The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji

The book is about a man born in Kenya of parents of Indian descent. There’s a large Indian diaspora in East Africa (see Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, one of my very favorite books), much like Lebanese throughout West Africa. There is an in-between space they inhabit – even if becoming African by citizenship and all notions of home, they cannot really be African in other ways, such as the eyes of others.

I learned so much about the history of Kenya through this book (written by a man who was born there and raised in Tanzania), of the Mau Mau Rebellion, Kenyatta, etc. What I appreciate is the personal nature of historic events, and how complicated things such as national independence are at a personal and social level.

The protagonist, Lall, lives in this in-between world, and this and tragedies of his past cause an emotional distance from the world. Because of this status and distance, he becomes embroiled in government corruption scandals while knowing that he could be a scapegoat at any time.

There are many different characters fleshed out, several of them whom I connect to even when the protagonist is less than sympathetic. His younger sister I was very fond of, for her passion and the suffering that in-between status caused. And there is a couple in a remote village, an English woman and African man, whom are intriguing because neither is really in-between, yet become so by joining together.

While the book didn’t really reel me in at first, a bit in I became more and more interested and then couldn’t put it down. And the ending was not as weak as endings of most really good books seem to be.

It also made me want to return to Liberia, for I know this outsider world quite well there – and the corruption, the connections, the whims. It is comfortable to me – as to the protagonist – in its craziness.

This morning I was complaining about Liberia to a woman who’s been there dozens of time – how poorly people communicate, how difficult to get necessities, the illiteracy and lack of critical thinking, etc. etc. But these things only bother me so much because I love Liberia so much. There is a sense of being at home there that is so comforting and simultaneously unsettling. That is the tone of the book, and why I appreciated it so much. While I have no experience in Kenya, it rang very true to me of what I have experienced in Africa – and I very much like truth in what I read.

Say You're One of Them

by Uwem Akpan

If you ever feel the need to get really depressed - and I mean gut-wrenching, lose all faith in the world kind of depressed - then this is the book for you.

The author (a Nigerian priest) reveals an ugly side of Africa: the conflicts and poverty across the nation.

These stories could be Dayton's, or many Africans'. We didn't talk a lot about what he went through, but enough of his nightmare experiences came out in snippets with our time together. And others whom I know well.

People in conflict can be unimaginably horrific - and this is detailed in this book.

Maybe it's good for people who haven't experienced it vicariously as a loved one flashes back. For people who are removed by geography and culture, who don't understand the depths of human depravity.

But for me? It was just so depressing - because it only shows one side. There are all these other aspects that make life in Africa so wonderful, but he doesn't tell those. It's not all about cruelty and glue sniffing addiction, and it's not all that hopeless.

And open your eyes, people - we have horrors in our world here in the US, too. Want to hear about my 3-year-old client who was pimped out by his father? Or the psychological torture of a middle class family on their children? Or HOW MANY of my clients were forced from an early age to satisfy the sexual urges of the men in their lives? Or ... well, the stories go on and on.

My point is that there are horrors everywhere, but this is not all that Africa is.

So while the stories in this book are true technically, they are not the whole truth.

Would I recommend this book? Yikes, I don't know. Maybe I'm too sensitive now because of what I'm experiencing every day; maybe I would have liked to have read this book and learned from it many years ago before I had spent time in Africa and with Africans, and before I had learned the facts and the feelings behind conflicts.

I think it's well-written and informative. But heart-wrenching.

Verdict: Read at your own risk.

PUSH by Sapphire

Yeah, it's the book that led to the film which has led to Gabourey Sidibe's fame (no, I haven't seen the film).

Let me say, I LOVE me some Gabourey Sidibe. (Ever seen here on a red carpet or in an interview? She is SO FUNNY and so real and just so much fun.)

But this book I love even more.

It's not a great book for me to read now, when I work all day long with people whose situations are very similar to Precious's (and I may even have a client or two named Precious whose fathers have raped and beaten them for years) - but the book gives me hope. It made me smile, it angered me. It faced realities head-on, including very ugly realities - including small-mindedness of a sympathetic protagonist.

Things were not tied up neatly in a bow at the end, but there was hope. And it shows how important a little kindness can be. It made me remember the letter I got from a student once - I felt like I hardly knew this student at all, as she came mid-year and had really excessive absences. It was my worst teaching year ever, and I wasn't on my game - I realize now that I engaged in self-destructive behaviors to reflect my misery. I hardly remember her at all - just a few times she'd come in after school to make up assignments, etc. We never really talked much, and I only heard rumors from the school counselor that her mother had died, her father was having a hard time, her own health was precarious. And of course I worked with her - she was a bright girl, falling behind, very quiet. The next year she wrote me a beautiful letter about how me believing in her and taking the time to really be there for her made all the difference in her life.

And in the book, it's the same - the EMT, the nurse - people who are kind to Precious because it's their job and their nature, and how that means so much to her while they probably even wouldn't remember her.

We never know the burden of the people we encounter, and sometimes kindness goes miles. And that is the lesson I take from Push.

READ THIS BOOK. It's phenomenal. And if you read like I do, it'll only take you a couple of hours, and your world will be rocked. You will smile, you will be sickened, you will be angry, you will be happy. The damn book will make you feel and make you think.

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones

-by Alexander McCall Smith.

This is one of a series of the 44 Scotland Street Series, which was a serial story - appearing daily in the newspaper. How quaint is that? Love it.

