Saturday, December 12, 2009

Mother of the Believers by Kamran Pasha

One thing the discussion questions in back suggest is to think about how we might choose to write our own memoir. The character of Aisha writes from one rite of passage and ceremony to another. Hmmmm.

When I started the book about Aisha (Mother of the Believers), I loved it right away. The author had a great writing style and I was intrigued about his fictionalized account of the life of Mohammed (based on true events and his own "gut" feelings, particularly as they come from his religion). Yeah, the author is a man, it was interesting to talk about how he tells a woman's story.

One of the interesting things we came to realize during our discussion was that this is not just the story of Islam, it is the story of ALL RELIGIONS and their prophets, the building of a following, the formation of beliefs and rules, and of being persecuted.

Monday, September 7, 2009

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

1st published in 1988

Think about the PEOPLE HE MET: Old King, Gypsy Woman, Thief, Merchant, Englishman, Alchemist And the OTHER GUIDES/TEACHERS: Sheep, Glass, Desert, Love? What LESSONS did he (and you) learn?

We talked about taking journeys (rambles, treks, walks, trips) and why some people feel the wanderlust need and others don’t. We heard about K.’s journey on El Camino this past summer. It was interesting and inspiring to hear about her journey: alone and with others; through country farm land and along city highways; and from ancient ruins to modern buildings.


We thought about following your authentic path. In the book, the main character traveled, met people, changed his path, and then ended up at home.
  • Your path may lead you home; it may lead you somewhere else
  • It may be a straight path; it may meander
  • It may be toward the same goal all along the way; it may change along the way
  • Sometimes, you can’t see three steps in front of you; you can only see one step at a time
  • As you travel along your path, there may be a need to return to family and familiar people and things, as we move forward

We reflected on what reading about the journey meant to us.

  • The book made some of us want to travel and live (or at least visit) with cultures in unfamiliar settings and languages.
  • Traveling is a chance to live in the moment and not worry about every day mundane things.
  • When traveling, you are thinking about basic things (where will I eat?).
  • Being in a new place means “my head is open.”
  • Do you open up and talk more when traveling and meeting new people compared to being at home?
  • When we travel (through life? To places?), we can let things go…

Below are some highlights and summaries from the book.

LESSONS
  • Old King taught him to have faith in destiny
  • Universal language of omens
  • The language without words is about noticing omens (and following them)
  • Eternal optimism
  • Finding (and sticking to) your personal legend
  • The universe conspires to help one reach their personal legend
  • Learning the language of enthusiasm – move through life and do tasks with love and purpose
  • Learning that courage is essential to understanding the language of the world
  • The secret of the future is here in the present
  • When god reveals the future, it is because he wants it to change
  • Alchemy – soul is the world transformation
  • Elixir of Life – give eternal life
  • Philosopher’s Stone – makes gold from lead
  • Did he teach the sheep (e.g. to follow his sleeping patterns) or did he learn from them (e.g. he rose early like they did)?
  • One important lesson is to learn confidence
  • It’s not what enters one’s mouth which is evil, it’s what leaves it…
  • Wherever your love is, there you will find your treasure, then everything you learn along the way will make sense…

The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes

Think about what the author says about DNA evidence and how it makes/breaks other theories (like those related to farming becoming more popular than hunting/gathering).

Sykes wrote really well about the science of mitochondria, DNA, and genetics. It was very understandable and enjoyable. The writing style reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell with the humor and explanation of details on somewhat complicated research. C. shared the research she has seen at her M.I.T. lab and how his explanations of machines and reports simplifies their complicatedness.

Below are some highlights and summaries from the book.
Ancient Man
Cro Magnon man and Neanderthal could probably mate, but they would create infertile offspring.

Mitochondrial DNA
Scientists had only classified people by blood groups until mitochondrial (maternal) DNA was discovered and proven effective. Regular DNA focuses on the individual, mitochondrial DNA relates groups of people who are descendent from a particular female. Golden hamsters were one of the first creatures to be identified as having ALL descended from four hamsters (one female and three males) captured in the wild and domesticated. All hamsters are descendent from this original female.

When the bones of a family were discovered and suspected to be of the Russian Romanovs, DNA evidence was used. All the children were related to the mother (as would be expected), but did that mean it was the Czar? The Czarina had a living royal relative. The Czar is related to Queen Elizabeth’s husband (who happens to have a very, very rare mitochondrial DNA strand, not common at all in most of Europe). Both men, after negotiations, donated DNA. The DNA matched and proved it was indeed the Romanov grave. The two missing younger children were probably burned and bodies left at the fire site, when the others were put into the mass grave nearby.

12K years ago, Japan was settled.

Evidence supports four clans in the Americas, one from Polynesia.

Hawaiian DNA has BOTH Asian and American mitochondria, so were they from a group (like the Kontiki showed) who came from the Americas against the wind? Or were they from Asia through Polynesia traveling with the wind? Well, DNA evidence shows them to be predominantly Asian, but they may have picked up one Native American woman, whose DNA has survived in the gene pool.

