A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

This is a story set in Brooklyn about Francie growing up in abject poverty during the early 1900s. I appreciate this book because it gives a clear sense of life during the Gilded Age. It is along the same vain as The Jungle, but does not have as much of a political spin on it. Other themes of the book beyond poverty are adolescence, alcoholism, feminism, sex, and love.

Apparently, the book is largely based on the author's own life. This is Betty Smith's only widely known and read novel. The book had immense success and publicity. Part of the publicity was the shock value of one of the themes of the book- sex. Apparently, during Smith's day, sex was not talked about as openly as in the book. The author explores Francie's thoughts and emotions regarding having sex for the first time, adultery, and even rape. Although sex has relatively low shock value today, I can understand why it may have shocked people sixty years ago. The book addresses the idea of unwedded mothers and sex before marriage.

I am happy that I read an American classic because I have a better image in my mind of immigration and poverty at the turn of the century. However, I was expecting more from the last 100 pages of the book. I was waiting for the book to take me on a specific journey. Instead, the novel is a story about Francie's life that does not necessarily have a resolution, or satisfying resolution, at the end of the book.

Outliers

While at a bar in Boston, some of my field hockey teammates struck up a conversation about the nature of race. Betsy and I took the stance that race is just a social construct and not actual science. There is nothing in my DNA that is different than Betsy's DNA just because I'm Asian and she's white. However, some teammates believed that there were inherent differences in people due to race. For example, the stereotype of Asians doing well in math and Ethiopians beating out anyone in a long distance race came to mind. If race has no true meaning other than a simplified way for humans to categorize people based on looks, then why do these stereotypes often hold true?

I couldn't figure out how to justify my position and it was completely frustrating. If society believes there are differences between races because of inherent genetics, then we fall into a trap. This is the same trap we saw in our early American laws that stated black people were 3/5 of white people because blacks were considered inherently different because of their race. We know now that this is not true. However, I still couldn't think of a logical answer to explain that race and science do not go together.

I wish I had read Outliers before this conversation about race because the book indirectly answers my question. Outliers is a book about how unusual success stories come true. Malcolm Gladwell uses Canadian pro hockey players, Bill Gates, The Beatles, and J. Robert Oppenheimer to explain success stories. With all of these outliers. Gladwell states that all four cases had extraordinary circumstances in addition to 10,000 hours of practice, which led to their success. Without being aware, most people know these outliers after their success and assume that anyone can reach that high level of success. For example, I had a former student who explained that getting a D in class was okay because Bill Gates did not graduate from college and he's rich. Unfortunately, my student, and I assume many others, failed to understand the history, circumstances, and hard work that led up to Bill Gates' success. The reasons for his success is a completely complicated story that involves growing up at the right time, having access to a state of the art computer, sneaking out in the middle of the night in high school to use this one-of-a-kind computer, and having hours of programming practice (the magic number is roughly 10,000 hours by the time Gates went to college).

Luckily, Gladwell explains the outliers of Asians and math, which helps my race argument. There is an Asian history, or legacy as Gladwell explains, that explains why Asians are good at math and it has nothing to do with genetics. First, Asian kids are in school more days in the year than Western kids because of a legacy that revolves around harvesting. Asian society developed a rice growing culture and Western culture developed a culture of growing wheat. Apparently, rice harvesting and wheat harvesting are completely different; rice is harvested year round and does not depend on weather whereas wheat is only harvested in the summer and is very dependent on good weather. As a result, schooling in Asia developed into a year-round school because rice could be harvested at any time. Children did not need to be pulled out of school because of good weather or the time of year. On the other hand, in Western society, summers were always off because, traditionally speaking, children had to leave school in order to harvest the family wheat. To this day, the American school system is based off our early tradition of harvesting wheat. And, as studies show, having less school days or hours results in less learning.

Besides number of school days, Asian languages allow for better retention and easier manipulation of math language. In Asian languages, the first ten numbers are all one syllable. After ten, the numbers are added together. The easiest translation is that eleven is called ten and one. This is true for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (Ah! It all made sense to me while I counted numbers in Korean in my head. Counting in Korean is easier). This math language system allows Asians not only to remember a higher sequence of numbers, but it is extremely easy for children to learn. Consequently, children in Asia are counting higher and using math earlier than children in America because of the math language. Think about it, the words eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen are not only difficult to say, but are difficult for a child to learn because it does not follow a pattern. Wouldn't it make sense if eleven was eleventeen, or better yet, eleven was just called ten and one? Instead, like many rules in our English language (good/better/best?), there are odd rules and endings even in our math language.

After having learned this information, I had a break through. Success stories aren't based on race. Success stories are based on the right circumstances, access to materials, ability to practice, and cultural legacies. This isn't to say that all hope should be given up because we, here in America, do not have a rice growing cultural legacy. But, being aware of these ideas is a good start and certainly understanding that race does not account for success is fantastic.

After the Quake

I picked this book up randomly at my public library. One of the other books by this author, Haruki Murakami, was featured by the library. As a Japanese author, Murakami has won numerous awards in Japan and abroad. His work has been featured in various U.S. magazines, such as The New Yorker. The book that I chose, After the Quake, is a series of short stories.
The short stories are based upon the 1995 earthquake that hit the city of Kobe. The author came back to Japan and was so moved by the catastrophic events of the quake that he created six short stories. The only commonality of the six stories is that the earthquake plays some minor or major role in the stories. As described, "each story is affected perhiperally by the disaster."

