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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
