Following Mei-Ling Hopgood's highly satisfying read "How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm", I decided to learn about her personal journey through her memoir "Lucky Girl". "Lucky Girl" recounts Hopgood's discovery of her birth parents and family in Taiwan as a young adult, following a happy mid-western childhood raised by white American parents.
Unlike traditional birth parents discovery stories, Hoppgood does not glamorize her "reuinion" with her birth family. Not only does she face cultural barriers (i.e., language, customs and social differences), she must learn to adjust to the unique family dynamics. Over the years, family secrets slowly unravel including the existence of another sister who was born few years following Hopgood's birth and now lives with her adopted family in Switzerland, and her father's "second family" consisting of an illegitimate son and daughter. While she develops a bond with her birth sisters, the discovery of these secrets reinforces her revelation that she is indeed a "lucky girl" as she was saved from being raised by birth parents who did not appreciate the value of daughters and instead gained a second chance in life through her adopted parents unyeilding love.
Mei-Ling Hopgood ends her fascinating and honest memoir with her feelings about her seven month daughter. Unlike her birth parents, she not only values but treasures her daughter. As she recalls her daughter's birth, she can not fathom how anyone other than herself could take better care of her daughter. She is in awe of "how intimately the rhythms of mother and daughter are intertwined". As I await the impending birth of our daughter, even as I feel her move inside me, I too reflect upon how much she will be treasured and loved.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
" How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm and Other Adventures in Parenting" by Mei-Ling Hopgood
As I prepare for motherhood, of course I rely on books a key source of information. I not only enjoy gaining practical knowledge from professionals but also from those "in the trenches" i.e., mothers as they share their personal trials, tribulations, and joys of motherhood. I am culturally curious about not only our shared commonalities but how much we can learn from other cultures. Therefore, I could not resist a book, such as this one, that discussed parenting approaches from around the world.
Like me, the author comes from a multi-ethnic background. While she is also Asian, she did not learn about her Asian heritage until later in life as she was raised by Caucasian parents in Michigan and only as a young adult returned to Taiwan to meet her biological parents. Her daughter, like our daughter, is bi-racial with an Asian mother and a Caucasian father. While this is definitely not a requirement, her multi-ethnic background sparks her curiousity about multiculturalism. This is revealed in her attempts to incorporate multicultural parenting approaches into her own parenting style. Futhermore, she references different professional sources' (research studies, experts in pediatric care) to validate or refute different parenting approaches.
Obviously, one needs to take into consideration individuality and one can not assume these cultural parenting approaches apply to every parent within a certain culture; however, many of these approaches are culturally specific perspectives that are embraced by many parents within the culture.
Below is a brief summary of different culture's parenting approaches and its application to modern American parents:
* "How Buenos Aires Teach Their Children to Go to Bed Late"- Unlike most American parents who enforce strict sleep schedules for their children, Argentine parents tend to be more lenient and in fact, encourage their children to stay up late. It is not uncommon see young children wide awake and alert as as their parents socialize with friends at restaurants during late dinners. Medical research strongly supports young childrens' need for sleep to promote neurological, physical and emotional well-being. Argentine parents claim they make up for late bedtime with late wake-up times since preschool tend to start later in the day; however, it is not possible for Americans to create such a schedule making this Argentine practice non-viable. However, I do admire the Argentine cultural social norm that views children as an active participant rather then a burden in public places. The author gave examples of social public restaurants (such as in crowded restaurants) where staff members and other patrons do not look at crying, upset children with scorn and embarrassment, instead provide physical and emotional support to parents if needed.
* " "How the French Teach Their Children to Love Healthy Food"- The author introduces this chapter and illustrates this practice with a rural French elementary school that offers their students meals and snacks made from produce grown in its own garden. Although clearly this school is not representative of all French schools, I do like their policy that every child should try a certain produce at least "twice" before refusing to eat it. Eating healthy, non-processed foods is a practice that more modern American parents embrace, when compared to twenty to thirty years ago so while the French set a good example, it is not an entirely novel, culturally specific practice. In addition encouraging children to eat healthy food, the French also respect the sanctity of family mealtimes with the belief "If you value your food and food time, then your child will. If eating is simply something you have to do, between everything else you have to cram into your day, that is probably how your child will think as well." With our busy, fast-based lives and over dependence/attachment to portable electronic devices, unfortunately family mealtimes with uninterupted conversation is not a common practice in many American households. This is a practice that should be embraced to promote family bonding and support, critical to the family units' emotional strength and well being.