Seven Daughters
Measuring the mutation rate is hard. The Ice Man starts it, and there are seven clusters which have become known as the “clan mothers.” More than 95% of all Europeans fall into 7 clans. Clans create equity; it is no longer the princess or the pauper, the slave or the lover/wife? It is who is the ancient mother who birthed at least TWO daughters who survived into the present. In another 1000 years, it may be another set of mothers, living at this time.

URSULA – She was a hunter/gatherer, lived in a cave, used stone tools, feared the cave bear, lived concurrently with Neanderthal, and has modern descendants in western Britain and Scandinavia.

There was no mass exodus from Africa. Laura left Africa and the whole rest of the world is made up of her descendants.

25K years ago, XENIA lived on a cold tundra where Bison and Wooly Mammoth roamed. She lived in a hut and followed migratory animals. She used flint and a spear thrower. She roamed Britain and France in a band. 6% of Europeans are descendent from her (1% of Native Americans).

20K years ago, HELENA lived during the ice age when the sea level was 100m lower than it is today. She saw reindeer, created art and painted in caves (Lascoux), did ceremonies, and lived in cliff dwellings. 47% of Europeans are descendant from her.

17K years ago, VELDA lived in the middle of the ice age after Helena. She was an artist and a carver and lived in Spain. She is related to the Sammii and 5% of Europeans are descendant from her.

17K years ago, TARA lived in Italy. She was contemporary to Velda and lived in a wooded forest on an island. She ate mussels and had a maritime economy with mussels and boats. 9% of Europeans are descendant from her (mostly in Ireland).

JASMINE lived in the near East. She farmed and domesticated goals. She had more children and 1/5 of Europeans are descendant from her.

KATRINE knew the wolves. 6% of Europeans are descendant from her.

Farming
There has been a long-standing belief that farmers moved into the territory of the hunter/gatherers, but DNA evidence suggests that the h/g’s evolved and the technology (the IDEA) of farming moved into their niche. It was not an invasion, but the Paleolithic descendants who stayed and farmed, spreading the idea.

Conclusions/Summary
There is no such thing as a genetically pure classification system which would divide folks into different races. Mitochondrial DNA is 10,000 years old and predates any perceived tribal differences.

Although there are 7 clans in Europe, there are at least 26 other clans in the rest of the world (13 are in Africa). Worldwide, Africa has only 13% of the world population, but 40% of the clans.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

History of Ipswich Lace
Some excerpts from Book Buzz

Look for something that enhances the pattern or something that breaks it.
—from The Lace Reader's Guide

The Lace Reader must stare at the piece of lace until the pattern blurs and the face of the Seeker disappears completely behind the veil. When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen.
—from The Lace Reader's Guide

In this moment, an image will begin to form… in the space between what is real and what is only imagined.
—from The Lace Reader's Guide

Each Reader must choose a piece of lace. It is hers for life. It might bea pattern handed down through the generations or a piece chosen by the reader for its beauty and familiarity. Many Readers prefer the handmade laces, particularly those of old Ipswich or the laces madetoday by the women of Yellow Dog Island
—from The Lace Reader's Guide

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We all agreed that Cal was a horrible man, charming in public, evil on the inside.

The sheltering of women was similar to the Underground Railroad for African Americans.

We wanted more about the lace included in the story.

Many of us agreed that when Towner says she’s unreliable, she is. Things aren’t what they seem in this book.

Some of us had trouble keeping the names apart – Towner was Sophia and her twin was Lindsey, whom she called Linely. Call is the biological father.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Look into the lace . . . When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen... In this moment, an image will begin to form . . . in the space between what is real and what is only imagined.

Can you read your future in a piece of lace? All of the Whitney women can. But the last time Towner read, it killed her sister and nearly robbed Towner of her own sanity. Vowing never to read lace again, her resolve is tested when faced with the mysterious, unsolvable disappearance of her beloved Great Aunt Eva, Salem's original Lace Reader. Told from opposing and often unreliable perspectives, the story engages the reader's own beliefs. Should we listen to Towner, who may be losing her mind for the second time? Or should we believe John Rafferty, a no nonsense New York detective, who ran away from the city to a simpler place only to find himself inextricably involved in a psychic tug of war with all three generations of Whitney women? Does either have the whole story? Or does the truth lie somewhere in the swirling pattern of the lace? (From the publisher.)

We also took a trip to Salem, MA. First, we saw a film at the Visitor Center about Essex County, it's culture, industry, history, and integration of people and ideas. Pretty good, for what it was. Tag line… There's more to Salem and Essex County than just the witch trials…




One of the walking books included an architectural tour of houses. We took our own walk and the ones we found interesting weren't in the tour book. The tour book seemed to mostly have houses related to historic figures and those which charged admission.













The Witch Trial Memorial and Graveyard were fascinating.
There was one man crushed to death and all the others were women who were hanged.







The judge who presided over during the hysteria (Nathanial Hawthorne's uncle) is buried here.
One of the original "pilgrims" from the Mayflower is also here.
And, Cotton Mather's relative!











"Bewitched" was honored by TV Land, but I really liked the Maiden, Mother, and Crone (historically, thought of as the "witch") paintings.









Rockafellas for lunch.










