I picked this up at a used bookstore somewhere in my travels, being intrigued by the blurb on the back which states that T.S. Eliot feels this book isI picked this up at a used bookstore somewhere in my travels, being intrigued by the blurb on the back which states that T.S. Eliot feels this book is "the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels." I was pleasantly surprised at how modern the writing felt, though the book is now 150 years old, but its major drawback is its length.
It took me 11 days to read a 450-page book. That must be a new record. And I devoted whole days to reading with the idea that I could knock it out in about 5 days (a much more normal length of time).
It's not so much the length, actually, as it is the fact that Collins allows us to delve very deeply into the heads of each and every narrator (and there are quite a few), peering into every little crevice and wrinkle, whether it has anything to do with the theft of the Moonstone or not. Fortunately, most of the writing is fairly diverting (how can one help being charmed by Betteredge, even if his ideas on women are positively prehistoric, or to find oneself suppressing quite a few snorts caused by Miss Clack's insufferable and sanctimonious brand of Christianity?), but at times the level of detail becomes tedious and overwhelming.
It's surprising how Collins really turns the novel into a judgment regarding Britain's rule of India. Yes, the Moonstone was stolen during Miss Rachel's birthday festivities, but the reader is always reminded that it was initially stolen by British officers during an uprising from its home in a Hindu statue. By the last chapter, it's clear that Collins feels that the villains may not be the Hindus chasing after the Moonstone, but the British themselves for ruling over a nation that would be better off ruling itself.
I've definitely enjoyed my time with this book; I just wish it had been a bit shorter. ...more
I checked this book out from the library solely because my 2017 reading challenge asks me to read something with a character who shares my name. ImagiI checked this book out from the library solely because my 2017 reading challenge asks me to read something with a character who shares my name. Imagine my surprise when my librarian turned up this book, featuring a character called Karyl. Granted, it's a male detective's last name, but then the other detective featured is Williams, so to see my entire name in print, spelled correctly, was quite interesting.
I don't think I would have necessarily have picked up this book otherwise. But it's a very interesting and fast read. I enjoyed the script style of the prose; it draws in the reader and keeps the action flowing quickly.
My issue with the book is that perhaps because of the format, it makes it difficult to really connect with Steve Harmon, one of the boys on trial for killing a convenience store owner during a robbery. We only get to know Steve somewhat superficially, so we aren't as invested as we could have been had it been written in a more traditional manner -- or if the book were longer so as to delve more deeply in what makes Steve tick. He came across as rather two-dimensional to me, and while I didn't want him to go to jail for the rest of his life, as soon as I close the book, he was gone from my mind.
I can see why this would be a great book to use in discussion of race and justice for a high school English or civics class....more
I have read so many books on the Holocaust, but I believe this is the first one I've read that takes place in Italy. Sometimes we forget that Italy waI have read so many books on the Holocaust, but I believe this is the first one I've read that takes place in Italy. Sometimes we forget that Italy was taken over by a dictator during the years of World War II, and that its people suffered terribly as well until it was liberated by the Allies. It's sad to read at the end of the book that most of the Nazis that perpetrated horrific acts in Italy were merely released back into society, thanks to a growing apathy by the public as the Nuremberg trials in Germany dragged on and on.
I suppose I may be alone in my assessment, but I don't see why it's so difficult to believe that Pino Lella may have done all the amazing things he had done during the war. As Americans, we tend to forget that other countries are much smaller in both geography and population, so an average person being plucked by a high-ranking Nazi general to drive for him, and then ending up translating the general's words to Il Duce himself, isn't as far-fetched as it would be had it taken place in America.
That said, even if only a fraction of Lella's exploits are true, then he is still an amazing hero whose story needs to be told. I agree that Sullivan's writing is very simple and elementary, and especially in the first few chapters feels rather grating to the reader. But as the book moves along, his writing gets better -- or it may just be that Lella's adventures are so compelling that the reader forgives a great deal from the author.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in Italy's role and experiences during the war....more
I was a young teen when the Iron Curtain fell, and by then the Soviets weren't quite the threat they had been when my parents were younger. But even sI was a young teen when the Iron Curtain fell, and by then the Soviets weren't quite the threat they had been when my parents were younger. But even still, spies and espionage, especially where the Soviets were involved, still made it into my consciousness. To this day, it boggles my mind that my kids will never know what it's like to have an entire region of the world off-limits to the rest of the world, or to have a city cut in half by a huge concrete wall.