* " How the Kenyans Live Without Strollers"- Early in the chapter, the author points out that the use of strollers is not condusive for every society for several reasons including cost and poor quality roads. Consequently, many of these societies depend on alternative means of transporting their infants including baby carriers and slings. While the use of baby carriers and slings are growing, as a society we still overly depend on the use of strollers to transport our young children and although strollers are often practical, we must not ignore the many benefits of carrying babies close to our bodies. Babies who are carried in their parents arms or in a baby carriers receive vestibular stimulation which improves cognitive skills, parent-child attachment and postural development which affects the child's motor development. Studies have also shown that babies who are frequently carried by their mother tend to cry less then "independant" babies who spend most of the day in a crib, stroller or playpen.
* "How Lebanese Families Keep Their Families Close"- Not only Lebanese families, but many other ethnic groups are strong proponents of extended families who live in close proximity or in joint families, where extended family members live in the same house. Unfortunately, job opportunites do not make this option feasible to many families. This chapter identifies the several advantages families have when they live in close proximity including: deep rootedness, security, support and kinship, as a result children are often more emotionally well-adjusted.
* " How the Japanese Let Their Children Play- While Japanese parents and teachers supervise their children during play, they typically take a "back seat" when dealing with childrens' squabbles and fights, whereas American adults are typically quick to intervene. Children in Japan are encouraged to independantly resolve conflicts. Furthermore, the motivation not to fight signficantly differs between American and Japanese cultures, a comparative study between American and Japanese children revealed that while 92 percent of American children did not fight in order to avoid getting "caught and punsished", 90 percent of Japanese children stated that they did not want to "hurt other children or cause them to feel guilt or shame." Specifically, American children often are taught not to engage in conflict or agressive behavior in order to avoid extrinsic punishment (such as, "time-outs", loss of personal priveleges, verbal reprimands etc.), whereas, Japanese children learn intrinsic consequences of such behavior (including personal embarrassment, shame, and guilt in addition to empathizing with the victim's feelings). While adult nonintervention may not always be appropriate (especially during physical conflicts), teaching children the intrinsic consequences of their behavior may result in lasting, long-term conflict resolution and prevention.
* How Mayan Villages Put their Children to Work- Children in rural hunting-gathering societies typically spend a large portion of their day helping their parents with household and field chores. While of course most American children do not have the opportunity to engage in such chores, this chapter encourages our childrens' increased involvement in daily, routine household tasks (such as cooking, washing, dishes, gardenwork etc.) as "work not only serves the function of helping but enables children to learn they must grow up and be motivated workers.". In other works, it helps build responsiblity and work ethic. A long-term study of young adults determined that "the best predictor of young adults' success in their mid-20s was that they participated in household tasks when they were three or four." The study revealed that early participation in household tasks taught them "competence, self-reliance and self-worth that stayed with them throughout their lives."
* "How Asians Learn to Excel in School"- In general, Asian-American students, often outperform their peers and according to this chapter this is attributed to the value their parents place on academic achievement, in additon, to "differences in student motivation (how much they want to succeed), effort (how hard they exert themselves) and behavior (how much they devote to their studies)." While many Asian parents can be very strict and demanding regarding academic success, parents should maintain a healthy balance of setting standards and encouragement. Furthermore, research has revealed the importance of parental approach towards motivating childrens' academic success, showing how "encouraging a child to work harder can have a greater impact on success than inflating his ego by telling him he's smart." In other words, children intrensically should be encouraged to problem-solve and persevere.
