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.