then to the cotton gin. She would walk a total of 16 miles everyday. Although business was slow at first, it gradually started picking up. When she was sure that the workers had become dependent on her, she built a stall between the two hives of industry and let the men come to her for their luncheon needs.She had indeed stepped down from the road which was leading her nowhere and cut herself a brand new path. Over time that stall became a store where customers could buy anything from cheese to cookies, and from writing tablets to soles for their worn-out leather shoes. To conclude Annie Johnson’s story I will borrow Angelou’s words from her essay titled ‘In All Ways a Woman’: ‘The woman warrior who is armed with wit and courage will be among the first to celebrate victory.’ The power of her prose is such that it seems as fascinating as poetry. The following lines from the ‘Power of the Word’ will illustrate what I am alluding to: ‘I am a big bird winging over high mountains, down into serene valleys. I am ripples of waves on silver seas. I’m a spring leaf trembling in anticipation.’ The reader could easily mistake these lines to be from a poem had they not been told otherwise in advance. While writing about her mother, the late Vivian Baxter, she writes, ‘She practiced stepping off the expected road and cutting herself a brand-new path anytime the desire arose. She inspired me to write the poem ‘Mrs V. B.’: Ships? Sure I’ll sail them. Show me the boat, If it’ll float, I’ll sail it. Men? Yes, I’ll love them. If they’ve got style, To make me smile, I’ll love them. Life? ’Course I’ll live it. Just enough breath, Until my death, And I’ll live it. Failure? I’m not ashamed to tell it, I never learned to spell it. Not Failure. In the anecdote titled ‘Complaining’, Angelou’s grandmother is teaching her a few things about life or rather how to lead a better life by fighting against all odds: ‘So you watch yourself about complaining, sister. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.’ In ‘Voices of Respect’, the African-American author writes: ‘We have used terms to help us survive slavery, its aftermath, and today’s crisis of revived racism. However, now, when too many children run mad in the land, and now, when we need courtesy as much as or more than ever, and when a little tenderness between people could make life more bearable, we are losing even the appearance of courtesy. Our youth, finding little or no courtesy at home, make exodus into streets filled with violent self-revulsion and an exploding vulgarity.’ Replace the word ‘racism’ with ‘ethnicity and sectarianism’ and you almost feel that these lines have been written about Pakistan in general, and Karachi in particular. So the youth of the US, the one and only superpower, are no better than those of Pakistan. She concludes: ‘We must recreate an attractive and caring attitude in our homes and in our worlds.’ The same holds true for Pakistan. In an anecdote titled ‘Our Boys’ she writes about befriending a Jew while interviewing him for the television programme ‘Blacks, Blues, Blacks’. However, she is later extremely hurt to learn that he is, in fact, a racist and hates blacks, which is why the first line reads: ‘Here is a dark little tale which exposes the general pain of racism.’ Had the incident been the other way around, poor Maya Angelou would not only have been labelled an ‘anti-Semite’ but would also have been blacklisted by the media as well as book publishers. In the essay titled ‘Jealousy’, she writes, ‘It must be remembered, however, that jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savour, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening.’ Do these words need further explanation? I don’t think so as Angelou has herself said it extremely well.
This is a small book that is mainly a compilation of short writings by Maya Angelou. Some are just a few paragraphs while others run into a few pages. Published in 1994, it would have been a collection of blog posts today! Angelou talks about various topics: women empowerment, racism, religion, struggle, family, and so on. Like most books of this type (meaning, a collection of writings), there are some articles that are very good and some you would think deserve more thought. And usually at the end, you yearn for a much bigger book that has better flow and continuity, and talks about everything in depth. Maya Angelou is a wonderful writer who evokes so much thought in her prose and it is wasted on small musings.But as I was saying, there are a few outstandingly good pieces. I liked the story of Annie Johnson, who managed to lift herself out of dire straits with nothing but hard work. Angelou’s story of how her choice of dress created difficulties for her young son was very touching. There is also the amazing story of how an elderly couple just wanted to hear the sounds coming from their servant’s quarters because they had no fun left in their life. Angelou tells us anecdotes and stories that can stay with us a long time.The weak portions of the book are where Angelou tried to take on some topic and express her ideas. It is not that she is wrong. It is simply that it is a quick opinion, not fleshed out. Almost superficial in some respects. For example, Angelou talks about how travel can broaden one’s mind. But it is almost a throwaway article. A better piece would have been to explain how we are all so influenced by the environment in which we move that we don’t even know how the rest of the world lives. What their hopes, dreams, aspirations, and way of thinking are. It is not that people who are different from us are necessarily better. In fact, some of them may be more prejudiced than we. But getting to know each other helps us all work through our preconceived notions and mutual hostility, creating a better world.So, bottom line: Good book, but too much outline. Angelou should have put more work into some of the essays.
What do You think about Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now (1997)?
It pains me to give anything that Maya Angelou wrote anything less than 5 star. My first reading of her was Letters to my daughters and it was so wonderful that I am seeking to read everything else that she wrote. Letters to my daughters and this book are different from her autobiographical books, of essay type and offer sage advices. However, compared to the other, this book is too short and fails to showcase Maya's insight and writing. They read like your general Kitchen soup for the soul rather than from an extraordinary women like Maya. It took me an hour to finish and left me frustrating. I do like some of the chapters, but they are repetitive from her other books that I have read.
—Annie Vu
This is fabulous. I was given this as a gift nearly 20 years ago when I was still in my teens, and just re-read it recently. Full of essays and prose about womanhood, bravery, kindness and confidence. This was my introduction to Maya Angelou, and reading it the second time was as wonderful of an experience as reading it the first time. You can hear her voice - wise and soothing - as you read it, which is an added treat. This is an excellent gift for a woman of any age, especially for a young woman. Curl up with Maya, a cup of coffee or a glass of wine anytime you want to feel a little more connected to all that you are, or connected to the wonderful women in your life.
—Patti
Maya Angelou discusses life and some of the lessons she’s learned along the way. Faith, racism, grieving, and respect are just a few of the topics included in this book.While most of the lessons this author speaks about were inspiring, there was one in particular which I liked the most. It has to do with moving in new directions. Sometimes you come to a point in which you are not satisfied with the way your life is headed or with the choices you have in front of you. When that happens, Angelou suggests that you have to step off the road and cut yourself a brand-new path. In other words, you have to get creative and make new options for yourself. It always feels rewarding when you can come away from a book feeling like you learned something valuable that you can apply to your own life.
—Lennie
