politics

One Book a Week-44: “The Unsettled”, Ayana Mathis

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To say this novel is intense is an understatement. It begins with Toussaint, a 13 year old boy left to survive on his own then switches to Ava, his mother, who grew up on the road following her mother’s singing in Southern clubs until her mother settles down with Caro in a Black country Alabama town where all the Black people own acreage and are not only self sufficient but also sell their goods in many places. The nice life they have in this town changes suddenly when disaster occurs and her mom, Dutchess, goes into a prolonged mourning period. Eventually, Ava goes to college, obtains various jobs, wanders all over the country, and meets Cass, a doctor and Black Panther whose charisma draws people to him. He disappears, she and their son, Toussaint, wander from place to place as she goes from job to job. She marries, Cass reappears, and one bad event after another occurs.

This is a story of mother and son love, women who become ensnared with the wrong men, self sufficiency in spite of many obstacles, angry men, hope, and redemption. It is a story of this country.

A Book a Week-43: “Desertion”, Abdulrazak Gurnah

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Gurnah, a native of Zanzibar, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. This is the second of his novels I have read. Both deal with colonial Africa and the effects of colonialism on both individuals and countries, especially in East Africa.

In 1899, a British man, Pearce, stumbles out of the desert and collapses near the shop of a local businessman, Hassanali. His sister, Rehana, saves Pearce. This sparks a love affair, the results of which have long lasting effects on several families, not only for Pearce and Rehana, but for lovers and individual family members two generations later.

It is also a tale of governments immediately after independence and their failures. Additionally, it addresses “forbidden” love and its effects on those who genuinely love each other but cannot pursue their love. The effects are not only immediate but long lasting, affecting others not just the two lovers.

One Book a Week-42: “Where There Is Fire”, John Manuel Arias

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Before and since my two trips to Costa Rica, I thought Costa Rica had miraculously escaped the Banana Republic fate of many other Central American countries. This historical novel enlightened me to just how wrong I’ve been and how some of this continues today–huge US agricultural corporations controlling much of the agriculture.

In the 1960s, large US corporations invaded Costa Rica and controlled large blocks of land to raise bananas and cause havoc among large segments of the population. To increase yields the American Fruit Company doused their giant, lucrative, banana plantations with Nemagon, a pesticide that causes cancer and sterility. The novel includes letters indicating that both this company and Dow, the producer of the pesticide, knew this, did nothing about it, did not inform workers (until they had no choice), and continued its use.

The novel contains the story of one family’s history who lived near the largest plantation, the father and grandfather who worked there, a devastating fire, and the effects of this company’s policies on several generations.

Note: As recently as last year, the BBC reported on the use of this pesticide and its effects on workers and people living near plantations where it is still being used. Online you can find numerous articles about how these practices (the American Fruit Company is now Chiquita) fueled neocolonial exploitation and drug cartels.

One Book a Week-40: “Wifedom”, Anna Funder

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I found this new non-fiction book both fascinating and disturbing. Like Funder, I’ve always considered George Orwell (not his real name) a great writer and appreciate his insights into the methods used to gain power and control people plus the clever ways those who wield power draw masses under their influence.

After reading several biographies of Orwell, Funder began to wonder about his wife whom these authors barely mention. What Funder discovers is both enlightening and dismaying. Did Orwell love her or just use her as an editor and fancy typist? Did he even like women or just use them? Would “Animal Farm” and “1984” even have been written without her help? The subtitle of Funder’s work is “Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life”. Her real name was Eileen O’Shaughnessy. She married him in 1936.

What does it mean to be a writer” What does it mean to be a writer’s wife?

In many ways this work is a tribute to the unrecognized contributions of women though out time and everywhere.

Note: While reading about Orwell and his wife and family, the reader also learns about what it was like to live in the middle of nowhere in the English countryside without adequate heat and even sometimes a lack of food. It also details Orwell’s stay in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and his travels to France as a journalist toward end of WWII. He also suffered from TB about which he continually lied to everyone.

One Book a Week-31: “Miracle At St. Anna”, James McBride

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The third novel I’ve read by McBride in the last year, “Miracle At St. Anna” brings to life a little know part of WWII. Toward the end of the war, the US sent the Army’s Negro 92nd Division to Tuscany. Due to the ineptitude of one of their superiors, several soldiers find themselves behind enemy lines. This is their story–they sneak through dangerous mountain passes and ravines and find themselves in the tiny village of St. Anna di Stazzema where the peasants take them in and treat them more respectfully than they had been treated at home. It is also the story of this village, the residents there, and an orphan boy one of the soldiers rescues, a story of the tragedies of life and war and the miracles the villagers, the soldiers, and the boy experience.

While heart wrenching, it also inspires.