Like me, the author comes from a multi-ethnic background. While she is also Asian, she did not learn about her Asian heritage until later in life as she was raised by Caucasian parents in Michigan and only as a young adult returned to Taiwan to meet her biological parents. Her daughter, like our daughter, is bi-racial with an Asian mother and a Caucasian father. While this is definitely not a requirement, her multi-ethnic background sparks her curiousity about multiculturalism. This is revealed in her attempts to incorporate multicultural parenting approaches into her own parenting style. Futhermore, she references different professional sources' (research studies, experts in pediatric care) to validate or refute different parenting approaches.
Obviously, one needs to take into consideration individuality and one can not assume these cultural parenting approaches apply to every parent within a certain culture; however, many of these approaches are culturally specific perspectives that are embraced by many parents within the culture.
Below is a brief summary of different culture's parenting approaches and its application to modern American parents:
* "How Buenos Aires Teach Their Children to Go to Bed Late"- Unlike most American parents who enforce strict sleep schedules for their children, Argentine parents tend to be more lenient and in fact, encourage their children to stay up late. It is not uncommon see young children wide awake and alert as as their parents socialize with friends at restaurants during late dinners. Medical research strongly supports young childrens' need for sleep to promote neurological, physical and emotional well-being. Argentine parents claim they make up for late bedtime with late wake-up times since preschool tend to start later in the day; however, it is not possible for Americans to create such a schedule making this Argentine practice non-viable. However, I do admire the Argentine cultural social norm that views children as an active participant rather then a burden in public places. The author gave examples of social public restaurants (such as in crowded restaurants) where staff members and other patrons do not look at crying, upset children with scorn and embarrassment, instead provide physical and emotional support to parents if needed.
* " "How the French Teach Their Children to Love Healthy Food"- The author introduces this chapter and illustrates this practice with a rural French elementary school that offers their students meals and snacks made from produce grown in its own garden. Although clearly this school is not representative of all French schools, I do like their policy that every child should try a certain produce at least "twice" before refusing to eat it. Eating healthy, non-processed foods is a practice that more modern American parents embrace, when compared to twenty to thirty years ago so while the French set a good example, it is not an entirely novel, culturally specific practice. In addition encouraging children to eat healthy food, the French also respect the sanctity of family mealtimes with the belief "If you value your food and food time, then your child will. If eating is simply something you have to do, between everything else you have to cram into your day, that is probably how your child will think as well." With our busy, fast-based lives and over dependence/attachment to portable electronic devices, unfortunately family mealtimes with uninterupted conversation is not a common practice in many American households. This is a practice that should be embraced to promote family bonding and support, critical to the family units' emotional strength and well being.
* " How the Kenyans Live Without Strollers"- Early in the chapter, the author points out that the use of strollers is not condusive for every society for several reasons including cost and poor quality roads. Consequently, many of these societies depend on alternative means of transporting their infants including baby carriers and slings. While the use of baby carriers and slings are growing, as a society we still overly depend on the use of strollers to transport our young children and although strollers are often practical, we must not ignore the many benefits of carrying babies close to our bodies. Babies who are carried in their parents arms or in a baby carriers receive vestibular stimulation which improves cognitive skills, parent-child attachment and postural development which affects the child's motor development. Studies have also shown that babies who are frequently carried by their mother tend to cry less then "independant" babies who spend most of the day in a crib, stroller or playpen.
* "How Lebanese Families Keep Their Families Close"- Not only Lebanese families, but many other ethnic groups are strong proponents of extended families who live in close proximity or in joint families, where extended family members live in the same house. Unfortunately, job opportunites do not make this option feasible to many families. This chapter identifies the several advantages families have when they live in close proximity including: deep rootedness, security, support and kinship, as a result children are often more emotionally well-adjusted.