Murakami's writing is very poetic, but flows very easily. It is not laborious to read his work: the book is fast to read. However, I recognize that his writing is a little different than American or British writers. I don't really know how to describe it other than by saying that the scenes or analogies Murakami sets up are not as straight forward or western as American writers. As a result, it was refreshing for me to read work created by a foreign author. I can't remember the last time that I actually read work created by an artist from another country. Most of my reading are created by American writers or immigrant American writers.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

I saw the title of this book in the window of my favorite book store (Women and Children First) and I was very intrigued. Then, I saw the author's name "Susan Jane Gilman" written in bold, capital letters and I knew I had to get my hands on it. I don't want to reveal too much of this book because the ending is worth waiting for, but I will say that things are not quite what they seem.


From one of my favorite authors is a memoir about traveling through China in the early '80s. Susan and her friend, Julie, graduate from Brown University and immediately want to take off to conquer the world. They are full of the kind of energy that only 22 year olds have- a sense of excitement and immortality. Unfortunately, things get out of control while in China as they face heavy security, communist agendas, and a third world country. We're talking the kind of China that was just after Nixon as opposed to the China just after the Olympics.

The imagery that Gilman creates allows the reader to be there in China. I can't fully explain my emotions when I finished the book, but I can say that my heart ached for the author and the relationships she made and lost. Basically, the author connects the reader to the human experience despite how far off the actual events seem to be.

Gilman is a fantastic writer because she is raw and hilarious. She is my kind of woman. I can relate to her memoirs because I hear hints of my own life. After college, I also wanted to conquer the world and went on a solo backpacking trip through Europe. I wanted to be independent and adventurous- all the things that a strong woman should be. Now, I can relive those moments by reading entertaining books by Gilman.

Rounding Out the 2009 Summer List

This summer flew by very quickly. I guess most summers end up this way, but between traveling abroad and moving into a house, our time was precious. I read two books that I never got a chance to post. So, here's to rounding out my 2009 summer reading list with two books that are highly recommended.

The first book I neglected to post is a fictional book called Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. This novel was selected as a Bellwether Prize created by Barbara Kingsolver to commend books that discuss issues of social justice and responsibility. As NPR's title of the review of this book states, it is about racism and family secrets. The novel hinges on the racial mores of the deep south during and after WWII. Jordan intended to write the novel in entirely one voice and one character. However, she did not want to lose the thoughts of all the characters in the book. As a result, this is a novel of many different voices and perspectives that all hinge around two families and their inevitable connection to each other.
The other book I had the pleasure of reading is a nonficiton book, which is also a prize winner (National Book Critics Award). Written by Anne Fadiman, The Spirit Catches You and Then You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures gives an intense look at a Hmong family's circumstances of their severely epilleptic child. The book gives both perspectives of the Hmong practice of well-being and Western medicine and how these two unendingly conflict with each other. The subject is very fascinating given the history and migration of the Hmong to the United States. At the same time, the subject is incredibly frustrating because there seems to be no real solution to two incredibly polar cultures. I actually read this book around the time that I watched Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. This movie is about a Hmong family's relationship with a white, racist man and how the two come together over an adolescent's fight to stay out of a gang. Similar cultural issue represented in the movie are also discussed in this book.

Ode to the Irish and Frank McCourt

The famed author, Frank McCourt passed away yesterday. Apparently, he had been sick for a little while, but still taught a memoir writing class at a university in New York. McCourt is most famous for writing a memoir titled, Angela's Ashes, which is based on his childhood of growing up in Limerick, Ireland in abject poverty. I read this book in high school and have forgotten many details about the book. But, having just come back from a trip to Ireland, I am very interested in returning to this novel. The book became a bestseller and won a Pulitzer Prize in the 1990s. McCourt did not write about his childhood until he was in his sixties. At first, he didn't think about writing about his past because he was ashamed and angry. McCourt said in an interview that he had to let go of his angry before he could write the story.

McCourt is also known for writing a later novel, Teacher Man. Although not prize worthy, I really appreciated reading this book especially after my first couple of years teaching. The book is a memoir about McCourt's early career in teaching high school English in the public schools of New York City. I could relate very easily to some of McCourt's woes and troubles: the book is full of anecdotes and stories with no real solution in the end, which oddly made me feel better about myself as a teacher.

In regards to our trip to Ireland, I decided to read a fiction book written by another Irish writer. The writer is William Trevor and the book is called The Story of Lucy Gault. I enjoyed reading this book while in Ireland because I could set the scene so easily. Despite not going to Cork, I could easily imagine Lucy Gault's house by the cliffs because we visited many incredible cliffs while in Ireland. The story is of a girl who gets left behind by her parents. She isn't able to let go of her guilt because she feels as if she is responsible for all the grief and sadness that happens to her family. Ireland is a tiny country with so much history, flavor, and culture. The picture above was taken on our trip around the Dingle Peninsula, which is the west coast of Ireland. Ireland is a great place to visit and the Irish are great writers, storytellers, and folk singers. The "gift of the gab" is certainly in use in this country.

