Book Blog – Page 27 – …on the B.L.

Blackass

September 25, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 272
Quick Review A modern retelling of Kafka’s Metamorphosis exploring identity through race in Lagos, Nigeria after a black man wakes up as a white man.

A. Igoni Barrett brings a new depth to a classic novel by diving into the complicated issue of race in Nigeria as well as the power of perception. Barrett writes with incredible wit.

Furo wakes up one morning to discover his once dark skin is now very pink and pale. Blackass follows Furo as he navigates the world he was once familiar with through very different eyes.

Furo is a young man in his early thirties. For the young and all ages in between, Twitter and Facebook have become incredibly integral parts of our lives, and Barrett is able to incorporate these aspects into the narrative. An entire section of the novel is dedicated to sleuthing through tweets, as we have all cyberstalked someone once. Barrett also describes the difficult challenge of trying to shut down a Facebook page and needing Google to find the answer. Technology has permeated every aspect of our lives including our literature.

Barrett explores how truly powerful perception can be both in favor and against a person. As people, we immediately begin sorting people into different classes by the way they look. Though we do our best to fight it, it is an intrinsic quality we have. Even the Nigerians tend to prefer whiteness to blackness in everything they do from the little things from bleaching cream to deferential treatment to blatant statements that white westerners are more together than black Africans.

The most interesting aspect of the novel is how well Barrett is able to capture the depth and range of the female experience in such a short novel. There are several women who weave in and out of Furo’s story. Each woman is able to portray a different woman’s part in society. In moments, I was astounded at the depth of understanding Barrett had for the female condition. It is powerful and moving in its unwavering honesty.

Barrett writes a captivating novel from beginning to end.

Memorable Quotes
“Then again, she had never faced the parental pressure he did – a woman can find a husband to take care of her, but a man must take care of his wife…”
“… I was already trying to say what I see now, that we are all constructed narratives.”
“A white man in Lagos has no voice louder than the dollar sign branded on to his forehead.”
“No one asks you to be born, to be black or white or any colour in between, and yet the identity a person is born into becomes the hardest to explain to the world.”
“Who I was as a person was more than what I looked like, but then again, how people saw me was a part of who I was.”
“Womanhood comes with its peculiar burdens, among them the distant reminder of subordinate status whose dominant symptom was uninvited sexual attention from men.”
“Pity the man who never becomes the woman he could be.”
“‘And you’re a white man. You don’t have to fuck anyone for favours.’”
“No one’s path is laid out from birth, we must all choose our own through life, and what greater gift is given a person than the chance to see the destinations where the roads not taken might have led you.”

Title: Blackass
Author: A. Igoni Barrett
Publisher: Graywolf Press (Vintage/Penguin Random House)
Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 9781555977337

Books, Fiction

Blueprints for Building Better Girls

September 21, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 288
Quick Review A collection of eight stories loosely connected exploring the pressures of being female in a rapidly changing world.

Elissa Schappell tries to approach the issues of modern womanhood with her collection of Blueprints for Building Better Girls. She approaches issues concerning women: sexual assault, rape, motherhood, working, miscarriage, marriage, education, and eating disorders. The women in Schappell’s stories are post-modern women trying to carve out their own paths, but are constantly bombarded with advice from the old guard. Many women eventually succumb to the roles their mother’s filled. Even the characters who go against the traditional have a subconscious voicing the opinions of the older generation. This voice comes out in their opinions of other women; always critiquing and judging other women on their appearance, look, and life choices. The stories are all told from the female perspective. Motherhood, being the perfect mom. The story also explores the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship from both viewpoints of mother and daughter. It also has a brief glimpse into the influence men can have on women as husbands, fathers, brothers, and people in society.

Schappell writes with moments of true insight into the essence of womanhood. She crafts some truly lovely sentences, which scream to be quoted. The stories are loosely linked as some characters or their actions show up in the stories of others. I enjoyed this component of the book, but I also found it highly confusing. Anytime a character was named, I was trying to figure out where I had, if I had, seen them before in the book; it encouraged active reading, but also created a sort of chunkiness to the flow. There were stories with a high level of interaction with the book as a whole; while others called their real importance into question for the collection as a whole.

One of my favorite stories was “Out of the Blue and into the Black.” The main character, Belinda/Bender, is a young woman in college trying to find her own way in the world while figuring out how to live her life on campus after her friend, a main character from another story, was raped by a fraternity boy. Bender was there the night her friend was raped; she feels like she is the only one who remembers her friend and her struggle. The most interesting part of this story was when she calls attention to the fact her guy friends were in an uproar when they found out about the rape. The guys said they would go and beat him up. Another said he would talk to the fraternity president because they needed to know. After time passed and nothing happened, Bender realized it was just male bravado. Men act upset but never actually do anything. The friend who said he’d talk to the president kept brushing it off saying it was a “private issue.” I think this moment in the story makes a point about how swept under the rug and how common place and how ignored and how accepted rape is by the gender who commits it the majority of the time.