* " How the Japanese Let Their Children Play- While Japanese parents and teachers supervise their children during play, they typically take a "back seat" when dealing with childrens' squabbles and fights, whereas American adults are typically quick to intervene. Children in Japan are encouraged to independantly resolve conflicts. Furthermore, the motivation not to fight signficantly differs between American and Japanese cultures, a comparative study between American and Japanese children revealed that while 92 percent of American children did not fight in order to avoid getting "caught and punsished", 90 percent of Japanese children stated that they did not want to "hurt other children or cause them to feel guilt or shame." Specifically, American children often are taught not to engage in conflict or agressive behavior in order to avoid extrinsic punishment (such as, "time-outs", loss of personal priveleges, verbal reprimands etc.), whereas, Japanese children learn intrinsic consequences of such behavior (including personal embarrassment, shame, and guilt in addition to empathizing with the victim's feelings). While adult nonintervention may not always be appropriate (especially during physical conflicts), teaching children the intrinsic consequences of their behavior may result in lasting, long-term conflict resolution and prevention.
* How Mayan Villages Put their Children to Work- Children in rural hunting-gathering societies typically spend a large portion of their day helping their parents with household and field chores. While of course most American children do not have the opportunity to engage in such chores, this chapter encourages our childrens' increased involvement in daily, routine household tasks (such as cooking, washing, dishes, gardenwork etc.) as "work not only serves the function of helping but enables children to learn they must grow up and be motivated workers.". In other works, it helps build responsiblity and work ethic. A long-term study of young adults determined that "the best predictor of young adults' success in their mid-20s was that they participated in household tasks when they were three or four." The study revealed that early participation in household tasks taught them "competence, self-reliance and self-worth that stayed with them throughout their lives."
* "How Asians Learn to Excel in School"- In general, Asian-American students, often outperform their peers and according to this chapter this is attributed to the value their parents place on academic achievement, in additon, to "differences in student motivation (how much they want to succeed), effort (how hard they exert themselves) and behavior (how much they devote to their studies)." While many Asian parents can be very strict and demanding regarding academic success, parents should maintain a healthy balance of setting standards and encouragement. Furthermore, research has revealed the importance of parental approach towards motivating childrens' academic success, showing how "encouraging a child to work harder can have a greater impact on success than inflating his ego by telling him he's smart." In other words, children intrensically should be encouraged to problem-solve and persevere.
"Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson
I typically avoid reading biographies and prefer to read personal memoirs/autobiographies, since based on prior experience most biographies tend to be either too sensational (and I want to read the truth not fiction) or pedantic, like a text book filled with dry facts. Walter Isaacson's biography on the iconic Steve Jobs was refreshingly neither. Based on interviews with Steve Jobs and important players in his life, the book skillfully recounts Jobs' life and career. Inserted quotes,which vividly illustrate events and candidly captures both Jobs' and other's opinions or perspectives, throughout the text allows the book to read like a novel and provides credibility.
Jobs will be remembered as a visionary and genius in his creation of products that changed the way we view and manipulate our world. Isaacson's biography provides an insight into the origins and development of such revolutionary products as the Pixar animation technology, iPod, iPhone and iPad alongwith its noteworthy predecessors including Apple I & II, Apple Macintosh and iMac.
Of course, Jobs did not singlehandedly create these products. Guided by visionary and innovative strategic philosophies, his team of bright engineers and business leaders propelled these products. Jobs was ademant in creating a product-driven rather than a profit-driven (although ultimately high quality products yield long-term profits) company. At its core was his drive towards product innovation "Give customers what they want...our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do." Guided by his design philosphopy "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication", he went to great lengths to avoid unnecessary parts, promote user friendlenes while maintaining style and functionality. To employees chagrin, this sometimes meant very last minute changes to the product because he didn't like the product's shape, color or feel.
Job strove for perfection and placed high, sometimes unreasonable, demands upon his employees. He spoke his mind, believing it was his "job to be honest. I know what I'm talking about and usuallly I'm right.". However, he was known to distort reality, verbally abuse employees and collegues, engage in tantrums and irratically change his mind (i.e., one day he would outright reject and critisize someone's idea, while the next day he would embrace and often claim the same idea as his own.) However, ultimately he viewed his behavior as a means to an end "As every day passes, the work fifty people are doing here is going to send a giant ripple through the universe. I know I might be a little hard to get along with, but this is the most fun thing I have done in my life." When he asked his former human resources director, Ann Bowers, to describe his behavior during Apple's early days she aptly responded "You were very impetuous and very difficult. But your vision was compelling. You told us, "The journey is the reward." That turned out to be true."