Note: I read this book last week and started on two others, one of which is the original “The Little Review ‘Ulysses'” which is how the first copies of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” were published. From March 1918 to December 1920, the Little Review published chapters of “Ulysses” in serial form. They had to quit because the material was considered obscene and censored. My reading of this is a long work in progress. This copy is not edited; the original spelling and other mistakes remain.

One Book a Week-29: “We Are Not Like Them”, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

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A heart wrenching Prologue begins this contemporary novel about race, family, and friendship. Two children, one white (Jen) and one black (Riley), became best friends in kindergarten. Their close friendship endures to adulthood and through distance. Finally, once again in the same city, their bond is tested when Jen’s husband, a police officer, shoots an unarmed 14 year old black boy. Riley, a TV reporter, is assigned to interview the boy’s mother.

Their story, told from the viewpoints of both women, covers the effects of such a tragedy on family and fellow police officers and the community, illustrates the trauma of current events, and demonstrates how such a disaster tests all involved.

One Book A Week-25: “The Daughters of Madurai”, Rajasree Variyar

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The first sentence of the book reads: “A girl is a burden. A girl is a curse.”

In India in early 1990s, Janani lives with her abusive mother-in-law and an alcoholic husband who is often absent, chauffeuring people here and there. Although she is allowed to keep daughter number one, the fate of the next daughters is death. She, who is Tamil lower caste, is lucky enough to work for the same higher caste family for whom her mother worked and with whom she spent most of her childhood. They treat her much better than her husband and mother-in-law who hate her for not bearing a boy baby.

The book goes back and forth between this time period and 2019 Australia where the fate of Indian girls and women is far different. The family returns to India for the funeral when the family patriarch dies. Those who know little about their family history learn some shocking revelations.

In the Afterward, the author discusses female infanticide. Although many educated families oppose it and national laws prohibit the practice, it remains so common in parts of rural India that in those places there is a shortage of women for marriage. As a consequence, men resort to kidnapping women from other areas.

I thought it would take me a while to read this 326 page novel. However, I became so engrossed, I finished it in two days while also engaging in several other activities.

One Book a Week-23: “The Devil’s Highway”, Luis Alberto Urrea

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Even though the events described in this non-fiction work occurred exactly 22 years ago in May in southern Arizona, not much has changed except the nationality of the immigrants. Few Mexicans try walking across the Arizona desert these days. Now it’s mostly people from certain Central American countries, Venezuela, and various other countries, generally places where the climate of the Sonoran Desert is unknown.

In 2001, a group of men, mostly from the state of Veracruz, tried it. More than half died and the coyote who led them remains in prison. This book tells their story. It also describes in detail the networks that lure immigrants to attempt the long journey to the US border, who benefits, who gets paid, the geography and climate of the desert–a true tale of deceit, disillusion, desperation, and loss.

4000 migrants have died in the last two decades trying to cross the Arizona desert. This number equals bodies found; many tell tales of others whose bodies remain lost. 2021 saw a record number of deaths. 2022 data is not yet published.

Note: I like Urrea’s books and have read most of his novels. I recommend starting with “The Hummingbird’s Daughter”.

One Book a Week-19: “The Round House”, Louise Erdrich

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Winner of the National Book Award in 2012, and narrated by the 12-13 year old son of a tribal judge and a professional, tribal woman, this novel details the story of a family nearly destroyed by the brutal attack on the boy’s mother. Even after the identity of the attacker is known, he is set free because she will not tell or cannot recall where the attack occurred, whether on tribal land or just outside its boundary. This leads to the boy’s determined quest to obtain justice for his mother. This page turner perfectly illustrates the continual problem of justice for indigenous women who are 2-3 times more likely to be raped (and often killed in the process) than white women and with no one ever charged.

Given the seriousness of the novel, it is surprisingly funny at times with the antics of teen boys and other characters, including some colorful and interesting older tribal members and an ex-Marine priest. The reader will also learn a lot about Ojibwa culture. Once you start, you have to keep going in hopes that somehow justice will prevail in the end.

One Book a Week-18: “If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English”, Noor Naga

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Identity politics remains at the heart of this unusual novel. Written in three parts, One portrays a “love” affair between an Egyptian American woman who has gone to Cairo to find her Egyptian self and an unemployed, revolution (as in Arab Spring) photographer who alternates between living in a rooftop shack and homelessness. Each vignette starts with a question and alternates between the voice of the woman and the man, expressing their viewpoints on life, love, and their situation. Part Two is the same except without the “headline” question. Part Three is a big surprise–a discussion, written as a play, a critique of the rest of the novel among the author, an instructor, and several “students”.

I loved this book in part because it enabled me to learn a lot about Egyptian cultures, but also because I found it thought provoking and intriguing.