The stories take place in different time periods with different aged protagonists from different backgrounds. The majority of the women were educated, middle-class women, all assumably white. The perspective and narrator differs from story to story. This allows for each story to stand apart from the other, but it causes some difficulty with cohesiveness.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I don’t think it makes sense entirely as a whole. Each part is really wonderful. Schappell brings attention to a lot of important issues women deal with throughout history and will continue to experience for a long time to come.

Memorable Quotes
“If I stopped him, we’d have to talk. The last thing I wanted to do is talk.”
“I don’t know why he’s so desperate to name me.”
“The label was slut, not charity worker.”
“People have always hated strong women. They fear we’re one turkey-baster away from abolishing men.”
“At least she’d lost weight. Ten pounds in three weeks. What did her mother always say? You have such a pretty face.”
“What did a woman who didn’t want children want? Or what did she want more than children? It was creepy.”
“Still, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to never see my mother again.”

Title: Blueprints for Building Better Girls
Author: Elissa Schappell
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9780743276702

Experiences, Travel

Ames Public Library

September 14, 2017September 8, 2019 RaeAnna

I grew up in Ames, Iowa. Growing up the library was a mainstay in my life, and it often comes up when discussing childhood memories. The house I spent my first eight years in was located about half a mile from the library, so my mother, brother, and I would regularly go for walks to return and check out books.

When I was in Ames last month, I revisited the library for the first time in almost a decade. The library I remember as a child does not exist anymore. It has the same location, a lot of the same exterior, and the same name, but it went under an extensive renovation and expansion a few years ago. Walking through the library, I recognized nothing. It had vastly changed for the better. I think the expansion and renovation is amazing. It was a little bittersweet for me, but I think money is best spent on books and knowledge and community outreach, which a library epitomizes. I wandered around with my parents enjoying the newness of the building until I wandered into the kid’s section of the library.

As a little girl, there was a display case made of wood. Every month or few weeks, the display behind glass would change to reflect the season, activities, or holidays. It was the first, the last, and my favorite thing I looked at whenever I went to the library. Even as a teenager, I would stop by the display to take a peak. I had forgotten about the display. Like childhood, it had disappeared into a fuzzy haze I like to call the past. When I walked into the children’s section at the library, the first thing I saw was the display. In a library I no longer recognized, the display had remained the same. So many memories came rushing back all at once. I am normally a very level headed and non-emotional person. I do not cry often. As I stood there looking at the display with my Mom and Dad, I started to tear up. We were taking pictures for this article, and unfortunately, there are no pictures where I was not teary eyed. It’s funny how childhood memories can do that to you: sneak up and pounce out of nowhere.

Libraries hold memories for a lot of people I am sure. The library holds so many memories from my childhood. I grew up in that library in a way. For me, the library was the epitome of the world. Knowledge was always the key to everything. If I could access the knowledge the library held, I would have access to the world. Or at least, that’s how it felt when I was little.

I read A Midsummer Night’s Dream in second grade. I was inspired. When I was done, the first place I went was the library. I had no idea how to navigate the library, so my mother taught me. This was in the era when the card catalogue still existed next to the computer while everything was digitized. My mother taught me how to look up books in the card catalogue and then through the computer. At first, it was difficult, and I kept having to ask my Mom for help. Eventually, I got the hang of things. It was the clouds parting and the sun shining through moment for me. I was able to find books about history, literature, language, and more.

The library was the beginning of the story of my life that would unfold.

In college, I worked all four years at the library. I enjoyed it immensely. It was a wonderful way to spend my academic career surrounded by the books I had worshiped my entire life. At Cornell, I studied Literature, French, and Russian, which is basically a triple degree in how to read well. In my life after college, I am now a freelance literary translator and editor and writer, a senior editor at a literary magazine, a rampant reader, and a book blogger – obviously, you are here reading this.

The Ames Public Library founded a passion that will stay with me forever just like the memories I cherish.

Experiences, Travel

Week in Hot Springs Village

September 10, 2017September 8, 2019 RaeAnna

I’m getting around to this post so late!!! I’ve been busy with life. There’s no other excuse.

I ended up going to Hot Springs Village because of Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston hard. I like to call this time my hurrication. Luckily, my grandparents live six and half hours away in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. I planned on being there for three days. Unfortunately, I ended up staying nine days. Oh well! I had lots to keep me busy, and many books were read while I was away.