This isn't a fast-paced, action-driven plot. It's much more character-driven, and we really get into the minds of the characters as they deal with the insinuations of espionage and the ramifications from it. Simon Callington and his wife Lily are your typical middle class Brits, except as time goes by you realize they aren't what they seem. Simon had grown up very wealthy, but had chosen to have a family and work for a living, throwing off his privileged childhood. Lily was born in Berlin, just before the rise of the Nazis, and she escaped with her mother to Britain when things were getting awful for her fellow Jews. She's worked very hard since then to forget all the German she ever knew, and to eradicate any trace of German from her accent and speech.
And yet this file that Lily finds and buries comes in to ruin their lives. Will Simon be able to prove his innocence or will he be forced to take the fall??
This is definitely a very British tale. There were a few words and phrases I didn't understand (and it was handy that I read this on my Kindle to translate the German that Dunmore had sprinkled in) because I didn't grow up in the British isles. It's also quite slow in the very beginning, and I began to wonder when the story was going to pick up. But once it gets going, it keeps the reader's interest and keeps her turning pages.
I look forward to reading more of Dunmore's works. This is definitely an author to follow....more
Don't sell this slender little novel short. It's beautifully written and packs a wallop.
When I first received this book from my library, I was a littlDon't sell this slender little novel short. It's beautifully written and packs a wallop.
When I first received this book from my library, I was a little concerned as its quality as I noticed it was a self-published book. But let me make your mind easy -- this book reads far better than many books I've read that have big publishing houses behind them. This is a true storyteller's novel, one that really sucks you into its pages and refuses to let go until you turn the final page.
Ora Lee is an ornery southern lady whose husband has recently passed on. Because of her brash and opinionated personality, she doesn't seem to have many friends, aside from her maid, a woman named Blanche. It's through Blanche and her family, though, that Ora Lee realizes that she's done what every other white person of her generation has done to keep their darker neighbors oppressed. When one of Blanche's children is brutally attacked, Ora Lee begins to learn how flawed our justice system, and our entire society, is. It's very heartening to see Ora Lee realizing the injustice of being a black person in America in the 1970s, and she does everything in her power to make others aware of their ignorance.
There are definite shades of To Kill a Mockingbird, but this is definitely Selleck's own story. Beautifully, vividly written, the prose never once gets in the way of the storytelling, which is a common problem with debut novels. I really hope Ms Selleck writes more novels; I will read anything she publishes....more
The title makes this book seem so very fascinating. True crime that takes place in a super remote area, involving Native Americans? There is so much tThe title makes this book seem so very fascinating. True crime that takes place in a super remote area, involving Native Americans? There is so much to love in this premise. The problem is, Millman doesn't really achieve any of this.
Instead of focusing on the murders, Millman instead gives us a stream of consciousness piece. He'll focus on some of the details of the murders, but then he begins to muse about the plants up in the Arctic or the way of life of the Inuit, but generally he rants about the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets in our world nowadays. He will input a search term into Google and be disgusted with how incorrect the returned results are. He continually harps on the addiction that we as a people have to our devices, quoting random people (whom he doesn't even bother to name as sources) who say that they'd be totally lost without their devices, or he insists that he's constantly being run into by people who can't take their eyes off their screens.
There is only black and white for him. Screens are bad, nature is good. I can see his point, but it's far too simplified. He gives the example of being on the train, and everyone on the train is staring at a screen. They don't even see the beauty of the earth outside their windows. Yet before we had smartphones, we had newspapers and books to distract us from the scenery outside. So why are screens so vilified?
I agree that it's a shame that a lot of the traditional way of life is disappearing since a lot of the Inuit are online now. But that is really their choice. There is, as with everything, a balance to be had. One can easily maintain traditions and be caught up with technology and the rest of the world. But as with anything,it takes discipline, and it can be hard.