Jobs' competitors may not have as readily accepted his volatile temperament, including his most public "rival" Microsoft's founder and CEO, Bill Gates. Apple and Microsoft always maintained completely different technological and business models. Apple had a closed system; while Microsoft had an open system.Both Jobs and Gates asserted their company's model was far superior to the other and they were known to publicly scoff at each other's ideologies and products. In fact, the intense rivalry is what ultimately sparked the birth of the iPad. Job learned from a boastful member of Microsoft's design team that Microsoft had plans to create a tablet operated by a stylus. This fueled the birth of the IPad, as Jobs became determined to beat his competition with a far superior product that did not require a stylus, which Jobs deemed as an unnecessary and ineffective tool. This product would be a multi-touch device with an onscreen keyboard, thus eliminating the need for a mouse or stylus. It was touching that they finally put their rivalry assise and reached a common ground during Gates visit to Jobs in his final days. At this meeting, they discussed their shared committment to their families and their shared vision for increased integration of computers and eduction. Even more surprising, they finally acknowledged each others' business model strengths with Gates admitting "I used to believe that the open model would prevail. But you prove that the integrated vertical model could also be great." and Jobs responding "Your model worked too."
Isaacson brought to light key events and episodes in Jobs' life such as his high school and college days, drug use and quest for spirtualism in India. He also shared his relationships with close friends (including his Steve Wozniak, college friends, signficiant romantic relationships) and family (his illegitimate daughter,his biological and adopted parents, his biological sister). While many readers may have been disappointed that Isaacson did not delve deeply into Jobs' personal relationships like most "tell-all" biographies, Isaascon mantained a dignified balance between revealing the truth and preserving respective for Jobs' family.
Ultmimately, Isaacson portrayed a candid, insightful look into one of this century's geniuses. Readers will not only acquire knowledge of his often egocentric ideocyncracies and volitile relationships, but more importantly his brilliant vision and unrelenting drive for excellence.
Jobs will be remembered as a visionary and genius in his creation of products that changed the way we view and manipulate our world. Isaacson's biography provides an insight into the origins and development of such revolutionary products as the Pixar animation technology, iPod, iPhone and iPad alongwith its noteworthy predecessors including Apple I & II, Apple Macintosh and iMac.
Of course, Jobs did not singlehandedly create these products. Guided by visionary and innovative strategic philosophies, his team of bright engineers and business leaders propelled these products. Jobs was ademant in creating a product-driven rather than a profit-driven (although ultimately high quality products yield long-term profits) company. At its core was his drive towards product innovation "Give customers what they want...our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do." Guided by his design philosphopy "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication", he went to great lengths to avoid unnecessary parts, promote user friendlenes while maintaining style and functionality. To employees chagrin, this sometimes meant very last minute changes to the product because he didn't like the product's shape, color or feel.
Job strove for perfection and placed high, sometimes unreasonable, demands upon his employees. He spoke his mind, believing it was his "job to be honest. I know what I'm talking about and usuallly I'm right.". However, he was known to distort reality, verbally abuse employees and collegues, engage in tantrums and irratically change his mind (i.e., one day he would outright reject and critisize someone's idea, while the next day he would embrace and often claim the same idea as his own.) However, ultimately he viewed his behavior as a means to an end "As every day passes, the work fifty people are doing here is going to send a giant ripple through the universe. I know I might be a little hard to get along with, but this is the most fun thing I have done in my life." When he asked his former human resources director, Ann Bowers, to describe his behavior during Apple's early days she aptly responded "You were very impetuous and very difficult. But your vision was compelling. You told us, "The journey is the reward." That turned out to be true."