Slaughterhouse-Five

So it goes...This book is an American classic and, as a result, it is quite good. I didn't know what to really expect from Vonnegut. Is it a story about the Holocaust? Is it a battle story? It's not really any of these one facets of WWII because it encompasses so much more. I think the true art behind Slaughterhouse-Five is that the author wrote about grave themes in a somewhat light manner as a dark comedy with a rhythmic cadence that makes the book really enjoyable and easy to read. It's one of those books that I find myself asking, "How the hell did the author pull this off?" I mean, Vonnegut included in his anti-war story a protagonist who jumps through time and meets aliens. And yet, Vonnegut is able to pull it off beautifully and well with credibility.

The quick synopsis is the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is an average man who is enlisted and shipped off to Germany to fight in WWII. The character is a captured POW and survives the bombing of Dresden. However, the plot is not a typical war story because the reader gradually becomes exposed to Billy Pilgrim's mind- he time travels, in no particular sequence. For example, in one moment he is with his wife Valencia and then his mind jumps to the large pits of Earth uncovered from the bombing in Dresden. Weaved into these two settings is his belief of being captured by aliens for scientific purposes and is exposed to questions about life. Billy Pilgrim's life unravels as his family, friends, and colleagues lose faith in him because they believe his stories of aliens is outlandish. But, the reader believes Pilgrim's story and feels compassion for the character.

This continuous jumping back and forth without real progress towards an end makes it seem as if there is a never ending cycle for Billy Pilgrim. Just when the war appears to be over, he is jumped back to an earlier time and may have to go through things all over again. Also, the aliens that Billy Pilgrim encounter state at one point that Earth will destruct itself and continuously destruct itself- the aliens are used to humans killing other humans. It is a morbid and sad idea as are the scenes from Dresden. Furthermore, Billy Pilgrim knows when, where, and how he is going to die. He lives going through the motions, ultimately knowing the end and having no large feelings or emotions.

Parts of this story is actually based on the author's true life experiences of the war. In fact, the author explains that Billy Pilgrim is able to survive the bombing of Dresden, in which thousands of civilians perished, because he is kept underground by the Germans in a meat locker. Apparently, this is also true of the author. The bombing of Dresden by British and American forces remains controversial today because a city that was not known for military purposes was completely destroyed despite the Allied forces saying that the target was critical and necessary. The bombing occurred just a few months before V-E Day (Victory in Europe).

Update on The End of Overeating

I keep seeing references to Dr. Kessler's book all over the place. One is in the June issue of Women's Health and another is in NY Times. Here's the link to the NY Times article.

Both of these articles hit the mark and the entire 200+ page book is truly reiterated in these short 2-3 page articles.

Enjoy!

The Dud Avocado

If there was a book in the 1950s that mirrored Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in the City, it is Elaine Dundy's protagonist, Sally Jay Gorce. This semi-autobiographic book is about Sally Jay- the type of character you love despite her quirks, inconsistencies, and stupid mistakes much like Carrie Bradshaw (Did she really have to leave Aidan? I'm mean...COME ON!). I love Sally Jay because she takes Paris by storm at the age of 23 and loves the city for everything I loved the city for when I was the same age. The book brought fond memories, many of which are romanticized in my head and leave me longing for Paris.

Sally Jay goes through a series of self awareness, sexual revelation, and fumbles as she tries to be independent. She is a dreamer and a constant runaway. Despite these faults, she seems to be always honest with herself and with people around her. Sally Jay does not really hide her faults and I found this refreshing. There's the Spaniard, with which she was a mistress for, Jim, one the she should have married, and Larry, the one she should have really run away from. Through these loves, she knows right from wrong, but still seems to go for wrong. I'm not sure if she truly discovered herself at the end of the book. But, then again, the protagonist is only 23 years old and I personally believe every girl is an idiot in their early twenties.

One complaint of the book that I have is that it does get a little slow. In the middle of the book, the reader tends to wait for something big to happen. And, when the same problems keep confronting Sally Jay, the reader gets a bit tired. Despite this, the book is a fun summer read.

Apparently, the book is Dundy's first attempt at a novel, which created much tension with her then-writer/husband and soon-to-be divorced writer/husband because it was incredibly successful. It made the best seller list when the book debuted. Dundy shared that the story is not totally true to Dundy's experience in Europe, but many of the stories do come from similar experiences- going to a Parsian jail, seeing all the sites, and trying to be the American girl in Paris.

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

Back in college, I never gained the infamous "Freshmen 15." A main reason was because I was training 4-5 hours a day up to six times a week for field hockey. I was a solid rock. My high school jeans became tight not around my waist, but around my quads and butt because I was pumping the weights and gaining muscle.

This year I turned thirty, and I gained what I'll call the "You Gained What?!?!". For the first time in my life, I really gained a lot of weight over the winter. It all started with Thanksgiving and was just a terrible downward spiral from there. Part of my problem was, and still is, a lack of self-control with food. I tend to eat not out of hunger, but because I'm bored, sad, or tired.

I was very interested in reading Dr. David Kessler's book titled The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. Kessler is a doctor and former FDA Commission under Bush and Clinton. At one time, Kessler was also obese. He decided to investigate why America has such a high rate of obesity.