The Ropes Mansion formal garden.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

AUTHOR – Jean Auel was born in Chicago on February 18, 1936. She moved to Oregon and attended Portland State University, receiving her M.A. from the University of Portland in 1976. It was not until after she had raised five children that she began to write poetry and fiction. In fact, The Clan of the Cave Bear started as a short story exploring Auel's interest in Paleolithic humans. As Auel asserts, "the story lead to research, the research fired my imagination, and the wealth of material made me decide to write a novel." The original manuscript was almost one half-million words long and was rejected by several publishers.

In the mid-1970s, Auel began revising her mammoth manuscript. She rewrote The Clan of the Cave Bear four times. Finally, in 1978, she found a publisher willing to devote the time and resources to publishing the series. The novel was finally published in 1980. Over the following twenty-two years, she published three more novels in the series: The Valley of the Horses (1982), The Mammoth Hunters (1985), and The Plains of Passage (1990).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On a recent visit to the Boston Museum of Science, I photographed these bones. On the left is Homo Sapiens Sapiens (that's us humans) and on the right is Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis. As the book so accurately describes, you can see the brow ridges on the Neanderthal and the lack of chin. Cool, huh?
















Some moments of insight from our conversation:

We appreciated the way the medicine/healing made Ayla “valuable.” Ayla needed to be taught the traditions, while Iza already had the “memories.” We had a brief debate (with no resolution) about whether the “memories” were “instinct,” and how cool it would be if that were really in our genetics (we are born knowing everything that our ancestors through the centuries knew). We were also interested how the medicine was collected, preserved, and stored.
• Medicine bag was made out of otter skin
• Type of knots and string are used to identify individual/different medicines from one another

We had another question/answer session as we wondered where in the world the story took place. Many of the animals and plants are native to the Americas, yet, our evolutionary teachings tell us that Neanderthals were only in Europe. Reading the critiques of the book, help us better understand this confusion. Auel overlaps contemporary knowledge (particularly Native American beliefs) with Neanderthal anthropology and archaeology.
• Women’s energy is stronger than men, especially after menses.
• Men stole women’s power.
• No “thank you” just reciprocal obligation
• Smoke ceremony
• Vision Quest helps discover Animal token
• Bears and salmon of “American”

We talked about the relationships between biological and “adopted” (Ayla) children to their parents, between brothers and sisters, for leaders and clan people, and between men and women. Ayla learned the clan ways, and hid her own tears, laughter, and language (Home Sapien Sapien traits).

Again, there is more, but I didn’t have my laptop with me and the memory grows weaker over time…

CONDENSED FROM BOOKRAGS WEBSITE: Characters
Ayla
The Clan of the Cave Bear chronicles the early life of Ayla. As a young Cro-Magnon girl, Ayla's parents are killed in an earthquake at the beginning of the novel when she was just five years of age. She is rescued by Iza, the Clan's medicine woman, and she is brought into the Clan. However, Ayla is uncomfortable with the rules and customs of her adopted people and she makes a series of costly mistakes that eventually lead to her exile…

Broud
Broud is the son of Brun's mate, Ebe, and is therefore destined to become the next leader of The Clan. He is also shallow, vain, egotistical, impatient, and illogical. Yet he is a brilliant dancer, a fearless hunter, and a great storyteller. His resentment of Ayla begins early on, and grows stronger as they grow up; he resents her strength, resourcefulness, and the fact that she does not respect him…

Brun
Brun is the leader of The Clan. He is a very traditional ruler and does not like to upset the old ways. However, he is very concerned about doing whatever is necessary to help his people survive. His only blind spot is for Broud. He knows that Broud is a vain, selfish boy—but Brun cannot bring himself to break the tradition of giving power to the son of his mate…

Creb
Creb (also known as The Mog-Ur) is a great holy man and a respected member of the Clan. He is the brother of Brun and Iza. Born deformed, Creb was later horribly scarred in an attack by a cave bear. This attack cost him his right eye and heightened his ability to speak to and interpret the sayings of the "spirits": the supernatural entities that The Clan believed surrounded them…

Durc
Durc is Ayla's son. Born when his mother was only eleven years of age, he is half Neanderthal and half Cro-Magnon. The Clan decides that he is deformed and must die, but Ayla forces the Clan to accept him by hiding for seven days. Creb realizes that Durc is the future of the Clan people…

Iza
Iza is Ayla's adopted mother and the sister of both Creb and Brun. She is also the greatest medicine woman of the entire species, her status being handed down in an unbroken chain from mother to daughter for countless generations. It is Iza who discovers a starved, scared, half-dead, five year-old Ayla and nurses her back to health. She also decides to train Ayla as a medicine woman…

Uba
Uba is Iza's biological daughter and Ayla's adopted sister. She and Ayla are devoted to each other and she silently agrees to raise Durc when Ayla is cursed…

Themes
  • Nature versus Nurture
  • Individual and Society
  • Cultural Stagnation Equals Extinction
  • Problems with Patriarchy

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

Recommended books:
Story… Screen Writing by Robert McKee
Hero with 1000 Faces by Campbell
Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson
Presentation Zen by Gar Reynolds
Stealing Fire from the Gods by Bonnett
Understanding Comics by McCloud






LEFT BRAIN

RIGHT BRAIN

Text

Context

1000 Words

Picture

WHAT is said

HOW it is said

Computer analysis

Gestalt synthesis

Single answers

Divergent answers

Categories

Relationships

Details

Big picture

Tone, empathy

Scenes

Faces

Logic

Emotions

Linear

Intuitive, nonlinear

MCAS & SAT took away education and jobs from aristocracy and created greater access for all

How things work

Pleasing to the eye

Pursuit of wealth

Pursuit for purpose and meaning

Automation of legal, medical, chess, etc.

