Kim Jiyoung: Born 1982

 

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We are introduced to Kim Jiyoung as a young mother who spontaneously channels other women's thoughts. This would be an interesting premise, and one I wish was developed a bit more but most of the book is a life sketch of Jiyoung, with particular emphasis put on all the ways a typical South Korean girl has to struggle for equality with the boys. From school uniforms to getting and keeping jobs there are a hundred little ways that show the culture's preference for men and keep women from developing their full potential. The fact that this book is also popular in the U.S. shows that we, too, can relate all too well to some of these same differences/ prejudices. There are no good answers here--even acknowledgement of these discrepancies may not be enough to change the reality of women as mothers trying to fit into careers that are defined and regulated by men. It won't be until we rethink what makes an employee valuable and redefine what a workday/workweek looks like that women will be able to truly be fulfilled mothers and career women.

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Do laws and institutions change values, or do values drive laws and institutions?

she didn't want to hear people tell her how proud they were of her or how noble she was.  These comments made her feel guilty about being exhausted.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

10 minutes and 38 seconds refers to the amount of time you could conceivably be conscious after you die. Here we are given the account of Leila's last thoughts and memories. She is a sex-worker in Istanbul, and we get a small sketch of her life. The second half of the book is what happens after she dies and her friends come together to replace the family that has cut her off. Istanbul becomes one of the most important characters in this book--a melting pot of cultures full of dizzying sights and sounds. It took me a minute to like this book, another hard life with tragic circumstances--but by the end, I was emotionally invested in her little tribe of friends trying impossibly to honor her in her death, and feeling completely transported to another part of the world.

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Cry and everyone knows you're alive.

"Why are you trying to fight depression?'

"Because that's what I am supposed to do...everyone says."

"My mother--I used to call her Auntie--she often felt the same way, maybe worse.  People always told her to fight depression.  But I have a feeling that as soon as we see something as our enemy we make it stronger.  Like a boomerang.  You hurl it away, it comes back and hits you with equal force.   Maybe what you need is to befriend your depression."

"What a funny thing to say, honey.  How am I to do that?"

"Well, think about it: a friend is someone you can walk with in the dark and learn a lot of things from.  But you also know you are different people--you and your friend.  You are not your depression.  You are much more than what your mood is today or tomorrow."

She had also observed how a hood would be put on these noble raptors to make sure they would not panic.  Seeing was knowing, and knowing was frightening.  every falconer knew that the less it saw the calmer the bird would be.

Things We Lost to the Water

 

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A refugee story that starts with a boat and ends in a hurricane. It's a beautiful title and accurately depicts the story--all the things that were lost when they had to leave their homeland in Viet Nam--people, places, their idea of what life would be like. On the opposite end, Katrina comes to steal their homes once again, only this time, it washes away the detritus that has built up as resentments, conflicts, and misunderstandings. The bones are good, but I could never quite get my teeth into the story or the characters. Perhaps this is a failing on my part--another good option, all told, in the cannon of refugee stories.

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How to Hide an Empire

 

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I opened this book, I learned something new. Nothing entertains me like my own ignorance. On top of that, Immerwhar's writing is refreshing; he finds relevant ways to relate pertinent facts. A must read.

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Annexing territory was a way to secure both sea routes and the vital tropical materials that one could reach by them.

But there was something different about the post-1898 acquisitions.  It wasn't the land.  It was the people;e who lived on it.  

The worldwide anti-imperialist revolt drove the cost of colonies up.  Yet at the same time, new technologies gave powerful countries the benefits of empire without claiming populated territories.  In doing so, they drove the demand for colonies down.

"The truth, the central stupendous truth, about developed economies is that they can have--in anything but the shortest run--the kind of scale of resources they decide to have," U Thant marveled.  "It is not longer the resources that limit decisions.  It its the decisions that make the resources."

"The frontiers could be closed," wrote Lech Walsea.  "Words could not."

The Grammarians

The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A story of sisters--twins who both share a love of language but whose approach to words reflect their different perspectives of life that eventually create a rift between them. (I also loved the subtle bromance of their husbands and wished there was more of it in there.). They share a secret language growing up but use it less and less as they grow apart. Perhaps most tellingly, it is their approach to motherhood and their careers that really starts and intensifies their divergence. Each sister adheres to her perception of words and life without recognizing that so much of their lives are the same--using the same words in different ways, success in different areas, both have a kid and husbands that love them. Fittingly, it is the essence of language that will bring them back together again.

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Identical twins, dressed in identical outfits--are they half or double?

"Who thinks of 'chaotic', 'operatic', 'dilation', and 'direful' as malformations?  Yet nome of them have any right to exist...."  Except they do exist, and by existing, "have now all the rights of words regularly made.  They have prospered, and none dare call them treason...."

What people call 'standard' English is really just the dialect of the elite.

The Mountains Sing

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those rare historical novels that balance history with the story in perfect harmony. Chapters toggle between Guava, living through the Vietnam War and its aftermath, and her grandma, telling her stories of the unrest before--The Great Hunger and the Land Reform. The history was educational, but the characters and emotions were equally compelling. Like most stories in life, some have happy endings, some sad, and some have no clear ending at all, and the protagonist navigates her way through it all to try to find answers and come to peace with the past.

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

 

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eleanor has built a solid wall around herself to protect her from a childhood trauma and the resulting upheaval. That would be expected, but this wall is so thick that not even social norms and pop culture get through, so she comes off as rigid, humorless, and strange. But when she decides to go after a crush, she opens the door a bit, and a coworker who is insightful, patient, and kind slips into that crack of the wall, and Eleanor is never the same. It's a breezy book but it helps us to remember that people who seem different, socially awkward, and even rude may be so despite themselves, and a little kindness can go a long way.

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