Hot Springs Village is a gated golfing community twenty minutes outside of Hot Springs. It’s a beautiful area. My grandparents moved there from New Orleans when I was fifteen. They’re always surprised I love visiting them. It’s a golfing community, and I hate golfing. The residents are mostly retired, so no distracting activities for a young person. The entire time I’m there, I entertain myself by walking in the mountains and reading. So mostly reading because I’m not a huge fan of exercise. It’s really a reader’s paradise. So much outdoor space and very few people make for a fabulous back drop for a reading marathon.

If you get bored of reading inside or around the village, you can always wander your way into Hot Springs, which is full of fun things to do.

Hot Springs is a tourist town with lots of national parks to adventure through. Hot Springs is a city with quite the history. It was first explored in 1673. The land was a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Prudhomme became the first settler of what would become Hot Springs in 1807. In 1818, the United States gained the land from the Quapaw tribe; you can find many businesses and landmarks named after the Quapaws including a Bathhouse. Hot Springs was a renowned destination for bathers drawn to the healing thermal waters bubbling up from the underground springs. An area of downtown Hot Springs became known as Bathhouse Row for their beautiful spas. During the Civil War, there was a decline in bathers coming to the springs, and many citizens of the city fled as troops neared Little Rock. Post-Civil War era saw a surge in population as the city rebuilt and expanded. In the early 20th century, Hot Springs was attractive to the rich and famous, as well as, the rich and infamous. It became a hotbed for gangsters and illegal gambling.

Hot Springs is now a tourist destination attracting those who want a piece of Americana and to experience the lovely spas fed by the hot springs. The architecture in historic Hot Springs is absolutely gorgeous. Only a few bathhouses are still functional, but many still stand and house museums, shops, and even a brewery. I have experienced the spas at the Quapaw Bathhouse, and they are gorgeous! The floor in the basement is warm because of the heat radiating from the springs, which run underneath the ground.

I love shopping in the historic district. I can’t go to Hot Springs without frequenting the Bathhouse Soapery. Though they ship and have other stores, they are headquartered in Hot Springs. There shop is beautiful, light, and smells like heaven. Their products are the only ones I use! There’s a great candy store next door called Pour Some Sugar on Me Sweet Shoppe. It was definitely difficult for me to leave without handing them my wallet because of my addiction to sweets! There’s a great place called The Pancake House. It’s only open until 12:45 pm, so get there early. I highly recommend the sausage; it’s homemade. There are gorgeous fountains throughout the historic district fed by the springs; you can see steam rising off the water. The historic Arlington Hotel is a must see. It’s huge and you can’t miss it!

If you’ve had enough of the historic district, there is more than enough to do for the outdoorsy folks. Hot Springs is surrounded by the Ouachita Mountains. Everywhere you look you’ll find gorgeous views of the mountains and forests. Lake Ouachita is amazing for those who enjoy the water! It’s huge, and you could spend days exploring it. It’s great for those who want a break from technology. There is no reception in that area… At least, for me anyways. If you’re into kayaking, this is an amazing destination. There is also Hot Springs National Park, which is awe inspiring.

Arkansas may not be at the top of everyone’s must see list, but Hot Springs is a beautiful place to visit, relax, and read. It has good food, good views, and enough history and activities to keep everyone happy. If you’re every in the area, let me know! I’m happy to lend a suggestion or twelve.

Books

Bringing Up Bébé

September 8, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 266
Quick Review Druckerman describes her experiences living in France as an American and a new mother. She navigates the challenges and the positives of raising children in a foreign culture.

I read Bringing Up Bébé several years ago while I was in college. I don’t make a habit of reading parenting books, but I do enjoy reading cultural critiques of France as a francophone. I had lived in France for a time, and I had many of the same observations Druckerman makes throughout the book.

Druckerman moved to Paris to be with her, now, British husband, Simon. After the birth of their first daughter, she quickly realized the vast difference between American and French parents as well as American and French children. She set out to investigate the roots of these differences and how French parents managed to have such well behaved children and lives not over run by their prodigy. Druckerman does focus on motherhood, both French and American mothers, more than fatherhood because she is a mother herself.

Druckerman realized French families are not at the beck and call of every child in France. Instead parents are able to exist with their children in a familial “rhythm.” The French have an emphasis on the rhythms of children and paying attention to those; however, they believe children need to fit into the rhythm of the family as well. Druckerman was shocked at first to never see a screaming child in France. Instead, she saw a country full of children eating the same foods as adults, functioning independently, sleeping through the night by four months, reacting appropriately to being told no, and more. She strove to find and emulate this sense of calm French families possessed.