Abundant already, can do what is not cheaper, overseas, or faster by computer

Narrative medicine

Recognize subtext

Utility

Combined significance

6 high concept aptitudes

Play

Sympathy

Empathy

Design

Story

Meaning

Solve problems

Appreciate world around them

Understand others

Conceptual age

Learning isn’t about memorizing isolated facts, it’s about connecting and manipulating them

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Although Jhumpa Lahiri writes about Asian Indian culture, we thought the themes were universal, and more relevant to many cultures and relationships than her other two books (Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake).

Here’s a brief summary of some of the short stories in Unaccustomed Earth – from a website: Unaccustomed Earth is rich with Jhumpa Lahiri’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers. In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he’s harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he’s keeping all to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations,” a husband’s attempt to turn an old friend’s wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,” a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,” a trio of linked stories—a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate—we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.

Below are the questions we used to start our conversation which I attached to some of the themes we discussed: culture/traditions, silence, 2nd generation/multiracialness, relationships, and balance.

1. Discuss the relevance of the epigraph from Hawthorne’s “The Custom House” not just to the title story but also to the collection as a whole. In which stories do the children successfully “strike their roots into unaccustomed earth”? Why do others find themselves unable to establish roots? How do their feelings of restlessness and insecurity stem from growing up in two cultures? What other more universal problems do they experience? In what ways does their lack of attachment to a place or culture reflect a more general trend in society?

- Striking a new balance: there is silence about what is going on, but people are still doing what they want to do

2. In Unaccustomed Earth, what underlies the tension in the relationship between Ruma and her father as the story opens? What aspects of the family’s history inhibit their ability to communicate with each other? How do their memories of Ruma’s mother and the life she led influence the paths they choose for the next stages in their lives? Do you feel more sympathy for either character’s point of view?

- As time goes by, grandparents can have a different relationship with their grandchildren, parents can see their parents differently, and grandparents may mellow with age.

3. In what ways does “Heaven-Hell” echo the themes explored in “Unaccustomed Earth”? How does the way the story unfolds add to its power and its poignancy? What parallels are there between the narrator’s mother’s “crush” on Pranab and her own infatuation with him and Deborah?

4. What is the significance of the title “A Choice of Accommodations”? What does it imply about Amit and Megan’s marriage? Why do you think Lahiri chose to set the story at Amit’s old prep school? Do you think the events of the weekend bring Amit a better sense of who he is, what he wants and needs from Megan, and his role as a husband and father? Will the weekend change anything for Amit and Megan and their relationship?

5. “Only Goodness” traces the impact of parental expectations on a sister and brother. Why did Sudha and Rahul develop in such different ways? Discuss such factors as the circumstances surrounding their births and earliest years; the obligations Sudha takes on both as the “perfect daughter” and in response to the combination of love, envy, and resentment Rahul’s attitudes and behavior arouse in her; and the siblings’ awareness of and reactions to the “perplexing fact of [their] parents’ marriage” [p. 137]. Compare and contrast the siblings’ choice of partners. What attracts Sudha to Roger, and Rahul to Elena?

- Parents expected only goodness, you couldn’t fail.
- Silence and what you don’t talk about was a theme throughout the stories. It seemed to be related either to honor/respect or to not dealing with taboo topics (alchoholism).

6. Why does Paul, the American graduate student in “Nobody’s Business,” find his roommate, Sang, the recipient of frequent marriage proposals, so intriguing? Does Paul really want to help Sang, or does he get involved in her relationship with Farouk for more selfish reasons? Why do you think Lahiri titled this story “Nobody’s Business”–and what does the title mean to you?

- Maybe it is not always best to break from traditions?

7. In “Once in a Lifetime,” Hema addresses Kaushik directly as she recalls the time they spent together as teenagers. How does this twist on the first-person narration change your experience as a reader? Does it establish a greater intimacy between you and the narrator? Does it have an effect on the flow of the narrative? On the way Hema presents her memories? Is it comparable, for example, to reading a private letter or diary? Are the same things true of Kaushik’s narrative in “Year’s End”?

- Rebellion of children toward adults is not common in Asian culture because of course your parents know more than you.

8. In an interview with Bookforum, Lahiri, whose parents immigrated to London and then to the United States, said, “My parents befriended people simply for the fact that they were like them on the surface; they were Bengali, and that made their circle incredibly vast. There is this de facto assumption that they’re going to get along, and often that cultural glue holds them, but there were also these vast differences. My own circle of friends is much more homogenous, because most of my friends went to college–Ivy League or some other fine institution–and vote a certain way.” How is this mirrored by the friendship between the two sets of parents in “Once in a Lifetime,” who are close friends despite the differences in their backgrounds? Why does this attachment deteriorate when the Choudhuri family returns from India? Which of their habits or attitudes do Hema’s parents find particularly reprehensible and why? What is the significance of Kaushik’s breaking his family’s silence and telling Hema about his mother’s illness?

