It seems appropriate to be writing these notes on Independence Day, a federal holiday that commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 and a day to celebrate American patriotism. Merriam-Webster.com defines patriotism as "love for or devotion to one's country."
What does "love of or devotion to one's country" look like? What if one is compelled to leave his or her country (willingly or not)? It is possible to feel "at home" in a new country or back in the old country or anywhere at all?
The books above (one nonfiction and two fiction) offered insight, although no easy answers, to those questions. I admit to not being very knowledgeable about the many countries of Asia and their diverse cultures and histories. Nor have I read many books with Asian characters or written by Asian authors. If you've read my last two book notes (which you can find
here and
here), you know that I'm trying to be deliberate about reading from diverse perspectives. These three books expanded my understanding of cultures and experiences different than my own. Not only that, but the books are amazingly well-written and entertaining as well as illuminating.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman
Book description from goodreads.com:
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest.
This is a fascinating true story. The author intersperses chapters about Lia Lee, her family, their life in Laos and the U.S., and details of her medical treatment with chapters about the history and culture of the Hmong people. The culture clash around Lia's treatment is put into the context of her Hmong culture, customs, and political history. I knew very little, for example, about how the CIA trained Hmong men to fight against communists in Laos, the subsequent abandonment of those who fought, the story of the Hmong people escaping to Thailand and their eventual resettlement in the United States and other countries. And while I was aware that Wisconsin has a significant Hmong population, I didn't realize that the three states with the largest Hmong populations are California, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Through the story of the Lee family and other families chronicled in the book, I learned a lot about the experiences of Hmong refugees in the United States. The author does a good job of representing the various "sides" of the story - the Lee family, the medical professionals, social workers, etc. The events took place in the 1980s, and the book was written in the 1990s. For that reason, I appreciated the afterward and updates included in the fifteenth anniversary edition.
My curiosity about Southeast Asia piqued, I read the novel
The Sympathizer by author Viet Thanh Nguyen. A friend who recently traveled to Vietnam recommended the book to me. Nguyen is a brilliant writer. You can read more about him on
his website. I also recommend listening to
this interview with him on NPR's Fresh Air.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Book description from goodreads.com:
The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as five other awards, The Sympathizer is the breakthrough novel of the year. With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Saul Bellow, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.
Wow - what a read! What struck me most about this book was the genius of the storytelling and the dark comedy. It's a tragic story in so many ways, and yet I found myself laughing out loud at numerous passages. This is not an easy read and the last few chapters were a bit frustrating to me (although I can see why necessary).
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Book description from goodreads.com:
With the coruscating gaze that informed The Sympathizer, in The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half-sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will, the stories are a captivating testament to the dreams and hardships of immigration.
After reading The Sympathizer, I wanted to read Nguyen's collection of short stories. Again, wonderful writing and clever storytelling. I was absorbed in this collection and read it in two days.
*****
Other June reading:
double dutch by Sharon M. Draper
A good novel for the tween-to-teen age group by popular and award-winning children's author
Sharon M. Draper. I was drawn into the excitement of the double dutch tournaments through Draper's vivid descriptions. She nicely weaves together the stories of the different characters and their secrets while showing loving relationships between family members and friends who help each other weather challenges and difficulties.
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
I like this book and am going to reread parts of it because I think author
Cal Newport has a lot of great ideas.
That being said, I had to laugh at myself when I first started reading it because the situation was so antithetical to the spirit of the book. As I waited for two pots of water to boil, I brought the book into the kitchen with me. I was cooking the family dinner, making brown rice for a family member with a sick stomach and simultaneously cutting up fresh fruit and veggies and boiling eggs so that everyone would have healthy stuff to pack in their lunches. The book ended up face down on top of the microwave while I scrambled from stove to sink to refrigerator to cabinet to cutting board and back around. This was not DEEP work, it was multi-tasking, but - wow! - I was getting a lot of necessary stuff done!
Of course, the author is referring to "knowledge work" not household management. But I do wonder how the book might differ if written by a woman and particularly by a mother. Still, as I mentioned above, there are constructive ideas in the book for anyone who wants to focus more on their "work" (whether paid or creative or otherwise). Thanks to writer
Lisa Rivero from whom I learned about this book on her blog.
******
That's it for June. I have a large stack of books waiting to be read in July. We'll see how far I get. How about you? What have you been reading?
