Archive for the ‘education’ Tag
The White Tiger is one of many names the narrator Balram Halwai gives himself in a series of letters he writes describing his life as a servant, driver, wanted man and entrepreneur. The letters, written over the course of seven nights and addressed to the Chinese premier, are confessional while providing insight into Indian life. Early in the narrative, Balram admits he’s wanted for the murder of his employer.
Aravind Adiga’s novel, through the letters, details Balram’s life as the son of a rickshaw driver in a small village. Although intelligent, Balram’s education is cut short when he’s forced to do menial work in a tea shop to contribute to his family’s nominal income. Eventually, he learns to drive and becomes the driver for a wealthy family. This is a change of fortune in many ways, including a move to Delhi.
This is not simply about the haves and have-nots. Balram can’t help but see the differences between the rich and the poor. As a servant he’s barely acknowledged as a human. Yet he’s philosophical as he earns a token wage which includes a place to sleep, albeit one teeming with cockroaches.
Balram is attentive to the activities and, particularly, the conversations of his employers. His awareness of the discrepancies around him helps set in motion a plan for change. The letters are more than Balram’s history; they also foreshadow his future. Adiga incorporates humor, mystery and commentary to create an engaging story about survival and success.
The White Tiger
Four bookmarks
FreePress, 2008
276 pages
My grandmother came to the United States with her mother, two older sisters and younger brother when she was a young teen. I don’t know much about what her life was like when she arrived. I do know she was particularly proud when she became an U.S. citizen.
I always thought she obtained her citizenship soon after her arrival. It turns out it was much later: when my mother was in high school. My mom said she drove her mother to the night classes. Other times during the week the two would study; each doing her homework as a means of reaching something better. My mom went on to be the first in her family to not only earn a bachelor’s degree, but also a master’s and doctorate. Her mom studied for the opportunity to enjoy the rights associated with being a citizen of the United States.
For many years my grandmother believed she was already a citizen because of her residency and marriage to my Grandfather. That proved not to be the case. Apparently, some things never change. One of our daughters-in-law is from Mexico. After marrying my son the process of her obtaining a resident visa was daunting, expensive and timely. She hasn’t even begun the journey toward citizenship. That’s another story.
Even though I wasn’t around when it happened, I do know becoming a citizen was something my Grandmother was extremely proud of. I remember her talking about it every election knowing she had a voice in democracy.
I suspect, based on the book she used to study, she was more well versed in the U.S. Constitution than most people born in this country. She never took the right to vote lightly. I can only hope this is true of people in this, the 2020, election.
Italian novelist Elena Ferrante has hooked me with The Neapolitan Novels. Book Two, The Story of a New Name, picks up where My Brilliant Friend abruptly ended: at a wedding. The narrative moves forward while looking back to further develop the characters and plot line.
The friendship between Lila and Elena is based on the appreciation each has for the other’s intellect. However, due to family circumstances only Elena is given the opportunity to pursue a formal education. Lila studies independently. She is also newly married to the wealthy shopkeeper, but her volatile personality remains unchanged. She soon discovers, in her marriage, that her ability to get her way has more dire consequences than when she was younger.
Much of the beauty of Ferrante’s writing, translated by Ann Goldstein, lies in the vivid descriptions of the small town near Naples where much of the action takes place and of the characters she has created. Some are thoughtful, driven and kind, while others are impulsive and mean, some are smarter than others. None are one-dimensional.
After the wedding, Elena continues in high school where she excels as a student, despite some ups and downs. As the story progresses, life’s responsibilities take hold: military service, work and families. Elena’s education continues in Pisa. Lila has an affair with the young man who Elena has long been attracted to.
This may sound like a soap opera, but in Ferrante’s hands it is a moving story about choices, opportunities and testing the bonds of friendship.
The Story of a New Name
Four Bookmarks
Europa Editions, 2013
471 pages
It’s a rare movie that’s better than a book, so I didn’t want to gamble by watching My Brilliant Friend before reading the first in Elena Ferrante’s series known as the Neapolitan Novels. Although initially slow moving, the book didn’t disappoint. After watching the first episode on HBO, I can attest that it closely, beautifully follows the story of friendship, love and life in the outskirts of Naples, Italy.
Narrated by Elena, the plot follows her ties with her friend Lila, their families and community. Elena is the “good” girl of the two. Lila is fearless, tough. Both are exceptionally bright, although Lila doesn’t expend as much energy and concern into feeding her intellect; hers is an innate intelligence.
Ferrante deftly describes the poverty, the over-crowding, the classroom, the apartment buildings, the local businesses and the people who inhabit them. The reader can feel the dust from the dirt streets and smell the imagined cooking that must be emanating from the Italian kitchens. (Scant attention is paid to food, so it’s an assumption that meals are prepared; it’s Italy, after all.)
The girls are competitive and caring. Like many friendships, it waxes and wanes. Yet, Elena knows no else is capable of such meaningful conversation and exchange of ideas as Lila. Elena pursues her education from elementary to middle school and finally high school, but her friend’s parents don’t allow their daughter to continue. Still, the girls remain intellectual equals.
Against this backdrop are subplots of honor, superstitions and long-held societal traditions.