9. How would you describe the tone and style of Kaushik’s account of his father’s remarriage in “Year’s End”? Does his conversation with his father [pp. 253-255] reveal similarities between them? Why does Kaushik say, “I didn’t know which was worse–the idea of my father remarrying for love, or of his actively seeking out a stranger for companionship” [p. 255]? Does the time he spends with his father’s new family offer an alternate, more complex, explanation for his father’s decision?

10. What role do his stepsisters play in Kaushik’s willingness to accept his father’s marriage? Why is he so outraged by their fascination with the pictures of his mother? He later reflects, “in their silence they continued to both protect and punish me” [p.293]. In what ways does their silence and the reasons for it mirror Kaushik’s own behavior, both here and in “Once in a Lifetime”?

11. How do “Once in a Lifetime” and “Year’s End” set the stage for “Going Ashore,” the final story in the trilogy? What traces of their younger selves are visible in both Hema and Kaushik? In what ways do the paths they’ve chosen reflect or oppose the journeys their parents made as immigrants?

- There are traditions and customs within the Asian community, but people do go against them.

12. Why does Hema find the idea of an arranged marriage appealing? How has her affair with Julian affected her ideas about romantic love? What does her description of her relationship with Navin [pp. 296-298] reveal about what she thinks she wants and needs in a relationship? What role do her memories of her parents’ marriage play in her vision of married life?

- Make the marriage work the best way possible.

13. What motivates Kaushik’s decision to become a photojournalist? In what ways does the peripatetic life of a photojournalist suit his idea of himself? In addition to the many moves his family made, what other experiences make him grow up to be an outsider, “away from the private detritus of life” [p. 309]?

14. What does the reunion in Rome reveal about the ties that bind Hema and Kaushik despite their many years of separation? What does it illustrate about their attempts to escape from the past and their parents’ way of life? What do they come to realize about themselves and the plans they have made as the intimacy between them escalates? Why does Lahiri introduce Hema’s voice as the narrator of the final pages?

15. In what ways does “Going Ashore” bring together the themes threaded through the earlier stories? What does the ending demonstrate about realities of trying to find a home in the world?

- Role reversals (daughter and father, son and first white wife then son with Indian second wife) show independence from Indian culture, traditions, and country vs. comfort and support of traditions.

16. The stories in Unaccustomed Earth offer a moving, highly original perspective on the clash between family and cultural traditions and the search for individual identity. How does the sense of displacement felt by the older, immigrant generation affect their American-born children? What accommodations do the children make to their parents’ way of life? In trying to fit in with their American friends, do they sacrifice their connections to their heritage? In what ways are the challenges they face more complex than those of their parents?

- Maybe it is not always best to break from traditions?

17. Several stories feature marriages between an Indian-American and an American–and in once case, English--spouse. What characteristics do these mixed marriages share? In what ways does becoming parents themselves bring up (or renew) questions about cultural identity? What emotions arise as they contemplate the differences between the families they’re creating and those in which they grew up?

- Multiracialness seems more prominent in second generation.

MORE here.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Waiting by Ha Jin

If you knew what was missing in your life, and could travel back in time, what would you go back and do differently? We also asked ourselves, “Who was waiting in this novel?”
Lin Kong (doctor) – Lin did not appreciate Shuyu because she was not pretty and did not have the type of body he desired (plus she had “old fashioned” bound feet). Lin never seems to know what he really wants and this ambivalence drives the story, as everyone, Lin included, waits for him to decide between Shuyu and Manna.

Shuyu (his wife) – The wife his family chose for him when he was young is a humble and touchingly loyal woman, whom he visits in order to ask, again and again, for a divorce. Once Manna dies, Shuyu is transformed into the beautiful woman that Lin had always desired, however, it is too late.

Manna Wu (his girlfriend/love interest) – For more than seventeen years, this devoted and ambitious doctor has been in love with an educated, clever, modern woman, Manna Wu. When Lin finally marries Manna, he realizes that time has turned her into a bitter, old woman.

Mai Dong (Manaa’s first love) – Mai can’t wait for Manna and therefore ends up marrying his first cousin.

Bensheng (Shuyu’s brother) – Is he hoping that Lin won’t ever come back so that he can run the farm and make money?

Lin Kong’s daughter – Is she waiting for him to recognize her as his daughter? Is she waiting for a complete family? She doesn’t seem to be waiting to move to the city, appreciating her farming life, and yet that is what Shuyu wants for her (thinking it will bring a better life).

“Tell her not to wait for me. I'm a useless man, not worth waiting for.” The realization that the feelings of other's matter hurts and Lin Kong had waited so long to leave his wife for another woman that he seldom thought of her feelings. All that mattered was the divorce and that he would finally be able to marry someone he loved.

In a culture in which the ancient ties of tradition and family still hold sway and where adultery discovered by the Party can ruin lives forever, Lin's passionate love is stretched ever more taut by the passing years. Every summer, his compliant wife agrees to a divorce but then backs out. This time, Lin promises, will be different.