The majority of this book is incredibly repetitive. Most of the information could be summed up into just thirty pages. However, I did learn some very important lessons, which I will explain here.
1) America's food industry is out of control- Starting in the 1980s, the food industry discovered that fat, salt, and sugar sells. As a result, the majority of food today is loaded with all three.
2) Fat, salt, and sugar makes people out of control- For many Americans, there is a food addiction to these evil three. Kessler compares food addiction to cocaine addiction. Through studies, he shows that similar areas of the brain are ignited when fatty/salty/sugary foods are ingested and when there is a cocaine intake. This helps explain why I have no control around food some times...I'm just addicted.
3) The national obesity rate rose sharply around the same time the food industry got out of control- Obesity is the number one killer of Americans because it leads to other deadly diseases, such as heart disease.
4) Just say no- I am one of those people who has no will power with food. As a result, I just need to say no. Kessler mentions that the idea of "I'll just take one bite" does not actually work because it is often a slippery slope. One brownie bite tends to lead to eating the whole pan.
5) Chain restaurants and processed foods are evil- Food needs to be viewed as energy instead of a treat. Chicken wings and chips will probably not give me energy. I also did not know how chain restaurants deceivingly increase calories. For example, most fried foods are fried in the kitchen of the restaurant. However, they are also fried and then flash frozen before reaching the restaurant. This means that ALL fried foods have been double fried, which adds even more calories. Also, the nutritional value of the food is probably weakened by the adding of chemicals. Sometimes food chains pump water into chicken to make it appear healthier.

How have I done since the completion of this book? I don't think I've made huge strides, but I need to take it one day at a time. I food a website that helps people monitoring eating and exercises. It is called the Daily Burn. So far, my husband and my brother are my motivators and can monitor my process through my weight loss. We'll see what comes out of this and, perhaps, I'll have a summer that I can call "Hell Yeah I Lost That Weight!!!"

The Poisonwood Bible

This book has been on my "to-read" list ever since college. However, only now did I finally dive into it. I'm glad I waited because I believe it requires a mature and knowledgeable mind. I didn't know much about post-colonial Africa in college- I learned as I taught about Africa to my Freshmen. Through my profession, I've been able to expand my mind and become interested in things that I never explored ten years ago. Thus, The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is a kind of book that needs to be for the right time and the right mind in order to truly enjoy it's story and, ultimately, lesson.
The novel is about a preacher's family from the south that moves to the Congo in the 1950s for a religious mission. Unfortunately, the mission is only the father's and the rest of the family must endure the father's almost insanely fervent religious goals. The story is told mostly through the voices of the preacher's four daughters as the characters are initially introduced as children and the reader grows with them into adulthood. This novel is extremely complicated as demonstrated by the immense amount of research completed by the author. The author researched post colonial history of the Congo, continuously read the King James Bible, documented sounds/images/smells of Western Africa by traveling constantly and meeting locals, and Kingsolver even studied the language of females in the 1950s in order to give the daughters' voices authenticity. The creation of this novel was no small feat: the author took three years to accomplish a story that had been in her heart for over thirty.

I believe the success of this book comes from Kingsolvers passion about Africa. In an interview, she says a beautiful quote about the need to expose America's role in Cold War politics and how it affected nations around the world and even more remote villages that have nothing in common with Western politics.

"I live in a country that has done awful things, all over the world, in my name. You can't miss that. I didn't make those decisions, but I have benefited from them materially. I live in a society that grew prosperous from exploiting others. England has a strong tradition of postcolonial literature but here in the U.S., we can hardly even say the word "postcolonial." We like to think we're the good guys. So we persist in our denial, and live with a legacy of exploitation and racial arrogance that continues to tear people apart, in a million large and small ways. As long as I have been a writer I've wanted to address this, to try to find a way to own our terrible history honestly and construct some kind of redemption."

Kingsolver's analysis of US politics then is also a reflection of now. Her novel is only fiction, but a historical fiction also sheds a lot of light on good and bad decisions that affect us today.

ASIAN BOOKS- American Born Chinese

A while ago, I read a book by a Korean author, Chang-Rae Lee, titled Native Speaker. Although it is not one of my all time favorite books, this book stood out to me for the sole purpose of the main character being Korean. I could identify with the character on some level- the culture, thoughts, and senses of being Asian.

It seems that there are more cultural novels as our society becomes more pluralistic; I intend to read everything I can. I stumbled upon this great graphic novel titled American Born Chinese by Gene Yang. I finally found comfort in a book- I could relate to the character’s troubles growing up Asian in a predominantly white area. Actually, I kept thinking about my brother’s childhood because the character, Jin, is a boy.

Jin is a young boy who’s family moves out of Chinatown, San Francisco to a predominantly white suburb. Growing up in this area, Jin faces a lot of racist remarks and isolation. He tries to find his way in life- sometimes he gives up his Chinese heritage and sometimes he embraces it. For example, Jin tries to change his image to be more attractive to the blond girl in his class.

Woven through this story is the fable told by his mother about the Monkey King in China. In the end of the novel, both Jin’s life and the Monkey King’s life weave together. The ending is a bit abrupt, but I loved everything else about this novel. The author, Gene Yang, has made several other graphic novels under the name of “Humble Comics.” In addition, he is a proponent of using graphic novels in education. Here’s the link to Comics in Education. It’s given me some thoughts of teaching ESL 2 next year. Wouldn’t it be great to get students engaged in reading, regardless of the kind of reading?

