religion

Book One for 2024: “Rain of Gold”, Victor Villaseñor

/ Juliana Lightle / 1 Comment

The lady in charge of the College Center at Mendez Learning Center told me about this book, one of her favorites. I received it for Christmas from my grandson. It is the first book I read this year.

Although it reads like an epic novel, it is non-fiction, the story of Victor Villaseñor’s family tracing back to his four grandparents in Mexico, one set from Jalisco and the other from the rugged mountains closer to the US border. All left Mexico to escape the violence of the Mexican Revolution and eventually settled in Southern California.

Some of the events in this story are heart wrenching incidents of violence, even death, blatant prejudice, and economic poverty. On the other hand, I often found myself laughing out loud, it was so funny. The author’s parents remain perfect examples of strong people who never give up, whose persistence and determination lead to prosperous lives as successful business owners. The author continues to live on the ranch where he grew up in northern San Diego County. Now 83, he has authored many books including a sequel to this one. His website not only talks about his life and writing, but also struggles with dyslexia.

One Book a Week-55: “The Scribe of Siena”, Melodie Winawer

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At the beginning of 2023, my main resolution was to read at least one book a week on average. I exceeded the goal. Now I have to decide whether to continue. I discovered a lot of authors I had never read before and learned many new things.

This last book of the year is perfect for those who love Italy, the Italy of today and medieval Italy because it takes place in both time periods–mostly in the Siena of the 14th century but some in modern Siena as well. It begins in current day New York where Beatrice, the main character, works as a neurosurgeon. Years before, her older brother, a medieval scholar, moved to Siena to investigate the ancient rivalry between Florence and Siena. When her brother suddenly dies, Beatrice discovers she has inherited his house in Siena. When she goes there to settle his estate, she not only discovers his wonderful, centuries old house, but also a manuscript from a fresco artist, Gabriele Accorsi, and one of his paintings where there is an image of a woman who looks exactly like Beatrice herself. This magically leads her to 1347 Siena, a conspiracy over the rivalry between Florence and Siena, the Plague, romance, and so much more. This is a page turner sort of book where the reader also learns a lot about the Plague, medieval Italian customs and life, and Tuscan history.

I find it interesting that the author is a professor of neurology, fluent in several languages, and literate in Latin. This novel has also lead me to explore the actual medieval relationship between the cities of Florence and Siena.

One Book a Week-52: “Small Things Like These”, Claire Keegan

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This book was short listed for the Booker Prize in 2022. It is short (116 pages) and simply written. It illustrates the life of a small businessman in Ireland who delivers coal for heating to both homes and businesses. One of his customers is the local convent which houses young, unwed, pregnant women and their babies. To make money for the convent these young women are forced to do laundry under dire circumstances. While delivering coal one day, he discovers something that disturbs him so much, it changes his life.

The book is dedicated to the women and children who suffered in these Magdalen laundries. The last of these horrible places was not shut down until 1996. Estimates as to the number of young women subjugated to forced labor varies between 10,000 to 30,000. The number of women and babies who died in these places is unknown.

Note: At the beginning of 2023, I created a goal of reading at least one book per week. I am slightly ahead since the above is no. 52. I probably will get to at least 54 because nearly finished with another book. Now I have to decide whether to continues this goal into 2024.

One Book a Week-51: “The Watch”, Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

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I could not stop reading this book. The setting is a US military outpost during the Afghan war in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Kandahar. The weather is brutal–extremes of cold and heat, sand storms, heavy fog early in the mornings. Suddenly, after a brutal battle where they lose some soldiers, a young Afghan woman, Antigone, with stumps for legs shows up pulling a cart. Her brother, who the soldiers think was part of the Taliban, was killed in the battle; she wants her brother’s body for a proper Muslim burial. The soldiers do not know whether she is who she says she is or a suicide bomber. It confuses them even more when she plays hauntingly beautiful music on her rubab every night. All this leads to a lot of confusion over and raises many questions about morality and duty. Each chapter is from a different viewpoint, the young woman and various soldiers in the outpost.

Note: The rubab is a traditional Pashtun 12 string guitar-like instrument. You can find recordings on YouTube.

One Book a Week-50: “The Poet X”, Elizabeth Acevedo

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I purchased this book not long after it won the National Book Award, but never managed to get around to reading it until recently. I love this book. Yes, it won in the youth category, but since I have worked with teens for decades, I “get” it. It is a novel in poetry where the narrator, a 15 year old Dominican Latina, Xiomara, who lives in Harlem, keeps a poetry journal to stay sane. Her very religious Catholic die-hard Mom frequently drives her crazy with rules like she can never talk to a boy, much less date one. Her dad is a bit of a playboy and less strict. Her twin brother is a genius who won a scholarship to a fancy private school, and her best friend, Caridad, is hyper religious. Yet these young people all keep each other “together”. Her English teacher realizes Xiomara has a gift and encourages her to become involved in poetry slam events. She cannot see how this is possible given her mother’s attitude toward her poetry. You do not have to be a teenager to enjoy this book. In fact, if you think you do not understand teenagers, I suggest you read this book. It will enlighten you.

One Book a Week-48: “The Buried Giant”, Kazuo Ishiguro

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This is not the easiest book to read in many ways. Its setting is not long after the death of mythical King Arthur. Main characters include an elderly couple who have left their home to search for their long lost son, an aged knight supposedly Sir Gawain, a dragon monster, a “gifted” older child, and a Saxon warrior. Some of them are Britons and some are Saxons, and in some cases they view each other as arch enemies. There is a monastery with both good and evil monks, a tunnel, lots of forests and mountains, rivers, and a lake where a boatman ferries people to an island–perhaps the residence of the afterlife. The potential symbolism is endless if the reader is into symbolism. The dragon monster has created an endless fog which dulls the long term memory of the humans. The elderly couple want to get rid of the monster so they can repair their memories, but will this really be a good thing. That is one of the main questions in the book. Most analyses of the symbolism say the buried giant is the dragon, but I think it is the buried memories of everyone, but especially the elderly couple, who are desperate to recover their memories.

One Book a Week-47: “A Pipe for February”, Charles H. Red Corn

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If you have read “Killers of the Flower Moon” and/or seen the movie, this is a must read. Published in 2002, this Osage novel details the daily life of John Grayeagle from his viewpoint. A young, oil wealthy Osage man at the time he tells his story, John was raised by his grandfather because his parents, like many other Osage, were killed under strange circumstances, in his parents’ case an odd car wreck. He is the cousin of Molly, a main character in “Killers of the Flower Moon”. Although he received a college education, spent months traveling in Europe, lives in an elegant house, and drives an expensive car, he still follows many of the Osage traditions, which he details as he talks about his life throughout the novel. The novel describes the murders (which officials usually claimed were accidents or suicides) from the Osage point of view. They knew something was going wrong but were having difficulty determining what they could do about it. They were suspicious of the guardians assigned them by the US government who thought they were too stupid to manage their oil wealth, yet were often stymied when they tried to gain control of their own affairs. This is their story.

The author, who died in 2017, was a prominent member of the Osage Nation, a member of the Peace Clan as is the novel’s main character. The novel’s Foreward is written by Martin Scorsese, who cowrote the screenplay for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and coproduced and directed the movie.

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-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.