Tracing these lives through their summer of decision and beyond, Ha Jin vividly conjures the texture of daily life in a place where the demands of human longing must contend with the weight of centuries of custom. Waiting charms and startles us with its depiction of a China that remains hidden to Western eyes even as it moves us with its piercing vision of the universal complications of love.

THEMES (with some website research to help me out)
  • To appreciate their family the way it is.
  • To portray the societal changes that China was traversing. In communist China there were many rules and the book mimics these, for example, how the nurses had to be virgins to enter the hospital workforce or how men and women weren't allowed to walk together outside the hospital grounds.
  • To know and trust yourself, your feelings, and your ability to make the best decision. Although Lin Kong faces formidable social and political pressures as he tries to form a committed relationship with Manna Wu, the greatest conflict he encounters comes from within.
Questions from this website
1. Ha Jin has said that the idea for Waiting came to him when he read a newspaper story about a woman who described her husband as loveless: "She wished her husband could have an affair with another woman.... At least that would prove he was capable of love" Atlanta Journal, 15 Nov 1999, E1]. When late in the novel Lin realizes that "he had never loved a woman wholeheartedly and that he had always been the loved one" (p. 296), do you think Ha Jin is calling attention to an individual problem -- his protagonist's passive temperament -- or a universal one?

2. Lin Kong is a man who seems to want to move beyond the values of traditional village life, with its familial bonds and rootedness. If marrying Manna Wu will bring him the more modern life he desires, one based on self-fulfillment and independence, why does he have such difficulty obtaining his divorce? Is he undecided as to what he wants? What does he stand to lose in giving up Shuyu? How do the choices he faces relate to similar ones faced by men and women in America today?

3. Geng Yang tells Lin, "You're always afraid that people will call you a bad man. You strive to have a good heart. But what is a heart? Just a chunk of flesh that a dog can eat. Your problem originates in your own character, and you must first change yourself" (p. 167). How insightful is this remark? Should Lin try to be more heartless with regard to his wife? How is the remark tempered by what you know of Geng Yang's character?

4. Ha Jin does not present Manna and Lin as perfect characters; what are their weaknesses? Could anyone, no matter how strong and forceful a personality, fare better than they did in the coercive social system in which they live? Does Ha Jin imply that people like Geng Yang can thrive only because they have no conscience?

5. In Western culture and in Freudian psychology, the goal of true adulthood is individuation, as well as the ability to realize one's desires through will and action. In the world of this novel, such ideals are considered corrupt and bourgeois. Is it possible for readers raised in this Western way of thinking to find Lin's passivity admirable? Do you find both Lin and Manna too childlike? Or are they simply trapped in a no-win situation?

6. Why is the situation so much more difficult for Manna Wu than for Lin? Should she have pursued other possible mates more aggressively? At the beginning of the novel, we're told that Manna is "almost twenty-six, on the verge of becoming an old maid" (p. 19). How sympathetic are you to her difficulty in finding a mate? The narrator has said that "Men and women were equal" in Maoist China (p. 37); do you find this to be the case in the novel, or is Manna Wu at a serious disadvantage?

7. How does the character of Manna Wu compare with that of Shuyu? Does Shuyu's traditionalism protect her from suffering the tug of neurosis that affects Manna Wu as time grinds on? Would you say that, especially after moving to Muji City, Shuyu is more free to enjoy her life than either Lin Kong or Manna Wu? Do both women really love Lin Kong?

8. Why does Ha Jin choose Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass as the book given to Manna by Commissioner Wei? Does the book, which celebrates democracy and the self, indicate that Commissioner Wei is not a model revolutionary? Do you accept the idea that Manna's handwriting wasn't up to his expectations, or do you think that her "report" on Whitman was too cautious? What do you find most comical about Manna Wu's date with the commissioner?

9. While the political background of the novel underscores the reality of an ongoing Marxist revolution, the personal issues focus more upon what might be considered "bourgeois" concerns, like the desire for a fulfilling domestic life with its attendant personal and sexual comforts. Do the personal desires of Lin and Manna necessarily conflict with the ideals that Mao Tse Tung's revolution has thrust upon the Chinese people? How do you respond to the description of their wedding ceremony, in which they bow three times to a portrait of Chairman Mao?

10. It is a romantic notion that true love will survive all sorts of trials and separations. While Manna and Lin are together in a sense, the fact that their relationship cannot be a sexual one surely constitutes quite a long trial and separation. Are you surprised at Lin's feelings when they finally are married? What do you find comical about the long-awaited sexual encounters between Manna and Lin?

11. When Lin leaves the house in a rage after Manna scolds him for burning the rice, a voice in his head tells him, "Actually you never loved her. You just had a crush on her, which you didn't get a chance to outgrow or to develop into love.... In fact you waited eighteen years just for the sake of waiting" (p. 294). Is this a moment of real insight in the novel, devastating as it is?

12. What is most remarkable about the scene in which Lin, standing in the snowy darkness outside their window, watches as Shuyu and his daughter prepare dumplings (p. 301)? Why is this sight both nostalgic and painful for him?