Druckerman quickly learned there is a more laid back attitude as parents. In the US, there is a never ending scrutiny parents live under, a sort of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The French base their parenting off science and common sense; whereas to Druckerman, it seemed the US emphasized the latest fad book or parenting theory. Some revolutionary and new parenting ideas to Druckerman were seen as so common sense the French parents forgot to even mention them. The French system is designed to aid parents instead of tear them down or hinder them.

Druckerman gives background information on many French parenting mainstays such as the crèche, the cadre, and more. She starts the book off with a dictionary of terms necessary to every parent in France.

Druckerman presents the French way of parenting in such a positive light, I came back to the book several years later. I have never been on the I want children bandwagon, but her book makes parenting seem less horrific. She is able to capture the dichotomy that is american parenting and showcase the positives France has been able to carefully cultivate over the centuries.

Druckerman writes with a sense of humor poking fun at both herself and the cultures she inhabits. Reading through Bringing Up Bébé you get a sense of who she is as a person and as a parent. It is easy to identify with her struggles and desire to be a good mom to her children. I highly suggest this book to any already parent, soon-to-be parent, and those who just want an insight into parenting in a different country and culture.

Memorable Quotes
“Of course American parents want their kids to be patient. … But patience isn’t a skill that we hone quite as assiduously as French parents do.”
“Setting limits for kids isn’t a French invention, of course.”
“I seem to have a philosophical problem, too.”

Title: Bringing Up Bébé; One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
Author: Pamela Druckerman
Publisher: The Penguin Press
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 9781594203336

Books, NonFiction

A Moonless, Starless Sky

September 1, 2017 RaeAnna

Read: Yes
Length: II (236)
Quick Review: Alexis Okeowo tells the story of four African countries in the midst of their own battles with extremism through people most affected by them.

I like to think of myself as a fairly aware person, and I have found my African knowledge to be extravagantly more informed than the average American’s. I will admit my knowledge of this century’s goings on in Africa are severely lacking. It is mostly my fault, but not entirely. Unless our soldiers are dying or a super celebrity gets a hold of something, the media seldom covers African issues. When they do, you probably have to dig for it. In college, my research focused on the linguistic evolution of North African immigrants in France, so naturally I have an extensive knowledge of North African history and culture. Okeowo addresses African issues with extremism as well as the lack of media coverage and more in A Moonless, Starless Sky without making you feel terrible for not knowing about the struggles of an entire continent.

Okeowo is a first generation daughter of Nigerian immigrants. Having grown up in the deep south hearing about the homeland, she decided to move to Lagos, Nigeria after college to work as a reporter. She is currently a staff writer at The New Yorker, but her time in Africa shaped her. Her debut book A Moonless, Starless Sky, which is released on October 3 of this year, addresses an issue she is so clearly passionate about.

Stories from the countries of Uganda, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Somalia are deeply moving, heart wrenching, and yet hope-filled looking to the future. Each country has been dealing with extremism for decades. As Americans, we have heard about the child soldiers in Uganda, slavery in Mauritania, the Boko Haram in Nigeria, and terrorism in Somalia. What was talked about briefly in the news has been ongoing for years and continues after coverage fades. Of the four countries, Somalia has been covered the most in recent American media due to the military interaction within the country, but still it has faded from our attentions and visibility. Okeowo tells the stories of normal people having to cope with the effects of terrorism on their lives, their families, their culture, and their country. Even in the midst of immense turmoil, there is a theme of bravery. Sometimes the simplest acts convey bravery and even resistance. In these moments, the average person can be thrust into a position of power becoming a symbol of activism providing a glimpse of hope for change.

Okeowo writes with intensity and honesty. She captures the humanity and struggle of those forced to commit atrocities with no problem pointing out double standards, struggles, scare tactics, and more she encountered while traveling, interviewing, and witnessing local life. She writes without qualm about the complexity activists face in their battle to extinguish extremism in their countries. Among the serious subject matter, she has poignant moments of humor, sarcasm, and irritation. The book is so relatably human in it’s approach to a topic saturated in monstrosity.

A work of literary journalism, Okeowo accomplishes a devastating roller coaster of feelings in a mere 256 pages. It is impossible to read A Moonless, Starless Sky without being emotionally sucker punched. Intertwining the larger issues with the stories of the impact they have on the people, Okeowo’s words will haunt your thoughts long after the book has been closed. My only criticism is: I want more.

Title: A Moonless, Starless Sky; Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa
Author: Alexis Okeowo
Publisher: Hachette Books
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9780316382939