Commit to the end!

This was a wonderful intense story of María de las Nieves, an unconventional woman from the late 19th century whose life weaves in and out with Jose Martí, Man of Poetry and Freedom and a famous Latin American historical figure. Francisco Goldman's writing style is intense, non-linear and descriptive in the most detailed way. 

It was hard to say in which direction the story was heading, but with patience and commitment, everything comes together in the second part of the book. And when you finally read all the way to the end, you start savoring the whole story as a whole and find the common themes and coincidences that happens throughout the book. 

This is the perfect book to discuss with somebody else. It's definitely the literature college type of book, where you can easily make an essay out of. Definitely recommend it, but please commit to it - the best part is reading it completely.

The Divine Husband by Francisco Goldman

Focusing now on Latin America, our next book will be "The Divine Husband" written by Francisco Goldman.

Here's a book summary:

The Divine Husband tells the story of María de las Nieves Moran, daughter of an Irish-American father and a Central American mother, whose brief career as a nun is terminated when a rapacious general closes the convents — in part to reach her beautiful, aristocratic best friend Paquita, hidden away from him in the cloister. María de las Nieves makes her own way in the secular world, surrounded by an unforgettable cast of characters striving for love or success in late-nineteenth-century Central America and New York: José Martí, the poet and hero of nineteenth-century Cuban independence and the first man María de las Nieves loves; Mack Chinchilla, the Yankee-Indio entrepreneur intent on winning her hand; a stuffy British diplomat setting up a political impostor plot; and Mathilde, the daughter whose birth — perhaps fathered by one of these men — ruins María de las Nieves's reputation and launches her on a journey to a new future in New York.

Our next meeting with be on Sunday May 29, 2011 at 2pm at Bello Coffee and Tea in the Glen Park neighborhood.

Next book: Late for Tea at the Deer Palace by Tamara Chalabi (June 2011)

Following the story of HIV/AIDS in Africa

A great discussion on following the stories of 28 individuals from different countries of Africa to share the history of HIV/AIDS and all the complexities and the reasons for why the situation has been deteriorating. It wasn't a pretty picture and it's hard to be hopeful, but there are inspiring stories from the grassroots that motivate us to see incredible human victories.

Stories range from young children being orphaned by parents who died of HIV/AIDS and are either taken care of themselves, or been taken in by their grandparents, to the African scientist who determines to find the cure after endless research, to individuals taking extra caution, yet still acquired HIV/AIDS - all show the critical issue of how HIV/AIDS has influenced this continent.

It's a political sad story that stars the pharmaceutical industries who do not want to facilitate access to medicine for HIV/AIDS treatment... governments who carry their own agenda around the illness and patriarchy being as predominant as ever.

This is a wonderful book that lays out comprehensively the different actors played in the HIV/AIDS story.

28 - Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen

Let's return to the continent of Africa and read stories from 28 - Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen.

Here's a book summary:

According to UNAIDS, the number of HIV-infected people in Africa is 28 million. But Nolen, veteran Toronto Globe & Mail Africa bureau chief, doesn't believe it: after nine years of reporting on the epidemic, she thinks that number is conservative. Here she offers 28 searing portraits of Africans affected by the deadly virus. 

Scattered across the continent from the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, to the bush in southern Zambia, these Africans present a mosaic of a continent in crisis and a collective cry for help. With a seasoned journalist's finesse, Nolen effortlessly weaves technical information—health statistics, disease data, NGO reports—into these deeply intimate glimpses of people often overlooked in the flood of contemporary media.

We'll be discussing this book in the Lower Haight neighborhood at Oakside Cafe on Sun April 17, 2011 at 2pm.

*****

NEXT READ:

May - The Divine Husband by Francisco Goldman - this is quite a long book, so when you have a chance to start reading this book after April's read, I recommend an early head start.

Happy Reading!

Complexities surrounding a generation of a Palestine family

This story beautifully written by Susan Abulhawa brought us the insights of an emotional journey of Amal Abulheja. Starting from the ancestral history of her grandfather and the origins of the family's land to contemporary USA where Amal manages to settle in exile, after growing up in a refugee camp in Jenin. 

The richness of Amal's childhood as she befriends Huda, plays the messenger role for her brother Yousef as he delivers love letters to his girlfriend Fatima, questions her mother Dalia's love and lives a daily morning ritual with her father Baba as they read books together, fostering the importance of education that will be prevalent for the rest of her life. Living in an unpredictable environment where life can be taken so quickly, every moment Amal lives is deepened and seized. Her internal conflicts rises as she starts losing one by one her family and it's hard to stop reading what will come next in her life. 

This generational story is a page turner where Abulhawa weaves effectively historical facts and story-telling culminating into a wonderful precious read, reminding us that some of us on the planet are still living in high-risk conflict zones.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Our next book club is going to be focusing on the Israel-Palestine conflict through the book "Mornings in Jenin" by Susan Abulhawa. 

 

Here's a book summary:

Abulhawa’s debut novel is a powerful portrayal of what might be labeled the “other side” of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the viewpoint of Palestinian refugees uprooted in 1948, when Israel became a state. Such as the Abulheja family, who were forced from the village of Ein Hod to a refugee camp in Jenin.

We meet twin brothers Ismael, who is kidnapped by an Israeli soldier and raised Jewish, and Yousef, who becomes filled with hatred and joins the PLO. Through the eyes of Amal, their sister born in Jenin in 1955, we travel through three decades of conflict, starting in June 1967 and the Six Days’ War, during which Jenin is bombed. 

The power of having an outlet through a radio program!

Xinran's story-telling of her experience as the sole radio host for a women program during the Cultural Revolution in China is fascinating and heartbreaking. 

Xinran splits the book into telling different stories of women who either called in or wrote to her radio program. Each story told was unique and quite heart-wrenching, and brought the reader into that woman's specific story. It's fascinating that Xinran was able to have such a radio program in those times. Xinran channeled the stories of these extreme hardships by the different women living through this period, ranging from surviving an earthquake, following the red guards commands even if it means being separated by the person you love for over 40 years to domestic violence. No cheerful stories here.

Still an incredible read to get a glimpse of what women went through in this specific period.