13. The narrator doesn't reveal much about Shuyu's feelings; why not? What does Shuyu most desire? Why does she seem to be in such control of her own emotions, as contrasted with Manna? Is it surprising that she remains generous toward Lin even after he is married to Manna?

14. Ashamed of the things he said to Shuyu while drunk, Lin tells Hua, "Tell her not to wait for me. I'm a useless man, not worth waiting for." She responds, "Don't be so hard on yourself, Dad. We'll always wait for you" (p. 308). Does Lin deserve this unwavering loyalty from his first wife and daughter? Do the traditional values which he tried to escape in divorcing Shuyu triumph after all?

15. Many critics have commented on the affinity between the work of Ha Jin and that of such nineteenth century Russian writers as Turgenev and Chekhov, who also wrote about ordinary people caught up in times of wrenching change, and about communities in which simple peasants come into conflict with more sophisticated, modern and complex characters. How are the peasants in Waiting represented, and how are they different from those who are more educated and ambitious?

16. Much of this book is given up to what happens while its characters are waiting. How does Ha Jin overcome the danger of stasis, and the reader's impatience, in constructing the novel? How would you describe the structure and pace of the plot?

17. What do you notice about the way Ha Jin describes the physical details of everyday life like food, housing, clothing, people's bodies? How does the material culture of this novel differ from that of America? Do you feel that, because Ha Jin is consciously writing for an American audience in his adopted country, such details have greater resonance?

18. Ha Jin has not returned to China since he left in 1985; in 1990, he made a commitment to write and speak solely in English. Speaking of that decision, he says, "There was a lot of fear. It's like changing your body, to write in a different language. And it wasn't just a matter of finding an audience, it was a matter of survival -- I have a family to support. Finally I decided to write in English, absolutely uncertain of whether I could do it. I'm still uncertain! In the end, though, every project is a risk, not just the language. And that's true for every writer" [From "A conversation with Ha Jin," by Mary Park, amazon.com]. How would you characterize the style in which this novel is written? If you have read the work of Vladimir Nabokov or Joseph Conrad, two other emigré writers who adopted English as their literary language, how would you compare Ha Jin's use of the language?

OTHER QUESTIONS FROM BOOK RAGS:
Discuss the parallels between Lin's life and the political cycle in China during the time of the novel. How does his desire to leave Shuyu for Manna and then his eventual dissatisfaction with Manna and awakened interest in Shuyu mirror the experience of the Chinese people before, during, and after the Cultural Revolution? How do the two women represent the differing cultures within China at the time?

Explain how the strict rules and regulations of military conduct both restrict and protect Lin. Do you think his relationship with Manna would have been different if their society had embraced them as a couple?

Which is more prevalent throughout the book, internal dialogue or conversations with other people? Explain the effect on the reader of being taken deeply into the thought process of the main characters.

ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL
AUTHOR - Jin Xuefei, also known as Ha Jin, was born on February 21, 1956, in Northern China, in the province of Liaoning. In 1969, at age fourteen he voluntarily joined the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution, where his father was an officer. Most of Ha Jin's youth was spent in the turmoil of communist China.

While he was in the army, Ha Jin taught himself high school courses. At age nineteen he was able to leave the army and sought to attend college. However, the Cultural Revolution was still at hand and colleges were closed. Hence, he settled for a job as a railway telegrapher in north east China. All along he desired to learn English.

In 1977, colleges reopened. He acquired his Bachelor's degree in English studies from Heilongjiang University in 1981, and his Master's degree in Anglo- American literature from Shandong University three years after.

In 1985, he went came to the United States to get his PhD in English at Brandeis University. To support himself, he worked as a busboy at a Chinese restaurant and as a watchman at night in a factory.

After completing his PhD, Ha Jin decided not to return to China. He had originally intended to do so, but situations occurring at the time changed his mind. He had no desire in writing in Chinese and hence, all his works were written in English although, they were set in China. Most of his novels take place in the Army, which is the setting of his favorite novel, Waiting.

After his publishing of Free Life, he taught poetry and English literature at Emory University in Georgia. Waiting (1999) is a novel written in English by Ha Jin, a Chinese author who as of 2006 was teaching creative writing at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. The book is based on a true story that Jin heard from his wife when they were visiting her family at an army hospital in China. At the hospital was an army doctor who had waited eighteen years to get a divorce so he could marry his long-time friend, a nurse. But now his second marriage was not working. Jin thought that this situation would make a good plot for a novel, and he began working on Waiting in 1994.

Prologue
Waiting begins in Goose Village in China in 1983. Lin Kong, an officer and doctor in the Chinese army, has returned from the army hospital in Muji City, where he works, with the intention of divorcing Shuyu, his wife of twenty years. He has been doing this every summer for many years. The court always turns down his request because at the last minute Shuyu changes her mind and refuses to agree to it. Lin’s marriage was arranged by his parents, and although he does not dislike his wife, he has never loved her either, and they have not had sexual relations for seventeen years.

In the courtroom, Shuyu’s brother Bensheng protests that Lin is acting unfairly to his wife, and the judge declines Lin’s request. Lin returns home and tells his girlfriend Manna Wu that he will seek a divorce the following year, because according to the law an officer could divorce his wife after an eighteen-year separation, with or without her consent.

