Many years ago, a mystically inclined friend of a friend, told me (after a few hours acquaintance) that I was an Old Soul and had obviously lived many lifetimes before this one. I didn't argue, assuming this was a compliment, but I did suggest that I'd read and absorbed many books . . .which, in my view, is almost the same.
I am the product of a white, Southern, nominally Protestant, middleclass upbringing during the Fifties--a fairly blinkered existence. Along about sixth grade, it was Science Fiction and Historical Fiction that first extended the boundaries of time and place . . .and social mores.
Later, as an English major, I became enamored of Brit Lit and read English authors almost exclusively for many years--pleasant but not the best way to broaden one's horizons.
Now, as more and more books are published by folks who aren't Dead White Males, and thanks to book pusher friends who read widely, I've been afforded the opportunity to experience vicariously lives very different than my own.
Beautiful Country, a memoir by Qian Julie Wang, brought me face to face with one family's immigrant experience--from soul-deadening sweat shops and a constant struggle for existence, to the intricacies of navigating life in America, the Beautiful Country, as an "illegal" alien.
Told from the point of view of the young Qian Wang who arrives in 1994 New York as a seven-year-old, it's a compelling story of a child and a family facing seemingly insurmountable odds--and prevailing.
From New York's Chinatown to Harlem isn't far--but Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle, set in the early Sixties, is another world. I sank deep into the richness of Whitehead's prose and succumbed to yet another life that I'd otherwise never know.
From the back cover: "Harlem Shuffle" is a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and, ultimately, a love letter to Harlem."
Two more worlds explored, experiences gained. Two more terrific books.
5 comments:
I should change. I tend to only read mystery series these days having given up on the fantasy genre. I do every now and then find myself reading books tending to do with Christianity -- mostly exposing the reality behind the beliefs. I really liked your Crows novel, however.
As always, thanks for suggestions of things to read, to broaden my horizons especially!
Publishers are actively seeking multicultural fiction these days, and that should broaden the horizons of all avid readers. Several are coming out in the fall that will be great book discussion material.
I can recommend The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok, coming out Oct. 10. It tells the dual story of a Chinese mother whose baby girl was taken from her during the cruel one-child years, and the American woman who adopted the baby. The birth mother wants her daughter back, the adoptive mother adores the girl and has raised her with love. Women in book groups will find a lot to consider in this story and will see sides of such a situation that they might never have looked at before. Americans, I fear, tend to believe that any foreign born child adopted by Americans is better off growing up in American culture, leaving their own behind. But it's much more complex than that.
Thank you for the insights Vicki. It's always good to broaden horizons when it comes to reading, although it is sometimes very hard to do. I am always open to new authors and authoresses, but I have to admit that I do not identify with all of the younger generation novelists who seem to live in a world very different to mine at the moment. Language has also changed a lot in my lifetime.
An old soul - maybe. I know what that means but I can also testify that you are very with it in your outlook, lol. Your blog reminded me that I have not updated mine in ages so did so today.
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