My Brilliant Friend
Four Bookmarks
Europa, 2012
331 pages
Educated by Tara Westover is one of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve read, but I couldn’t put it down.
The memoir recounts Westover’s journey as the daughter of survivalists in rural Idaho. The government was never to be trusted, neither were doctors or teachers. She never attended school; to say her mother’s efforts at homeschooling fell short is, at best, an understatement. Although hospital care was necessary a few times, the family relied on her mother’s knowledge of herbs.
For much of her life, Westover never questioned her family’s lifestyle. She had no basis for comparison. This isn’t the only aspect making this a challenging book. It was the physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her brother, Shawn. Her parents offered no protection.
Yet, Westover teaches herself how to study and pass the ACT with a score high enough to get accepted into Brigham Young University. From there she studies at Cambridge and Harvard universities, eventually earning a doctorate degree in history from Cambridge.
This is a gritty, heart-breaking narrative and Westover’s self-realization comes with a high price: she must either renounce her education or her family. When she refuses to give in to her parents demands, she is disowned, shunned by her most of her family. Her father’s fervent interpretation of the Bible doesn’t include anything close to acceptance or unconditional love.
Westover’s education extends beyond books and lectures. Her story reflects how much she gained once out of her family’s shadow and what she lost.
Educated
Four-and-a-half Bookmarks
Random House, 2018
322 pages
The Atomic Weight of Love begs the question: how heavy is love? Elizabeth J.Church’s novel has war as its bookends: World War II and Vietnam. The passage of time reflects changes in attitudes toward conflict and women.
Meridian Wallace is a brilliant, young student interested in pursuing not only a college education, but an advanced degree in ornithology. This is unusual in 1940s Chicago. While at university she meets and falls in love with professor Alden Whetstone, who is secretly involved with the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, N.M. Although he can’t reveal his research, he convinces Meridian to postpone her studies, move across the country and marry him. There will be plenty of time later to pick up where she left off academically. Ha!
Alden’s commitment to his work and the slow disintegration of a loving relationship could seem a cliché. Yet, Meridian manages to flourish even when the attitudes of the day bear down on her. On her own, she continues to study birds without the benefit of academic resources, she makes a few friends despite being ostracized for not having a doctoral degree like most of the wives in her community. Although they are well-educated they do nothing with their education.
Meridian falls in love with a much younger man but maintains the façade of her marriage with Alden, who becomes increasingly narrow-minded and unlikable as the novel progresses.
The author is masterful in the transformation she ascribes to Meridian and the world around her.
The Atomic Weight of Love
Five Bookmarks
Algonquin Books, 2016
352 pages
Don’t be fooled by the fact that Erika L. Sanchez’s novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, falls into the Young Adult category. Family relationships, immigration, education and mental health are among the issues Sanchez addresses. These are matters that should be of interest to everyone, regardless of age.
Julia Reyes, a bright and funny 15-year-old girl, lives with her family in a poor Chicago neighborhood. Her parents entered the U.S. illegally years before and work in menial jobs. Julia dreams of being a writer and going to college in New York City. Her older sister, Olga, considered the good and obedient daughter, has just died in a freak accident.
Julia and her parents express their grief differently, but none are able to reach out to the other for support. Julia has always been at odds with her mother while her father has grown more distant. Much to Julia’s annoyance, Olga was idolized by everyone around her – especially her mother. Yet, Julia discovers some questionable items in Olga’s bedroom leading her to suspect no one in her family truly knew her seemingly perfect sister.
The author incorporates humor and has crafted well-developed characters to move the narrative beyond the life of a poor inner city girl. Julia is aware of the limitations around her, but doesn’t want them to define her. As she struggles to learn more about Olga, she learns things about her parents and herself. Fortunately, Sanchez uses a light hand when conveying such heavy themes.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Four Bookmarks
Alfred A. Knopf, 2017
344 pages
The story of David and Goliath is so familiar making it the perfect set up for Malcolm Gladwell’s examination of beating the odds. In David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Gladwell blends storytelling with psychology and hard cold facts.
In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t read Gladwell’s book; I listened to the audio version. I’ve read most of his other works, and enjoy his essays in The New Yorker. Although Gladwell is not the reader on the CD version, his is a unique voice. He shares insights about what makes us tick and manages to find common ground making it easy to relate to his thesis: even in daunting situations it’s possible to achieve success.
This concept may come as no surprise, but many of Gladwell’s examples might since some are contrary to preconceived ideas. His stories focus on personal experiences of others relating to higher education, dyslexia, loss of a child, and even sports. Parenting and financial success are among several subpoints.
What makes this work unique isn’t that Gladwell acknowledges the triumphs of the often-minimalized, but he shows that their accomplishments do not always emerge from the usual places. He acknowledges that making the most of situations certainly contributes, but it’s necessary to consider more than the obvious. For example, he discusses class size and its impact on academic prowess. We might think small class size is better, but, like other points in the book, Gladwell shows why this is faulty.
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
Four Bookmarks
Recorded by Jared O’Donnell
Little Brown Hatchette Audio, 2013
Unabridged, 7 hours
The Blue Page Special 