It wasn't very confusing to come in midway through the series (I think this is #5), though I wonder a bit at back story.

It's hard to say what I love most about Alexander McCall Smith's stories - I got addicted to The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books and forced them on many people. I think what I love most is how setting is a character. I thought that was only in the Ladies Detective Agency books, because Botswana (the land of Smith's childhood) is such a wonderful place. But I see now that he has done the same with Scotland, and it's wonderful. Scotland is an active character throughout all the stories, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly.

Nothing really happens in these stories, and I like that, too. It's all about character development, and their relationships.

I also really like how Smith can make me laugh and make me see things in a new way. I'm an ardent feminist, but Bertie's mom shows me how it is to go overboard with that - and with Smith, it's not that he's ardently anti-feminist, he just finds humor in everybody. He's going on now about men talking about moisturizer, and I find it refreshingly silly and warm.

But perhaps what I like most is that I got to see him speak at the Los Angeles book fair (or whatever it's called), and he is just the warmest, most humble person ever. He's just so darned charming that I can so picture him as a character in any of his stories. I would so drink tea with him. Any and every day of the week.

This is not deep reading, but it is PERFECT for light reading fun. Alexander McCall Smith makes me happy in a very Scottish way.

The Saffron Kitchen

-by Yasmin Crowther

I really, really liked this book. There's a whole lot going on - a mother returning to Iran, child abuse, miscarriage with fault, mother-daughter relationship, woman-man relationship (in three very different ways), Islam, England, Iran, identity-seeking, cross-cultural relationships, homesickness, family, and so on. I took this book slow - reading only a bit and then setting it aside to think about it.

The narrative style was complex but not confusing. Midway through I thought, "Wait, did she just say --" and I set it aside and thought about it. By the end of the book, it was clear that yes, she did say that. I liked the confirmation, not leaving open questions.

That's not to say there are no open questions - there are loads of them - but they are not gratuitous. They represent the never-closed questions of real life.

I liked that I learned from reading it and that it brought things up I hadn't thought of.

My one criticism is her choice to use M as the first letter of each of the Iranian towns she speaks of. These may well be real places which means she didn't really "choose" - but I found it really confusing.

Maybe somebody could say the book is anti-Islam because the patriarch is so cruel, but I think that's entirely missing the point, especially when considering how very progressive Ali is and he's never ventured from small-town Iran.

Midaq Alley by Nahfouz Maguib

I really, really liked this novel - his ability to craft characters reminded me of Chekhov (my ultimate favorite writer). He has a very Arabic quality to his narrative, but he clearly is also very adept at Western genres. He clearly (and probably the translator) explain certain cultural things I would otherwise miss in a way that does not detract from the story.

Set during World War II in a neighborhood in Cairo, we are introduced to a variety of characters and their relationships.

Some people are warm and considerate, but most others have quirks that go to serious personality flaws (like the hashish addict grandfather who hooks up with boys). The most interesting part is how they all interact with each other (with genuine affection, with disdain, with manipulation, etc.), and how that alley really is the extent of their world for most.

The character I was most fascinated with was the orphan who leaves her foster mother to become a prostitute rather than marry the ordinary man she agreed to - leaving behind a life of children and domesticity (good and bad) for a life of riches and adventure. Sometimes I wonder - if in that situation, which would I choose? I'm not sure my grandmother would like my answer.

Interracial Intimacies by Randall Kennedy

I don't know what I expected, but it far surpassed my expectations.

Last year I gave this book as a gift to a man I was seeing. He showed me a book he had about how interracial dating is bad, and I wanted him to have some more balance (maybe a personal stake in that?). So, upon recommendations, I got Interracial Intimacies. And then I borrowed it from him.

Kennedy is a Harvard Law prof (and a Virgo!) who appears to think both legally and sociologically - and I appreciate his scholarship from both angles. His arguments are well thought-out, he is clear in what they are, and he backs them with rigorous cases and research. His primary focus is on black-white relationships, though he includes a few other examples.

First he looks at interracial relationships, mostly marriage, historically in the United States and contemporarily. He believes they should be encouraged, and he says that clearly. And as a black man married to a black woman (though she died recently, sadly), good for him. He cites the problems of cultural segregation and shows how interracial dating and marriage can overcome a good deal of that.

I will say that I wish he had focused on interracial friendships, because I think that's even more important. I may have lust in my heart for a man of a different race, but that doesn't mean I appreciate and respect him. Friends? Real friends? Definitely. But, of course there's no documentation of interracial friendships like there are of marriage, births, anti-miscegenation laws, etc.

Then he turns to interracial adoptions, and I think he makes really good points. He firmly disagrees with those who think there should be a racial matching preference between child and family, and backs it up. He asserts the most important is a loving, supportive family. He further argues that just because a family is black, it does not mean that they can better help a black child prepare for the world of being black. Again, I think he's courageous to take this stand, and I agree with him.

I do disagree tentatively with his chapter on Native American adoption. He skewers the law on it, and rightly so, but I think he misses some nuances. The reality is that many tribes ARE facing extinction of all linguistic and cultural knowledge, and that is a very different situation than with African-Americans. I don't think the child's safety and well-being should be sacrificed for the good of perpetuating a culture, but I think he needed to better understand the conditions that have made it so - the mandatory boarding schools and other cultural genocide that has transpired.

It's a weighty tome and took me a long time to get through - in part because I was marking it all up with post-its for the fellow to whom I will return it, with my thoughts on the matters. You know, because I'm a Virgo too.