At any rate, Millman's rants wouldn't have bothered me so much of he weren't so heavy-handed with them. The reader can just about feel the condescension dripping from each page. The stream of consciousness format made it difficult to follow along and to keep various Inuit straight. All in all, this was a very disappointing book. ...more
The last book I read that ripped my heart out in much the same way that Beartown did was A Little Life. So raw, so visceral, so detailed and vivid. ThThe last book I read that ripped my heart out in much the same way that Beartown did was A Little Life. So raw, so visceral, so detailed and vivid. This is definitely a departure from Backman's earlier novels of lovable curmudgeons. For some authors, such a departure can be very problematic, but Backman pulls of this extreme change beautifully. It feels like this was the novel he was born to write, that his earlier novels were just to get us used to his name and his style of writing.
As I went along, I initially was worried about how many characters Backman was throwing at the reader, but they're so very different that it isn't hard at all to keep them straight. They're also so beautifully fleshed out and developed, so they feel like real people. Reading Beartown is like watching a movie unfold behind your eyes.
Backman writes wonderfully about a very sensitive subject, and it's just infuriating that someone like Maya would still be dealing with such a terrible event and its aftermath even in this day and age. But unfortunately, boys like Kevin will always exist, and there will always be excuses made for them because of their status as sports heroes. Maybe it's hockey in Sweden, but it's football here in the States, and the outcome will always be the same until we teach our boys better.
And there's a bit of a commentary there perhaps in that it takes a man to write about it to make us sit up and take notice. Would it have had as much impact if a woman had published such a story, or would it have been shelved as just another chick lit novel?
But that's not at all to detract from Backman's work. There's so much to love about this novel, especially the beautifully flawed characters who finally stand up for what's right even though they know they'll pay a heavy price. I especially loved the end, which definitely wasn't wrapped up in a shiny, beautiful bow, but did give the reader a glimmer of hope that things did work out well in Beartown. One can only hope to have a marriage like Peter and Kira's, to parent like them, to raise such strong women like both Maya and Ana.
I have a feeling that this book will stay with me for a very long time. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up....more
I heard about this book on NPR and knew immediately that I had to read it. I like to think that I'm a very open-minded person, and I wanted to get a hI heard about this book on NPR and knew immediately that I had to read it. I like to think that I'm a very open-minded person, and I wanted to get a handle on what life was like for Syrians, aside from what we see on the news regarding refugees. After finishing this memoir, my heart hurts even more for this vibrant people, and I wish this were required reading for all Americans, especially those who insist that accepting Syrian refugees will make our country less safe.
Malek begins her story by showing that Syria as a nation hasn't existed all that long as we know, that as usual, it had its own borders before the Europeans arrived and inserted arbitrary borders as they carved up territories into colonies. When Israel was formed, it was the historical Syria that lost land. And the people of Syria came from all religions and denominations. Here in America, all we hear is Sunni vs Shiite, but there are many more brands of Islam, including Alawite and Druze. There are also quite a few Christians of the Orthodox stamp, and Jews had made Syria their home. Before the Assads came to power, all these peoples lived generally in peace, but under the authoritarian rule of the Assads, things began to fall apart. Peaceful demonstrations were quashed with violence until much of the country is now engulfed in a civil war. Malek's book ends in 2013, well before things got really terrible. But now Aleppo is on the news every night, and photographs of dusty and bleeding children are splashed about on social media to keep Westerners informed of the horrors of everyday life in Syria.
This book mainly focuses on Malek's family throughout the generations, starting with the matriarch of her family, her grandmother Salma, as well as the apartment that Salma and her husband bought soon after they were married in the 1940s. Unfortunately, once they rented out that flat, the new renter refused to leave for 40 years, and Syrian law was on his side. Malek's parents made it their goal to try to win the flat back for their family, something they weren't able to achieve until the 2000s. It was during this time that Malek moved back to Syria to restore and renovate Salma's home, giving her a front row seat to the deterioration of life in Syria.
It's shocking to me, as an American, when I read accounts of people who are calmly having dinner and can hear mortar fire in the distance, or automatic gunfire a few blocks away. I cannot even imagine not being safe in my own home, or having to walk past destroyed buildings with people's belongings spilling out onto the street. I see these images every night on the news, and it rips my heart out.