I love all my cultural books. However, I am still waiting to find a fiction book or graphic novel of an Asian girl who kicks ass. Anyone have suggestions?

Breaking Dawn- Twilight Series Ends

It is a sad day because there is no more Edward & Bella, but also one of joy because of a happy ending. I finally finished the Twilight series by reading the fourth and last book, Breaking Dawn. This was by far, the longest book of the bunch. Perhaps Stephanie Meyer wanted to condense two books into one. I'm not sure if I enjoyed this one the most because of the story or because I knew it is the last and final book. Regardless, I have enjoyed the ride.
I can't discuss this book in length because there would be too many spoiler alerts. However, I will say that Bella comes into her own and, in typical Meyer style, there is definitely a surprise or two in this book. Again, the writing is not good, even the ending is mediocre, but there is just something addicting about this book!

This is the first time in a while that I don't have another book immediately lined up. Perhaps it's because there is no fifth Twilight book to look forward to- now I can just take my time to pick another book. P Gregory may be beckoning me...

The Other Boleyn Girl

I must admit that I am a sucker for fictional stories based on royal families of the past. There's something very dramatic about the royal court, schemes, and romances. I have had The Other Boleyn Girl in my mind for quite a while, but the opportunity presented itself in audiobook form when I went to drive 6 hours to meet Kelly and Lanaya in Iowa. It was the quickest 12 hours of driving I've ever had because the story is...well it is just so dramatically good. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the kind of fix that the Twilight series gives me. Now, I understand that I have nothing to worry about because the author, Philippa Gregory, already has at least six novels about this time period.
This novel has everything to make for a good story. It has everything dramatic- selfish motives, death, power. At the same time, it has the beauty of life, love, and trust. I almost wish they made this into a television show series because it is an unending story of the life of aristocracy in 1500s England under King Henry's court. Whenever I explained King Henry VIII to my students in my World History class, I compared it to a soap opera in Days of Our Lives. Well, this is a well-written soap opera that is enjoyable to read.

It is no surprise that this novel was picked up to become a screenplay and eventual movie. The two A-List actresses in it who represent Mary Boleyn, the protagonist, and her sister and eventual Queen Anne are Scarlett Johannsen and Natalie Portman. I just watched the movie, The Duchess, another time period piece with Keira Knightley. I guess I am just into these time period pieces and can't get enough of them in movie or novel form!

Wuthering Heights

Promising myself to read other books besides the ones in the Twilight series, I decided to pick up Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It is a tale of love, loss, and hatred all woven into a dramatic tale. Understandably, it would have been the modern version of any soap opera- Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, etc. Published in 1847, Emily Bronte wrote the book under a male pseudonym, Ellis Bell. People were shocked and intrigued by the incredibly passionate characters. This book is abundant with characters that have a deep hatred for one another- they plot against each other and enjoy seeing pain of others. I imagine it was quite a scandalous novel at the time.

The story begins with a housemaid, Nelly, retelling the story of the life at Wuthering Heights. The main two characters are Heathcliff, an orphaned and uneducated boy taken in by the man of Wuthering Heights, and Catherine (Cathy), the beautiful, but spoiled girl of the house. Heathcliff is treated as a despicable person because of his status in life. His anger builds through out his life so that his one and only goal is to take revenge on those who treated him ill. Meanwhile, Heathcliff and Cathy develop a friendly relationship with each other, which quickly reveals into a passionate love. However, their love is an unrequited love. Early in life, Cathy dies and Heathcliff continues on to ravage families apart. In the end, Heathcliff only finds peace when he, too, dies and is able to join Cathy in the afterlife.

In my opinion, the ending is not as fun as the journey- there is so much hatred and drama through out the book that it feels like a lot of action for a novel of its time. It is quite different than a Jane Austen book, which is filled with a lot of properness. Wuthering Heights is out in the open with emotions and does not apologize for it.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

The sequel to Persepolis 1 takes off right where Marjane Satrapi finishes in her first graphic novel. Satrapi is an adolescent off on her own in Europe. The story shows her struggle with growing up and trying to find her identity despite the fact that she lives in a foreign world and, yet, she becomes a part of that world. It is almost as if she has one foot in Europe and another foot in Iran, but belongs to neither society. This is compounded by both societies rejecting some element of her. In Europe, she is looked upon as an "other"- she is Middle Eastern and the only one of her kind around. In Iran, she is looked upon as too liberal and western. Talking about sex openly shocks her friends and leads her to isolation. The author speaks about her inner demons and how she tried to cope, or not really cope, with her identity crisis.

In the end, the reader knows that somehow Satrapi managed to become the independent woman she is today. Unable to stretch to the limit in Iran, she heads back to Europe. Today, she is an author of many books, including children's books, and resides in France. Certainly, this author has taken a creative approach to open up readers to Iran's history and culture.
Apparently, Satrapi has another graphic novel out there called Chicken with Plums. The story is of the last days of her great uncle, who was a renowned musician. As he awaits death, there are flashbacks and flash-forwards of his life.