Jobs' competitors may not have as readily accepted his volatile temperament, including his most public "rival" Microsoft's founder and CEO, Bill Gates. Apple and Microsoft always maintained completely different technological and business models. Apple had a closed system; while Microsoft had an open system.Both Jobs and Gates asserted their company's model was far superior to the other and they were known to publicly scoff at each other's ideologies and products. In fact, the intense rivalry is what ultimately sparked the birth of the iPad. Job learned from a boastful member of Microsoft's design team that Microsoft had plans to create a tablet operated by a stylus. This fueled the birth of the IPad, as Jobs became determined to beat his competition with a far superior product that did not require a stylus, which Jobs deemed as an unnecessary and ineffective tool. This product would be a multi-touch device with an onscreen keyboard, thus eliminating the need for a mouse or stylus. It was touching that they finally put their rivalry assise and reached a common ground during Gates visit to Jobs in his final days. At this meeting, they discussed their shared committment to their families and their shared vision for increased integration of computers and eduction. Even more surprising, they finally acknowledged each others' business model strengths with Gates admitting "I used to believe that the open model would prevail. But you prove that the integrated vertical model could also be great." and Jobs responding "Your model worked too."
Isaacson brought to light key events and episodes in Jobs' life such as his high school and college days, drug use and quest for spirtualism in India. He also shared his relationships with close friends (including his Steve Wozniak, college friends, signficiant romantic relationships) and family (his illegitimate daughter,his biological and adopted parents, his biological sister). While many readers may have been disappointed that Isaacson did not delve deeply into Jobs' personal relationships like most "tell-all" biographies, Isaascon mantained a dignified balance between revealing the truth and preserving respective for Jobs' family.
Ultmimately, Isaacson portrayed a candid, insightful look into one of this century's geniuses. Readers will not only acquire knowledge of his often egocentric ideocyncracies and volitile relationships, but more importantly his brilliant vision and unrelenting drive for excellence.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith
Set in 1927, Joy in the Morning, follows the first year of marriage of a young couple, Cary and Annie Brown who leave Brooklyn to start life in a small Midwestern university town. Cary, a law student, and Annie, a high school graduate, adjust to life together, make new friends and deal with financial hardship; however, despite life's challenges they preserve their love for each other.
The novel's charm lies in its simplicity. The purity of their love characterized by mutual respect, friendship, humor and committment shines throughout the novel. This is not a sappy romance but a tribute to love and marriage.
Annie is the heart of the novel. She provides fresh innocence as she befriends the townspeople, explores her passion for writing and embraces pregnancy and motherhood. Annie has a unique approach towards life as revealed when she eavedrops outside a college composition class which eventually charms the Chairman and earns her the opportunity to audit classes or when she adopts the college stray dog who is housed by fraternity boys during the academic year but finds himself homeless in the summer. These and other episodes in Annie's life reveals her passion for life, warm-heartedness and loyalty.
"Joy in the Morning" rightfully earns its position as a beloved American classic novel. It captures the slower paced lifestyle in a midwestern college town in the late 1920s alongwith the timeless human quest to find "joy in the morning" on a daily basis, making the best of ones life and creating joy through finding pleasure in life's simple pleasures.
The novel's charm lies in its simplicity. The purity of their love characterized by mutual respect, friendship, humor and committment shines throughout the novel. This is not a sappy romance but a tribute to love and marriage.
Annie is the heart of the novel. She provides fresh innocence as she befriends the townspeople, explores her passion for writing and embraces pregnancy and motherhood. Annie has a unique approach towards life as revealed when she eavedrops outside a college composition class which eventually charms the Chairman and earns her the opportunity to audit classes or when she adopts the college stray dog who is housed by fraternity boys during the academic year but finds himself homeless in the summer. These and other episodes in Annie's life reveals her passion for life, warm-heartedness and loyalty.
"Joy in the Morning" rightfully earns its position as a beloved American classic novel. It captures the slower paced lifestyle in a midwestern college town in the late 1920s alongwith the timeless human quest to find "joy in the morning" on a daily basis, making the best of ones life and creating joy through finding pleasure in life's simple pleasures.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
"Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" by Helen Simonson, revised review
Simonson’s debut novel is a charming, unconventional love story between two widowed adults, Major Ernest Pettigrew, a retired English Colonel and Mrs. Jasmina Ali, a Pakistani store owner, in a small English village, Edgecombe St. Mary. The novel follows the couple’s path to love despite family and village members’ provincial objections.
