My 17th grade book report

I rarely leave the house without a book in hand, and end up going through books fairly quickly. But I find that as soon as I've moved onto the next book I mostly forget about the previous books that I've read. You've seen me make a few book lists, but I think that for memory retention it would be good if I captured some summaries and opinions on the books as well. I think future Tina would some day like to go back to see what I've read. So here are my attempts at recording my literary world.

The Beautiful and the Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald

This book is about a young couple in the 1920's, the man the grandson and only heir to an old New York tycoon and the woman a fabulously stylish, lazy, non-house wife type. Neither works and they spend their time gallivanting in the country clubs, partying, and spending the interest generated from the man's trust fund. That is, until they have a run-in with the reformist grandfather and he strikes them from his will. Unwilling to compromise their "principles", they continue to overspend, party with a vengeance, and eventually alienate all of their friends. Right before their lives are almost completely disintegrated, they win their trial and their rights to their fortune. But by that time it's too late and their lives have been officially ruined.

I know that Fitzgerald is an American classic, but I have to admit that his books don't appeal to me much. I can appreciate the characters' internal reflections and philosophizing as well as the detail to which he describes the clothes and environment, painting the reader a picture of the era as they read. But it's a bit froofy and not easily relateable, and thus not as attention-holding.

This book was in my hand one sunny day when I met up with my friend Amy by the fountain at Hyde Park for lunch. We began discussing our latest reads--she has an even greater zeal for reading than me--and she talked about a book written by one of the people from Medecins San Frontieres who had been in Sudan during the civil war and been present at several other poignant moments in time in other parts of the developing world. It brought home how fluffy my reading has been, reading whatever book happens to fall into my hands or is in the Penguin $10 section--mostly pop fiction--rather than finding books that really appeal to me and have relevance in this day and age.

My next trip to the bookstore found me doing a quick browse through the literary fiction at the front of the store and heading quickly to the back into the biography section. The "biography" section has always been off-putting to me, because it makes me think of war historians, boring, dried up versions people long-since dead. But upon closer examination, I found the bookshelves to be stocked with, dare I say, interesting books. Tales of robust females in outback Australia, various traveling memoirs, and chronicles of people who had beat the odds and victoriously overcome unthinkable obstacles. Naturally I gravitated toward the latter, hence my first non-fiction book in a looooooong time:

The White Masai, Corinne Hoffman

This book was written by a Swiss woman who traveled to Kenya on holidays and fell in love with a Masai warrior. How romantic, I thought. I flipped to a page in the middle and was okay with the writing style, so I made my purchase and read my way home on the train. Two pages into it and I knew I was going to get a bit annoyed. Generally when you read a book, you identify with the narrator and sympathize with them most of the time. I immediately started shaking my head and rolling my eyes at this girl, who was so insensibly romantic. She saw the man on a ferry and fell unspeakably in love. It reminded me of a German girl I met in Cuzco who fell head over heels for a local tattoo artist who sounded just like a britchero (one of the locals who preyed on tourists trying to find their ticket out--I can't really judge, but it's not cool to have your emotions taken advantage of). A lot of locals would depend on a tourist "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" for a better place to live, more money, etc. etc. It's a commonly-known system in the area, one I was told about by my Peruvian teachers. Anyway, this little German girl was obviously very strong, opinionated and intelligent but fell immediately for this guy who was (probably) trying to take advantage of her. She was so doe-eyed and excited. It was cute, but she was obviously naive, and the Swiss woman in Kenya sounded much the same. She forged a relationship with a man who didn't seem to have feelings for her nearly as strong as hers for him. She followed him deep into the bush of Kenya and ended up having his baby, marrying him and changing his way of life as he knew it. She would get angry that he didn't kiss her (that wasn't a way they showed affection in his culture) or about the love making style (less love making and more the man having his way with the woman) and other issues the Swiss and Masai cultures wouldn't see eye to eye on. She spent four or five years in Kenya and spent a good part of it sick with malaria, undernourished, and fighting with her man. I kept thinking, "When is this going to end? When will she just give up and go home???"

That being said, kudos to her for the courage to follow her heart and for trying to integrate so fully into a completely foreign culture. I think very few westerners would have lasted as long as she did and she did manage to accomplish a fair bit while she was there. She opened a store in their village then opened a souvenir shop by the ocean. She managed to communicate fairly effectively and get what she wanted almost all of the time. She learned some Swahili and English and outside of the sickness lived safely for the entire time she was there.

It was an interesting book and it was good to see two people from very different cultures trying to build a life together. Even if it didn't end successfully, at least they tried.

Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This is easily one of the best books I've read. Ever. It's a story of a Somalian woman who lived as a refugee/asylum seeker for most of her childhood, having lived in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya, then Holland. She was raised in the Somalian clan system and faced sickness, child abuse, female circumcision, and civil war before even reaching adulthood. She lived in Africa until the age of 23. She heavily believed in Islam and was sympathetic with the reformist Muslim movement, though while in Kenya she had more exposure to western culture and values. She began to question women's subservience and lack of freedom. Her father arranged her marriage to a second-generation Canadian Muslim, though she attempted to talk him out of it. After her marriage, her husband went back home and she went to Germany to visit family. She snuck into Holland and claimed asylum upon arrival. She ended up getting permanent residency and served as a translator and liaison between the Somalian community and the social workers in the community center until being approved for low-income housing. During this time she began to question Islam more and more--the treatment of women and children, the subservience, and the lack of development and prevalence of war as opposed to the peaceful functioning she saw in the Netherlands. Eventually she became a member of Parliament, openly denouncing Islam and pushing for immigration reforms, stances that have led to her current seclusion due to serious threats to her life.

I knew nothing about Islam and Muslims prior to reading this book, and I found this book to be very illuminating on the subject. Naturally it can barely skim the surface of the religious revolutions occurring in Africa, but having known very little on the subject prior to reading Infidel, I now have at least a more substantial footing on the wars in the Middle East and refugee issues surrounding this displaced population. I was inspired by Ayaan's courage to look outside of the beliefs she was raised with and to find faith in the world as we know it. She went against everyone she had known and everything she had ever learned and found another truth within herself. Not only that, but she spoke openly about it, disregarding political advice and her own safety to express her opinions and open the gates for other women and children to pursue their own freedom.

I recommend this book to anyone, but I'll more strongly recommend this to any of my female friends who want a good story about a woman who overcame conflict after conflict to create a positive change in the world. The best thing about it? It's true!