So why can't we accept people fleeing from this terrible crisis? We're told it's because they're terrorists, yet it's average people who are seeking asylum. Most Muslims are a peace-loving; it's like judging all Americans by the actions of the KKK or the Westboro Baptist Church. And now we have calls for more "extreme vetting" of people seeking asylum. I wonder how that would even work, considering the problems Malek's own cousin has in getting to Armenia on page 276. She writes, "my cousin had no passport, because she had no citizenship. Even though Kamal's [the cousin's father] mother was Syrian and Kamal himself had been born in Syria, his father was a Palestinian who got stuck in Syria on the wrong side of 1948. Since nationality in Syria is paternal only, and with Israel now where Palestine had been, Kamal had no passport. So unfortunately for his daughter, despite having a Syrian mother and having lived only in Syria, she, too, was Syrian solely in feeling." She would only achieve Syrian citizenship upon marrying a Syrian. Even as a member of the second generation, Malek's cousin still had no passport and no citizenship. It's not automatic at birth as it is in America or most European nations. With no passport, had Malek's cousin wanted to apply for asylum, how could she?
We Westerners seem to want to paint situations with very broad brushes, but we need to learn that there are shades of gray in everything. Muslims aren't the enemy; ISIS is. The Assad regime is stifling democracy and killing any opponents, as it has been since at least Bashar al-Assad came to power when his father died. Syrians want to come to Europe and America to get away from death and dying and shelling and being imprisoned simply for asking that the killing stop.
This book should be read by everyone to get a better perspective on what is happening in Syria, knowing that it's much worse now than it was in 2013, when Malek was last there. I do hope her grandmother's flat is still standing, though now I wonder if it's just so much dust like much of the country....more
There is really so very much to love about this book, though I admit it had its issues.
But first! The good:
1. The romance. Yes, there's a bit of There is really so very much to love about this book, though I admit it had its issues.
But first! The good:
1. The romance. Yes, there's a bit of insta-love going on, but it's much more realistic than most of the YA novels I've read. 2. The chemistry between Maddy and Olly. It reminded me of Hazel and Augustus from The Fault in Our Stars 3. The writing is really quite good. I was able to lose myself in the story completely, and books with that kind of writing are always my favorite type. 4. The fact that the main character is a multiracial girl without a big deal being made of it (and I am SUPER glad the woman chosen to play Maddy in the movie is also multiracial. One of my biggest pet peeves is when directors end up casting all the characters as white. However, Maddy's mom is supposed to be Asian yet she's African American in the movie, so there's that). 5. The entire premise is quite fascinating, and it makes the reader wonder what she would do in Maddy's place.
The not-so-good:
1. The plot twist. I had a feeling that that's what the issue was going to turn out to be, and then I can see how it's somewhat of a cop-out as a way to tie everything up in a neat little bow by the end.
2. Hmm, this one needs to go behind a spoiler. (view spoiler)[As a mom, I was really, really, really pissed at Maddy for jumping on a plane to Hawaii, leaving basically a suicide note for her mother who has already endured the deaths of her husband and son. And it made me super uncomfortable, and that's never a good feeling when you're trying to escape from the world in a book. (hide spoiler)]
This is definitely a great novel in which to hide from reality, and Yoon's husband's drawings throughout the novel add so much to the book. I'm very glad to have read it, but I have yet to make up my mind whether to watch the movie after knowing how everything turns out....more
This is a beautifully written story, and a fascinating glimpse into life in modern Pakistan. Every time I picked up the book, I was sucked into AasmaaThis is a beautifully written story, and a fascinating glimpse into life in modern Pakistan. Every time I picked up the book, I was sucked into Aasmaani's world, and I found it very difficult to put the book down. Ordinarily, I would have read this far more quickly, but I found myself slowing down in order to enjoy Shamsie's writing. Her prose is beautiful and evocative.
I appreciated Shamsie's inclusion of some of Pakistan's recent history when she was describing the Poet's life. Pakistan isn't a country I know well, though I have known natives of that country, thanks to my husband's job as an instructor for the US Navy. Knowing the history made the book richer, since the reader was made aware of events that a Pakistani would already be familiar with.