The Road

After reading many different kinds of books, let us now turn to an award winner- Pulitzer Prize winner that is. The Road, written by accomplished writer Cormac McCarthy, is the story of a man and a boy trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world full of danger and killing. Although there is very little knowledge about the events before and even after the book, the author creates a vivid image of life at the present moment for the two protagonists- a man and his son. They travel this post-apocalyptic world just trying to survive and believing in an almost non-existent goal.
I have been meaning to read this book for a while now, but kept making up excuses not to read the book. I was afraid of the depressing nature of the book. Even though the subject is very grave, I did not necessarily feel utterly depressed reading it because the writing eases the reader. The writing is beautiful and almost dreamlike. It is no wonder that this book received such high acclaim. There are no conventional uses of quotation marks or commas. Perhaps McCarthy chose to write in this matter because it makes the reading continuous and the sentences blur together as the man and boy's days just blur together.
I kept waiting for some major event to happen. In my own head, I think I created my own suspense. The author let's you know all the possibilities of the man and boy's life ending, so these ideas ran through my head continuously. However, I realized that the events did not matter because the book is much more about the human survival. The world is just about the man and the boy- a father's love and fight, a boy's dream and feelings.
As with most successful books, this novel has turned into a movie that is set to be released this year, 2009. I imagine that, for entertainment's sake, the movie will have much more suspenseful scenes. I'm not sure if I'm ready to watch a scary movie (in fact, I hate scary movies). However, McCarthy does have some success already with his books turning into box office movies hit- he is also the author of No Country for Old Men.

And the Twilight Saga Continues- Eclipse

I finished book three in the Twilight series, Eclipse. In my opinion, this is probably the best book so far in the series, but I do foresee major things happening in the fourth and final book. I've said it before- the writing is not profound and sometimes I get so fed up with the protagonist, Bella, because she plays such a damsel in distress. And, the book is overly dramatic. At the same time, I am drawn to know what happens in the end. Will happiness be found? Does love conquer all? Ahhh! It is so frustrating to be engrossed in this series. It's like a drug- I know it's bad, but I have to get my fix.
In this third book, Bella has to decide her true feelings between Edward and Jacob. Which one does she love the most? The reader is brought into her torture to have to decide between the two. Such tough decisions! This is where Bella gets annoying though- why can't the girl just make up her damn mind? But, it wouldn't be a story without the complicated plot and it wouldn't be a romance without the build up.

Apparently, Stephanie Meyer has a new book slated to come out this May. It is called The Host. It is science fiction in the sense that alien invaders have come to Earth to prey on human life. However, it is romance because the human life taken by the host is a girl who refuses to give up control of her mind and constantly thinks about the love of her life. Do I hear another movie deal for this one, or what?

"I Screwed Up"- Obama's Simple Language

In this sentence alone, President Obama showed America two important aspects of his presidency. He shows that he is willing to break from the Bush policy of secret, hidden agendas and refusal to come clean. In addition, Obama makes an attempt to speak in a language that is simple for the American public.

Reporters now say that there is an Obama-style of speech based off of this example and many others. It is an effort to speak plainly to the public so that they understand policies that may be difficult to grasp: case in point- the stimulus package.

In the NPR article "The Art of Language, Obama-Style", Obama is praised as an orator. Researchers of presidential speeches believe that Obama continues to get better with speeches. However, the author notes that he may not be as good as President Clinton when "speaking off the cuff".

Regardless, I think we can all agree that President Obama won't be making up meaningless words anytime soon, such as Bush's "misunderestimated". This 44th president is so much more intelligent to make vocabulary errors.

Persepolis- A Graphic Novel

I read Maus by Art Spiegelman in college and was completely blown away. The story of a person's survival in a Nazi concentration camp told through a graphic novel is brilliant. Going beyond the subject of superheros or sci-fi, graphic novels that are memoirs about politics, history, and the human plight really resonate something within me. Perhaps it relates to the common denominator of image- all people can understand a picture. And, when that image or picture is of people suffering whether it be the Holocaust or the Iranian Revolution, the reader is able to understand the story on a deeper level.

Written by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis is a memoir of a girl from the age of 6 to 14 growing up during the Iranian Revolution and war. All the stories are memories directly from Satrapi's life drawing mostly from family, friends, and school. Through out the book, the Satrapi family has to balance a public and private life because they are forced to obey Islamic law as the revolution takes hold and religious leaders rule by fear. Despite being communists, the Satrapi family has to hide their true beliefs because everyone around them is either taken into custody or, later on, executed for speaking out against the government. Marjane, in addition to trying to find her own identity, has to constantly battle the question of martyrdom. What is a true martyr? Is risking one's life for the freedom of Iran a martyr? Is risking one's life for Islam and an Iran lead by Ayatolla Khomeini a martyr (because this is what was told to young men over the age of 15...riches and young virigin brides awaited them in heaven)?This book has reached great heights and critical acclaim. In fact, you may have seen the title of this book in the movie stores because the graphic novel was turned into an independent film by the same name. I'll have to watch it at some point. Since I hate spoilers, the last thing I'll share is that the author does manage to make the reader yearn for more at the end of the novel. In comes the sequel- Satrapi does have Persepolis 2 written, which focuses on the author's high school and college life as an Iranian woman coming of age.
It would be a dream to be able to teach a modern history class based off of graphic novels. Do you now see the true nerd in me?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I understand the importance of the first African-American president as a educator of history. However, I do not fully understand it from the perspective of an African-American. I did not grow up in an era of outright segregation and I did not grow up with stories from my elders of living in fear or regret or shame because of the color of my skin. However, Reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou gave me some sense of how far this country has come in regards to equality of races because, amongst many things, this book has a large current that shows the reader how it felt to be an African American and truly struggle with racism in the 1930s and 1940s.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographic fiction of Maya Angelou's early to middle childhood. It is considered an autobiography because it is based off the author's life, but it is also considered fiction because Maya Angelou writes in such a poetic and lyrical manner. The book has many themes to it: identity, love, coming of age, family, religion, and racism. At the time of its publication, which was in 1969, it was considered a major breakthrough for African-American writers and female writers. People explained it as one of the first African-American feminist books. Intelligently, the author easily conveys a message to the reader by the 3rd page. Angelou writes, "If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. it is an unnecessary insult." Angelou's writing is beautiful and utterly honest.

