Purple Hibiscus - Book Review

I have worked hard at completing the 888 Reading Challenge this year. I don't think I will complete it but I will be close. I chose Young Adult books as one of my categories and I have read some real treasures from that list. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a favorite.

Last week I finished another Young Adult selection, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi that I could not put down. It is a coming of age story set in politically restless Nigeria. The young girl, Kambili, and her brother, Jaja, live with their financially successful father, who is publicly generous, but privately tyrannical and fanatically religious . Kambili's life is rigidly controlled and largely joyless until she spends time with her impoverished aunt and cousins. There she finds laughter and love. She finds religion that can be joyous rather than restrictive and legalistic.

The exotic setting is well-drawn and dramatic. One feels the heat, sees the beauty of the purple hibiscus and smells the unfamiliar foods.

It is a gripping story and the end is hopeful as the family, now without the domineering patriarch, can see a better future. PRM

Worth the overdue fine

I waited 3 weeks on the hold list and began it the day it was due, when I had finally finished reading everything else I had started. I wanted to give it undivided attention, thinking it would be a hard read. It was, instead, fascinating. A nonfiction page-turner. I read late into the night and sat at the kitchen table in the afternoon with my kids yelling my name in increasing volume.

I loved The Nine by Jeffery Toobin. Just enough inside gossip. The legal concepts were explained well for the novice like myself. His thesis is that the court is, and has always been, a political entity. The neutrality of the court system is a long held myth but a myth nonetheless.

To me, O'Connor's retirement and the changes that the court is currently undergoing are scary. I think the expansion of executive privilege is the scariest part. But I suspect that when a Democrat is president, the executive privilege supporters will begin to reconsider. I hope so.

A Free Life by Ha Jin - Book Review

I really enjoyed this book. Sickness the latter part of the week finally gave me time to finish it. I had interrupted my reading to read my book club book, as well as a book I borrowed from the Country Inn and Suites library. That was the second book I have borrowed from the motel library. I like having a book choice in the lobby. Now to my review -

As I said, I liked this book. Nan Wu is a Chinese immigrant who cannot return to China after the Tiananmen Square incident. An intellectual, poet wannabee, he has to adjust to making a living and surviving in America. He also has a wife and son to support. While their lives are difficult, they do not want to return to China where the whole purpose of the government seems to be to annoy and inconvenience you. But they feel, and are, so vulnerable in the US. They have minimal insurance. They have few friends and their relationships with Americans are often hurt by misunderstanding or prejudice.

I have never read anything else by Ha Jin but I wonder if there is not a bit of autobiography about the book. He too immigrated shortly before Tiananmen. The writing was very sparse. It sounds like what you would expect if Nan Wu had written his own autobiography. I will be looking forward to reading another book by this author soon.

It is interesting to compare A Free Life with The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Both chronicle the adjustments of young male immigrants to the life and culture of America. Both are haunted by unfulfilled romantic entanglements. However, their reactions and choices are different. The never named Pakistani returns home with anger and a desire to destroy. Nan Wu wants to stay and find a way to succeed. He is often ashamed of his desire for financial gain and feels that he has sold out for the never completely attainable American Dream. At the conclusion, Nan has found a compromise, a rather menial job with insurance and a livable wage, where he can finally write his poetry. PRM