The novel’s charm lies in its simplicity. This love story is built on a sweet friendship and is void of any distracting melodrama. Readers witness Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali’s love gradually unfold through acts of kindness and genuine understanding as they confide in and learn to appreciate each other.
Simonson masterfully creates both her main and secondary characters. Rather than depending on wordy physical and behavior trait descriptions, her characters come alive through their unique quirks, mannerisms and responses to a variety of situations. While the two main characters are intelligent and good-natured, the secondary characters ( including the Major’s self-centered son, Roger, the Major and Mrs. Ali’s endearing friend, Grace, and Mrs. Ali’s troubled store clerk, Amina) are colorful and entertaining.
Simonson reflects upon her childhood memories of English village life, as she creates the pastoral setting in the fictitious, Edgecombe St. Mary. The village’s slow paced lifestyle contributes towards the novel’s relaxing, yet intriguing, pace. Comparable to Jane Austen’s style, Simonson makes astute observations about village society’s rules through wit and satire.
Simonson’s delightful debut novel is bound to generate a following of loyal readers, eagerly anticipating the author’s future work.
"Good Wives" by Louisa May Alcott
With great anticipation and excitement, I began reading “Good Wives” the sequel to one of my adolescent favorite books “Little Women”. “Good Wives”, set three years after “Little Women” continues to follow the lives of the March sisters: Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth.
The first third of the novel was disappointing. While Alcott remains faithful to each characters unique traits and charms, the storyline lacks cohesion. Several of the first chapters serve as individual vignettes describing events within the lives of each sister. For example, chapters dedicated to Amy’s artistic booth at a local fair, Amy and Jo’s neighborly house calls and Meg’s domestic argument over financial issues. Rather than moving the story along, many of the details within these chapters appear trivial. Significant plot events such as the birth of the Meg’s twins, are referred to in an abrupt, off-handed manner.
The novel begins to take shape upon Amy’s departure to Europe and Jo’s temporary position as a children’s tutor in New York. At this point, readers start to witness these characters’ transformation from young girls into young women. While many fans of “Little Women” may initially be disappointed when Jo rejects Laurie’s romantic advances; his romance with Amy is the novel’s highlight. With picturesque Europe as the perfect romantic backdrop, Amy and Laurie’s friendship gradually and believably blossom into love. Not only does their relationship change but their characters become more evolved. Amy changes from a flighty, materialistic young girl to a tender, sensible young woman. In fact her wise advice to Laurie “Love Jo all your days, if you choose, but don’t let it spoil you, for it is wicked to throw away so many good gifts because you can’t have the one you want.” guides Laurie on a path of self-discovery and growth.
Jo also experiences significant growth, especially following her beloved sister Beth’s death. While her deep pain is described with sensitivity, her romance with the aged Professor Bhaer is less convincing. Although Professor Bhaer is a kind and decent man, Jo’s connection with him is not well-developed and seems more like a convenient plot device to tie up loose ends.
Alcott preserves her descriptive writing and keen insights into human nature, especially Marmee’s maternal advice given to each daughter. Despite “Good Wives” disappointing beginning and ending, Alcott’s writing style will continue to captivate readers; however, the novel’s weaknesses make it clearly apparent why “Little Women” is a treasured classic and “Good Wives” holds a relatively obscure position in literary history.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Two Lives by Vikram Seth
Two Lives is a part-memoir/part biography by the acclaimed author of A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth. Primarily based on letters between each other and friends, Two Lives accounts for the lives of his great-uncle Shanti, an Indian immigrant to Germany prior to World War II, and his great-aunt Henny, a Jewish German.
The book is divided into five parts: the author's relationship with his great-aunt and uncle, his uncle's life prior and post- World War II, his aunt's discovery of events during the war and how she comes to terms with the horrific revelations, his aunt and uncle's life in England together post-World War II and finally, the author's process in writing the book.
