Mis Cincos Favoritos

I am honestly not a big fan of reading, but if there’s one thing I love, it's language. It doesn’t take much to get me to do something language oriented. I can spend a whole day in front of a television watching Mexican telenovelas and looking up words in my Larousse Spanish dictionary. So, if you really know me, it should come to no surprise that most of the books listed below have some sort of relation to language and culture. They are the books that have left a lasting impression on me, influencing my opinions and opening my eyes to lives I never thought I could just understand by reading a book. Take a look. These stories may encourage you to learn more about the different cultures around you!

 

1.     Before we were Free by Julia Alvarez

This is a story about twelve year old Anita de la Torre, a young girl who is growing up in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. Someone in her family has been accused of plotting with other Dominicans to rebel against the government, and so throughout it all, Anita has been struggling to live a newly, more complicated life. The secret police of her country start terrorizing her family and she realizes how hard the struggle is toward freedom. What I loved so much about this book was not only the insertions of the Spanish language, but also how personal it was. I felt like I had just learned so much about the country of the Dominican Republic by solely reading about its government and the political opposition of its citizens.

 

2.     Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

This book may have possibly been the one I’ve identified most with because of its’ plot. Alan Paton was one of South Africa’s greatest writers who wrote numerous collections of short stories, all regarding his homeland. He was well known for uplifting the spirits of the Africans. His works always talked about realizing the beauty of one’s country and not being ignorant to the troubles that corrupt it also. This particular story deals with poverty and the different financial statuses in South Africa, as well as the racial injustice. Not all people realize that the discrimination of races is not only in our country. Even in Africa there is discrimination and stereotypes of the people. The book was influencing because it teaches you to never lose courage and hope.

 

3.     Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

You have probably heard of my love for this book. Earlier last year when I was an ensayista, or essay writer, on the Spanish newspaper staff, I wrote a story about how much of an impression this story had on me. It’s more of a documentary work. Sonia Nazario was a reporter to traveled to Mexico to look into and publicize the difficulty of taking care of one’s family on little salary and poor living conditions. She documents the life of a young boy, Enrique, and his struggle to be reunited with his mother who has moved to America to make more money to provide her family with the essentials-food, clothing, etc. This was such a hard book to get through. I do remember tearing up and almost not being able to make it through a few chapters.

 

4.     The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

This is one of the books I read a few weeks after school ended last year. A couple years ago while watching PBS, I saw the author speaking of this new book. I kept her name in my mind and made sure I never forgot about it. What made it seem so interesting to me was that it was a compilation of Chinese narratives. People from China who had moved to America and started a new lifestyle told their stories and their children told their own. It was so fascinating to see how different American beliefs are from the Chinese. This gave me a good idea of how important it is not to lose your culture, because once its’ gone its’ actually pretty difficult to “re-learn.”

 

5.     Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

This particular book reminded me of Amy Tan’s writing style a bit. It is also a Chinese cultural book that puts more emphasis on older Chinese traditions. In a way, this novel reminded me of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, in the sense that the older rituals practiced in these Asian countries were being exposed and genuinely defined. This book is a journal-like composition. The main character recalls years and years ago when she meets her family matchmaker and gets her feet bound. It’s a truly depressing but comprehensive story that reveals how much the human perception and ideal view of beauty has changed over the years. That it’s not only in America, but also around the world.

It's not about the Bees

People tell me this time and time again; that I “judge.” Maybe it’s the look in my eyes, my posture, or my facial expression that gives off that vibe. I don’t know. I never really believed them up until this summer when I started my summer reading. My mother handed the reading list and I scanned through the list of books until I found an interesting one, so it seemed; The Life of Pi. I loved the title; it was so “out there” and different. But, then I went to the bookstore and saw the cover, the thickness of the pages, the font (size and color). It may just be my OCD, but I just couldn’t get the book.  The next on the list was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I thought, well, I don’t care too much for bees, but I’ll give it a shot.

The way Sue Monk Kidd writes in this book amazed me. She had some of the best descriptions of sentiments that I have ever read in a book. Even though she was talking about bees for most of the beginning until the plot really started to give way, Kidd continued to surprise me and hold my attention. So much, that what I paid more attention to was the bees than where the story was actually going, so when I had begun to realize the true theme behind the book, I was astonished at how well she brought up the topic. It’s something we are all intrigued about but somehow can never really talk about; race. Ironically enough, the main character, Lily doesn’t say too much about it either. What makes this such an interesting take on questioning race and its purpose is that all the talk about it went on in Lily’s mind. I did not exactly feel that I could relate to this character, but, being an African-American myself, her questions encouraged me to ponder if that is really how some people thought of my race back then, even now. I feel as if Lily is afraid to have a mindset of her own that is not influenced by society. At one point in the book it seems as if she’s upset with herself for wanting to ignore society’s view of blacks; “It was foolish to think some things were beyond happening, even being attracted to Negros.” I’d honestly thought such a thing couldn’t happen…” (125) Lily’s complicated views and emotions are almost too much for the reader. They form a sort of chaos that resembles the buzz of the bees.

Here I am rambling again. At times I feel like Lily’s character has rubbed off on me by how I think, and perhaps, her curiosity too. I am more aware of things after having read this book. I feel more open and understanding. And finally, after 302 pages and hours of reading I feel as if know what the secret life of bees is. Or maybe what it could be. We are the secret life of bees. Well not all of us; in this case it’s African-Americans. Though there is so much complexity surrounding the topic of race, Sue Monk Kidd cleverly compares it to the life of bees, which is so equally intricate and misunderstood. What is a person’s first instinct reaction when a bee flies around or near them? To swat it, or move his or her hand in a fan-like motion hoping to “shoo” it away. Imagine that the bee is now a symbol of race. This is what we are doing when we ignore what’s happening. If we all open our eyes to what every person contributes to our country, we would realize that we aren’t as united as we think; that we all have our own Secret Life.