Shamsie's depiction of grief not yet dealt with is, I believe, spot on. The reader's heart bleeds for Aasmaani as she loses her mother and the Poet all over again. It surprises me that Aasmaani had chosen a path in which she refuses to acknowledge her loss, and her pain is ever the greater because of it.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a beautifully written story, one that will suck the reader in and not let go....more
Having grown up on Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, and having shared them with my two daughters, I enjoyed this book immensely. I see thatHaving grown up on Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, and having shared them with my two daughters, I enjoyed this book immensely. I see that it's promoted as a memoir, but like Wilder's books, I can't help but wonder if it's quite a bit fictionalized. But even still, it comes across as a fairly accurate depiction of what life was like in Chicken, Alaska, in the early part of the 20th century.
What I found most refreshing about this book was Anne Hobbs's refusal to admit that the Native children were any less in any way than the white children she had been hired to teach. When we pick up books that were written in another era, we tend to expect a great deal of overt racism, and this book has it in spades from her fellow townspeople. But Hobbs never let any hateful words escape her mouth, and consistently went to bat for the Native Americans who were eager to learn. There's also an interesting exposition by a fellow townsperson as to why the Indian village was in such terrible repair, having to do with the fact that now the Native peoples eat white people food (refined flours and sugars) and have lost their strength to hunt and take care of themselves like they did before the white settlers came north.
Regardless of whether this is written more by Specht or if it's highly fictionalized, it's a fascinating look at life in the far reaches of Alaska, long before modern conveniences could even be thought of in that part of the world. It's a place where you can hear the nails freezing and contracting in the walls, thanks to the extreme temperatures. It's where the blankets freeze to the wall overnight, and where the nail heads create tiny bumps of frost inside. It's where you learn to exert yourself slowly, so you never breathe through your mouth. It's where a young boy's bottom freezes to the outhouse bench, and is carried inside, still attached to the bench, where he stays quite calm as he thaws next to the stove and can hop down on his own. It's a place of Friday night dances and small town politics and factions. But it's a fascinating read and one I'd recommend....more
Several years ago, my dear friend and fellow bibliophile Kassie sent me her copy of Bel Canto. I was totally and utterly blown away by it, reveling inSeveral years ago, my dear friend and fellow bibliophile Kassie sent me her copy of Bel Canto. I was totally and utterly blown away by it, reveling in the vivid word Patchett had created. But while I had seen Commonwealth on all sorts of reading lists, and even heard Patchett speak on NPR, I hadn't realized both books were by the same author. And now I suppose it makes sense.
Granted, these are the only two books of hers that I have read, but Patchett seems to be a master of creating a vivid and engaging world. I read all 322 pages of this novel in a day, and I felt completely and utterly sucked in. Patchett has that wonderful ability to write where the prose is barely noticeable, except with certain sentences or turns of phrase that the reader stops to admire, but the rest of the time the words just flow into the reader, creating a movie-like atmosphere in her brain. These are my favorite kind of books, books that transcend genre and simply transport the reader out of her reality.
Commonwealth perhaps isn't a true novel, as there is no single storyline, and there isn't really even a conflict in need of resolution. Instead, it follows a blended family throughout 50 years of time on this earth, the large and small conflicts between siblings, between parents, between husbands and wives, and between any permutation of these family members. There is quite a bit of tragedy, and some rebuilding of relationships. But in general it could be a narrative from nearly anyone's story in the last 50 years -- the struggles of growing up with siblings, with step-siblings, with divorce, with moving to another coast, with things left unsaid, with choices made that can't be undone.
I admit that sometimes it's hard trying to keep some of the characters straight, mainly the four girls that make up the bulk of the six step-siblings, and which parents they actually belong to. But eventually the reader figures it all out, though it's not fully necessary.
Read this book if you want to be sucked in and kept captive for an entire afternoon. My only small quibble is the end, as I felt that it didn't really wrap anything up but left it all open-ended. Highly recommended....more
I suspect this is another of those books that to me falls into the category of the Emperor's new clothes. No one is brave enough to tell the Emperor tI suspect this is another of those books that to me falls into the category of the Emperor's new clothes. No one is brave enough to tell the Emperor that he is truly naked, except for an innocent child who finally announces that the Emperor has got no clothes on. I feel this way about a lot of books, that the hype has created the idea that this book (and many others) are amazing and great and wonderful, and so most people fall in line with that idea because they don't want to come across as less educated or less smart.