Plot Synopsis (also see here)
Beginning in 1963 and stretching over a twenty-year period, Waiting is set against the background of a changing Chinese society. It contrasts city and country life and shows the restrictions on individual freedoms that are a routine part of life under communism. But Waiting is primarily a novel of character. It presents an in-depth portrait of a decent but deeply flawed man, Lin Kong, whose life is spoiled by his inability to experience strong emotions and to love wholeheartedly.

This is the story of Lin Kong, a man living in two worlds, struggling with the conflicting claims of two utterly different women as he moves through the political minefields of a society designed to regulate his every move and stifle the promptings of his innermost heart.

Every summer, during his annual leave, Lin Kong, a doctor in the Chinese army, returns to his home village to attempt to divorce his wife, Shuyu, whom he has never loved. His marriage to Shuyu was arranged. Before their wedding, they had only seen each other by a picture. This picture showed a beautiful, young woman who would make a good wife and care for his parents. When they met, Shuyu was not that woman. Lin was disappointed at this but had no heart to let his parents down. They married, had a daughter, and he lived unhappy.

Lin spent most of his time at the hospital. Although his family could go live with him at the compounds of the hospital, he chose not to bring his family there. He did not like the idea of going home to Shuyu as if he loved her. Soon after he met a woman.

Manna Wu, a comrade nurse, had just suffered a horrible break up with a soldier named Mai Dong. She was heart broken and saw her future as an old maid. She found consolation in Lin, who felt sympathy for her. It wasn't long before their friendship turned into a relationship. However, it quickly soured because of the rape of Manna by a friend of Lin's.

While Lin had been sick with tuberculosis he stayed in the sick ward. There, he discussed with Geng Yang, another patient, how Manna wasn't his mistress. His intentions towards Manna were anything but good and he took advantage of both of their trusts to commit the crime.

Lin and Shuyu divorced and he and Manna married. Their relationship suffered horribly as if destiny cursed them for Lin leaving Shuyu. It was then that Lin begun to appreciate Shuyu's caring and understanding.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Junot Diaz is a funny, wise-cracking, easy-going Dominican-American man who went to Rutgers and Cornell. Our book group met at Back Pages Books and heard him read a little of his book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. He describes it as the story of a kinda dumb guy who gets caught cheating on his girlfriend. The swears and curses flowed from his humorous commentary and throughout his story, especially when describing relationships – “shit you wouldn’t even tell your boys drunk” and “treats me like I ate somebody’s fucking kid.”

Diaz is able to poke fun at himself as a writer. He sees himself as an artist who keeps going even though he thinks that 95% of what he does is crap. For everything that works, five or six things don’t. If you are just concerned about the outcome, you will miss all of life on the way.

The story seemed much funnier with the author reading it. He’s definitely got something to say about racism like when he writes about the “massive melanin-deficit in the folks who are on the beach in the company of young, dark Dominican girls.” He also spoke about how this country treats immigrants terribly. Just like you never stop being an alcoholic, you never stop being an immigrant.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Why do you keep writing about Junior?
Junior is the guy you would make the mistake of marrying because you find out his flaws too late. He’s such a “screw up.” Oscar tried to be a friend to Junior. Oscar discovers that the only way to defeat a curse (which is a kind of story) is to create another story (in this case, the story of his life). Oscar tried his best and had a good relationship with his sister (and it’s unusual to get along with a sibling).

What about the language you write in?
The fact that I’m writing in English makes it hard to relay all ideas. He says he hears himself talking to others with a “five second delay” as he thinks of everything he’s said just after he says it. You don’t get over a “first country.” Native speakers don’t do that.

Did you have an author you wanted to emulate?
I’ve read a lot, like Stephen King (The Stand), but no one loves this country like an immigrant when he/she is in it. African American authors are so prolific (Toni Morrison, Ellison, Thomas) and part of what I have read, too. But the story of activism I read about the was raised on, isn’t what you find in this country. The past and the present work through each other in this book like in Dune, where the present character goes into the past to make sure people don’t find out about him. The present day vernacular is what we use to talk about the past.

You capture history in a humorous way.
History tends to be inflicted on young people, but it’s the worse part of life, it has the juice squeezed out of it. I didn’t learn it that way.

I was surprised that you flew him back to the DR? Why?
His decision to stalk a prostitute isn’t admirable. You are the sum total of what you do well and poorly and you have to embrace them all, otherwise you’re just hugging your little toe. I wanted his decision to be stupid predicated on privilege (American passport) and bad choices, but learn something about intimacy.

The story has holes.
Every piece of the book is about a figure trying to put themselves together even though they are missing pieces. I went out of my way to make this more difficult. If you believe in these characters, you will put up with a lot of shit. The characters have to be real and interesting in order to put up with the story.

Hadn’t really thought about the connection between the Caribbean islands.
Islands are simultaneously sites of isolation and great connection. We weren’t always this fragmented. We have histories of deep connection. This book is meant to be Caribbean, not just Dominican.

Even in defeat, actions turn things around. The Native American’s Ghost Dance reinspired a community.

OUR CONVERSATION ended with a question…

If you knew what was missing in your life, and could travel back in time, what would you go back and do differently?