Angelou speaks about so many tormenting ideas. She's never comfortable in her own body or even in her own home as a youth. Part of this is due to living in a broken home. Angelou and her brother, Bailey Jr., live with their grandmother in the South, mother in the Midwest and West, and father in the West all during their childhood. It appears as if she has no solid root. However, the two constants in her life are her brother's love and her love for books. Angelou is said to have fallen in love with Shakespeare as a child. She refers to the many different books she read during her childhood in her autobiography.

The major struggle that Angelou has to come to terms with is her race. Angelou observes how her grandmother is treated while living in the South. And, without further explanation, Angelou understands as a very young child the clear distinction between white and black people. Here's an excerpt of how she felt one day after a white man gave a speech that insinuated the limitations she would have as an adult black female:
"It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense. We should all be dead. I thought I should like to see us all dead, one on top of the other. A pyramid of flesh with the whitefolks on the bottom, as the broad based, then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and teepees and wigwams and treaties, the Negroes with their mops and recipes and cottonsacks and spirtuals sticking out of their mouths."

The autobiography does not go beyond Angelou at age 16. I would like to know how her life unravels into the woman she is- accomplished, famous, and a professor. She has won numerous awards, written many books and poems, and she even spoke at Pres. Clinton's inauguration. I like to think that her one saving grace was love of reading.

*Side Note: One of my favorite poems ever is by Maya Angelou called Phenomenal Woman. I recommend it to all women out there. Print it out and keep it in your closet for those days when you just need to believe in yourself.

Inauguration of President Obama

I had the opportunity to watch Pres. Obama's inauguration speech yesterday while teaching at school. In the Opinion section of the New York Times today, several speech writers, former writers for presidents from Nixon to Clinton, provided their own thoughts on the quality of the inaugural speech. The article is called The Speech: The Experts' Critique.

I guess everyone was looking for Pres. Obama's speech to be THE SPEECH that would coin a new phrase and be embedded into American history. There are so many comparisons of Obama's speech to Kennedy's speech or even FDR's. Is Obama's speech as memorable? For the most part, these experts agree that Obama's speech is solid and good. However, they do not believe that it is a speech to be remembered in history.

Honestly, I don't need a speech to be remembered. I just need a new president who has a world-view and liberal openness. I believe we have found the president to lead us into a new chapter. One part of Obama's speech impresses me far more than others. Here's an excerpt:
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

We may not take a specific sentence from Obama and write it into every US History textbook. Regardless, I'd rather have a component president who's actions speak more than words.

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

After reading Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, I have been on the prowl for another story about female coming of age and discovery of identity. I finally decided to give The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing a try after being on my reading list for over a year. The book, consisting of many short stories and vignettes, is written by Melissa Bank. The reader follows the protaganonist, Jane, through the ups and downs of love.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed by this book. I would have stopped reading it, but the book moves very fast and is a quick read. At the most, I recommend this as a beach read. The author's writing is not anything special. I felt there wasn't enough character development of Jane. We are introduced to her as a very young teen in the first chapter, but even the author's attempt of writing Jane from a teen point-of-view was not believable. Then, the second chapter immediately jumps to Jane in her 20s and the reader is left feeling like many years of life development is lost. What happened to the character in one of the most pivotal stages of life- college?

Apparently, there is a movie out there based on this book. It is called Suburban Girl and features Sarah Michelle Gellar. It seems like a lot of books turn into movies. This is great for screen play writers, which is a profession I've thought about quite a bit (would it be as fun as it sounds?). However, how do certain books turn into movies and others don't? Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress was a far superior book, but it never became a New York Times Bestseller and is not turning into a movie. What is the special formula that makes one book a success over another?

Side Note: Speaking of books turning into movies, I finished reading Stephanie Meyer's second book in the Twilight series. This one is called New Moon. Without giving too much away, it follows the author's same recipe of built up cliff hangers with action written near the end of the book. There is a twist in this story and it is a little darker. It follows a similar theme to many series: the middle book has to be dark in order to build up a story. Take Empire Strikes Back for example- it was the middle story in the Stars Wars Trilogy and it was very sad and dark to allow Return of the Jedi to have even more of an impact. However, I look forward to a better story for the third and fourth book.

Once Twilight is finished, I will be sad. However, my friend Laney just gave me the first three books of the True Blood series. It now seems like I cannot get enough of vampires!