I'm going to be that innocent child and disagree with all these rave reviews. I'm not even sure what this book is about. In general, it's almost a coming-of-age tale, since Leah is stuck in a life she can't abide with a husband she doesn't even like, whom she married just so he can remain in the States. Yet after her former boss Judy dies, whom she hasn't interacted with in several years, Leah flies all the way across the country to attend her funeral, where she learns she's also inherited the car in which Judy died. From then Leah goes on a bit of a journey in the red car (after it miraculously healed itself at the car repair shop [?!?!?]), meeting up with several people from her past.
But generally with these sorts of tales, the protagonist learns something about herself. She changes, she grows, she comes of age. Yet Leah doesn't really learn anything or change anything about her life, except that she realizes she doesn't have to return to her abusive Austrian husband. The story itself is just a meandering tale of pretty much nothingness. Leah has a lesbian encounter with a woman she met on the street with the same name who lives in the same room she did when she lived in San Francisco with the same roommates that Leah had had (and here one really needs to suspend disbelief), and she also has a sexual encounter with a former coworker even after he had repeatedly turned her down. She's also propositioned for sex by the car repair guy who tells her the red car has fixed itself, but she uses the fact that she's married to turn him down. So basically everyone wants to have sex with Leah.
The story just has so many unbelievable elements. I don't know if Dermansky was going for magical realism or what, but it just comes across as unbelievable. The whole side of Judy's car was smashed in during the accident that killed her, yet the mechanic calls Leah to tell her that the car has somehow healed itself. Then Judy, after her death, becomes a voice in Leah's head that comments on whatever Leah is doing at the moment. Plus the car somehow forces Leah's friend to drive excessively fast on the highway, and it even communicates with Leah. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but this is just a little much.
It also doesn't help that the writing is so stilted and clunky. I can forgive a lot, but when the writing gets in the way of my getting sucked into the story, it is a total turn-off. And for some reason, Dermansky seems to have something against contractions, which makes her conversations sound like they take place between robots, not actual humans.
As short as this book is, I can't recommend spending one's time on it....more
Having grown up as a child of the 1980s, the USSR has always been a point of fascination with me. I've read so many books on the subject, especially rHaving grown up as a child of the 1980s, the USSR has always been a point of fascination with me. I've read so many books on the subject, especially regarding the gulags. But this book was a first for me, and one that will stick with me for quite some time.
Alexander Rostov had been part of the aristocracy before the Russian revolution, but now he's been declared a Former Person, to be held under house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow under pain of execution. But instead of being able to keep his lavish suite, he's now relegated to the top floor, to what had been the servants' quarters. Instead of pacing his new quarters like a caged animal, he finds a whole world in the hotel for his pleasure, and manages to continue to expand his horizons, especially after he makes the acquaintance of a girl named Nina, who teaches him all about the hidden areas of the hotel.
Rostov is a highly educated, erudite, polite, and sociable man, and he's truly a pleasure to spend time with. The reader finds herself wishing she were one of the characters in the book, just to sit down and enjoy a sophisticated meal with him. The descriptions of the food, the decisions behind which appetizer and wine will complement the entree the best, causes the reader's mouth to water. The chemistry among the Triumvirate is unmistakable, and the evening of the bouillabaisse was one of my favorite scenes. To take such joy in food!
Towles writes his tale so vividly that the reader becomes utterly engrossed in the story. Years pass in the novel while in real life, hours fly by in what feels like moments. And as the decades pass, Rostov remains in the hotel with his friends and his adopted daughter, and never once feels sorry for himself or succumbs to a pity party. Watching Rostov change and grow once he finds himself the guardian of Sophia was a joy. One could only hope to be as good a parent as he manages to become.
Admittedly, I found the beginning of the novel felt a little slow, but once one meets all the characters and starts to get to know them, the book's pages just start turning themselves. Highly recommended....more
I'm definitely a sucker for memoirs written by ordinary people, especially ones who do extraordinary things. Griest most certainly ends up doing some I'm definitely a sucker for memoirs written by ordinary people, especially ones who do extraordinary things. Griest most certainly ends up doing some very extraordinary things -- like go to Russia just after the fall of Communism, after which she finds work at a Chinese propaganda newspaper in Beijing, and then manages to sneak into Cuba. This last may not seem that extraordinary, what with President Obama reopening relations with that country, and following the death of Fidel Castro, but at the time that Griest visited Cuba, it was still illegal for Americans to travel there.