Vikram Seth is a gifted writer and his writing style has earned him worldwide accolades. One can not deny his talent; however, my interest level waned between each parts. The first part served a as satisfying introduction as it revealed the author's relationship with this the main characters. While parts of Uncle Shanti's story intrigued me, I was most fascinated by his Aunty Henny's story. While Henny was able to immigrate to England prior to World War II's onset through the assistance of a close Christian family friend, her Jewish friends and family were not as fortunate. Rather than describing first-hand experiences of the Holocaust, the book takes a unique perspective as Henny discovers the war's horrors after the war, including the tragic deaths of her sister and mother, via correspondance with her Christian friends. Henny must also come to terms with deciding which Christian friends to trust and keep allegiance with based on their treatment to fellow Jews during the war.
"For most of them (non-Jewish Germans), the war was only a misfortune because they lost it and as a result don't have anything to eat. That there are people who wish to dissociate themsleves from them, seems incomprehensible to them."
Shanti had first-hand experience of the war, where he served as a military based dentist. This ultimately lost him his arm. During the war, he corresponded with Henny declaring his love for her. They were friends prior to the war in Germany, during this time Henny was in committed relationship with a non-Jewish German. During the war, Shanti gained the courage to declare his affection towards Henny who although she was no longer dating the German man appeared to not have any romantic feelings towards Shanti. It was only when Shanti arrived in London did she recognize her interest in marrying him. While Henny grew to love Shanti, it appears that Shanti always held a more ardent love for his wife than she did towards him.
This one-sided, lukewarm relationship contributed toward the bland nature of the book's fourth part, describing their life London post-World War II.
The final part regained my interest, as it described the author's journey as a writer and path leading towards writing this book. While I was bored and skimmed through several portions of the book, this book piqued me interest in Vikram Seth and let me to committ myself to reading his acclaimed, mega-sized 1400 page novel "A Suitable Boy".
The book is divided into five parts: the author's relationship with his great-aunt and uncle, his uncle's life prior and post- World War II, his aunt's discovery of events during the war and how she comes to terms with the horrific revelations, his aunt and uncle's life in England together post-World War II and finally, the author's process in writing the book.
Vikram Seth is a gifted writer and his writing style has earned him worldwide accolades. One can not deny his talent; however, my interest level waned between each parts. The first part served a as satisfying introduction as it revealed the author's relationship with this the main characters. While parts of Uncle Shanti's story intrigued me, I was most fascinated by his Aunty Henny's story. While Henny was able to immigrate to England prior to World War II's onset through the assistance of a close Christian family friend, her Jewish friends and family were not as fortunate. Rather than describing first-hand experiences of the Holocaust, the book takes a unique perspective as Henny discovers the war's horrors after the war, including the tragic deaths of her sister and mother, via correspondance with her Christian friends. Henny must also come to terms with deciding which Christian friends to trust and keep allegiance with based on their treatment to fellow Jews during the war.
"For most of them (non-Jewish Germans), the war was only a misfortune because they lost it and as a result don't have anything to eat. That there are people who wish to dissociate themsleves from them, seems incomprehensible to them."
Shanti had first-hand experience of the war, where he served as a military based dentist. This ultimately lost him his arm. During the war, he corresponded with Henny declaring his love for her. They were friends prior to the war in Germany, during this time Henny was in committed relationship with a non-Jewish German. During the war, Shanti gained the courage to declare his affection towards Henny who although she was no longer dating the German man appeared to not have any romantic feelings towards Shanti. It was only when Shanti arrived in London did she recognize her interest in marrying him. While Henny grew to love Shanti, it appears that Shanti always held a more ardent love for his wife than she did towards him.
This one-sided, lukewarm relationship contributed toward the bland nature of the book's fourth part, describing their life London post-World War II.
The final part regained my interest, as it described the author's journey as a writer and path leading towards writing this book. While I was bored and skimmed through several portions of the book, this book piqued me interest in Vikram Seth and let me to committ myself to reading his acclaimed, mega-sized 1400 page novel "A Suitable Boy".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)