Bushisms

As President-Elect Obama prepares for his transition, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the Bush presidency. News has been abuzz about how Bush will be remembered in history. I will remember 9/11, War in Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. However, there are also some more light-hearted things I will remember. For example, I'll remember Cheney shooting his friend accidentally while hunting. I will also miss the Bush gnome that my friend, Lanaya, gave me. It's pretty much a garden gnome with Bush's face smirking at you and the gnomes two fingers are crossed behind his back as if keeping a secret.

Another thing I will miss is the Bushisms. A "Bushism" is a phrase to describe all the made up words and incorrect sentences that Bush has said over the years. Some of these sentences are so convoluted that you really have no idea what was going on in that man's head. Here are some of my favorites:

-"They misunderestimated me."
-"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect the war on terror to Iraq."
-"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-"That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three- three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"

These are just a few that I found to be funny. For a more comprehensive list, check out this article from BBC News: The 'misunderestimated' president?

In 7 days, we will have a new, very intelligent president who is eloquent. Will this be the end of -isms? Perhaps, but I can also remember Bush and his misunderestimatings.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being- A 2nd Time Around

I was introduced to this book by my good friend Jackie when I was 22 years old. I bought it at Myopic Books on Milwaukee as a used book. There are very few books that I decide to keep for the long haul. My criteria for keeping books are 1) a friend will be interested in borrowing it and 2) I'll eventually read it again. Well, seven years later, I returned to The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.
Within my circle of friends, there is a similar connection we have to this book- it was a favorite during the college years. I think the reason for this trend is that the book is both unconventional and philosophical. At an age in which we were being enlightened through school and also trying to establish our identity, perhaps this book was the perfect manner to reflect on life. There are many themes to this novel- love and lust, marriage, independence, trust, life in Eastern Europe during Soviet domination- but the main theme that prevails is the idea of light and heavy.

Kundera plays with idea of life choices and the pull of these decisions making us feel light or heavy. All of this is demonstrated through the characters he creates. Kundera toys with the idea that decisions which make us feel light are positive and decisions that make us heavy are negative. However, the author pulls in Nietzsche's idea of eternal return- that life is a burden in and of itself because of an ending cycle of eternity. As a result, lightness may actually be heavy and unbearable. Through Kundera's characters, we see their cyclical nature of light and heavy as they try to navigate through their life whether it be facing death, losing love, or questioning the worth of one's life.

The manner in which the author is able to fully discuss this heavy topic of light and heavy is shown through the story written in 3rd person. But, Kundera does not stop there to truly make the reader understand his ideas. In addition, the author rather unconventionally switches to 1st person through out the story. The author pulls away from the story to reflect on it. In one section, the author writes about the protagonist, Tomas, and his decision not to sign an anti-communist petition. In the middle of the chapter, the author writes in 1st person. Here's the excerpt:

"This is the image from which [Tomas] was born. As I have pointed out before, characters are not born like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a sentence, a metaphor containing in a nutshell a basic human possibility that the author thinks no one else has discovered or said something essential about."

Although some might find this jarring, I find it to be refreshing. I appreciate different forms of writing. In Kundera's case, he is able to switch from 3rd person to 1st person effortlessly. Perhaps, this is the reason for the success of this book in particular in the early 1980s and the reason why I decided to keep this book on my shelf all these years.

Forget the Publisher- Publish Your Book Yourself

Have you ever dreamed about writing a book and getting it published? Before, writers had to get agents to help them convince publishers to take on their books. Publishers would then read the books and take a long time deciding whether or not to support the projects. The entire process was daunting and often times led to dead ends. Now, it's never been easier to publish your own book. Welcome to the world of self-publishing on-line.

I never knew these mediums even existed until one of my artistic freshmen showed me his very own book. Zachary Kloes, a fourteen-year old artist and apparently self-published writer, published his own book through Lulu.com- an on-line system that allows people to publish books, music, magazines...almost anything. Lulu.com allows people to self-publish and also makes it easy for the consumer to purchase items. In Zach's case, he is selling his book titled The Autobiography of a Werewolf. Zach wrote, published, and even drew the front cover of his paperback book now on sale for $10.90.
Here's a description of the book written by the author:
"In a world where one fourth of the population holds a dark secret, four friends make a discovery, one that will change their lives forever, one of them is not fully human, he is a werewolf. And while they deal with their own problems, a sinister creature from the darkest corner of the woods threatens their lives and the lives of those around them with its strange and alluring ways."

This is a great opportunity for anyone aspiring to get a book out there. Of course, the main advantage of having a big name publisher is the publicity. Authors who sell their books with one of the larger publishing companies can sell thousands if not millions. These self-publishers tend to only sell to their family or friends- perhaps up to 100. Nevertheless, 100 copies sold at about $10 per book and the majority of the money earned goes directly to the self-publishing author adds up to a profit that isn't half bad. There have been some other success stories; sisters created their own cookbook for dinner parties and sold over 500. I discovered an article that gives a lot of good advice about the best way to market oneself through self-publishing (Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know).

After reading an interview with Stephanie Meyer, I was struck by how simple it seemed to be a writer. Stephanie Meyer explained that she never wrote a book or considered herself an author until after Twilight became successful. In fact, she mostly wrote the book for herself. You don't need an MA in English in order to get something out there. It is liberating to think that anyone's creativity can catch on- even the creativity of a teenage student. Of course, it never hurts to write a niche book.