Her time in Soviet bloc nations teaches her quite a few lessons, but unfortunately, the one she doesn't seem to learn is that America isn't necessarily seen as the greatest country in the world, and not every person wants their country to be more like America. She seems to believe that everyone should desire democracy, even when told by her Russian or her Chinese friends that rebuilding the economy is more important than the Western notion of freedom right then. And it makes sense when you think about it. Besides, just because democracy works for America doesn't mean it's the only correct answer for all countries. I'm also glad to see that her time in foreign nations brought her closer to her Mexican heritage; as someone without much of a heritage of her own, it saddened me a bit that Griest seemed to distance herself as much as possible from her mother's native culture.
Even with Griest's stubbornness that America does democracy best, this is a very fascinating travelogue, and Griest does an excellent job showcasing the good in all three nations. It's almost like we're right there with her because her writing is so colorful and vivid. It's definitely a quick and interesting read....more
I apparently live under a rock because I had no idea that this book was touted as some sort of reasoning as to why Donald Trump has become the 45th PrI apparently live under a rock because I had no idea that this book was touted as some sort of reasoning as to why Donald Trump has become the 45th President of the US. I had just finished White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America and found it extremely dry and difficult to absorb, and since I love memoirs written by ordinary people, I was excited to read this. It didn't disappoint.
I very nearly read this book in one setting. It's a very quick read, and one becomes absolutely absorbed in Vance's life. We see how important his Mamaw and his Papaw were in his life, the strained relationship he has with his mother (I have to wonder how she feels about his book because she doesn't come off well at all, not that I think that her behavior should have been whitewashed), the tough facade Vance had to cultivate just to survive the chaos and insecurity of his childhood. His Mamaw is a gun-toting, foul-mouthed hillbilly from Kentucky, and the reader finishes the book wishing she had a Mamaw like her (though I do adore my own much more proper and prim grandmother). Mamaw's ferocious defense of Vance helps to make him who is he today -- a cultural immigrant from Appalachia who is now a veteran and a graduate of Yale Law School, happily married to the woman of his dreams.
I found Vance's theories to be very similar to my thoughts on why poor people are still poor with all these "opportunities" available to them through government programs. First, Vance points out that the hillbillies of America tend to be rather defeatist anyhow. They don't believe they can be very good at school, so they don't even try very hard since they're sure they're only going to fail. Secondly, it's difficult to get ahead when you don't even know how to get out of the hole in which you've been born. Even I as an intelligent college-educated woman had no idea what kind of jobs were available to me, and I managed to fill out college applications and financial aid packets easily only because I had a guidance counselor walking me through the process. But in college I wasn't given any kind of training on interviews, and I'm sure that's why I wasn't hired by any of the firms that came to visit. I didn't know who to ask for help, and in a way, I didn't even realize I did need help. If I am that unaware, wouldn't it follow that people who have very little opportunity be even more in need of help that should be rendered without it being asked for? After Katrina hit New Orleans, I had a friend insist that the poor people should just go to college and get better jobs so they can afford to leave when disasters threaten, but I tried to explain to her that how do these people even know that going to college is even an option? It seems obvious to those of us who live a more privileged life, but it's more difficult to pull one up by one's bootstraps than most people would believe.
I'm also a little frustrated to learn that prestigious universities tend to discount tuition greatly for students in need. I myself refused to even attempt to apply to any Ivy League schools because I knew I couldn't begin to pay their exorbitant rates.
I rather wish Vance had given us more insight on his time in the Marines. He serves for at least four years, yet there's very little about his service in these pages. I hope he doesn't feel like it's not worth telling, since it seems as though he didn't see action in Iraq. But my husband served 24 years in the Navy and was never directly involved in a war. Service is service, and one should always be very proud of time served.
At any rate, I would definitely recommend this book, but especially over White Trash, unless you would prefer a more scholarly and less personal description of the poor in the US....more
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