In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez

Leaving Asia and heading over to Latin America, we will be discussing the book In the name of Salome by Julia Alvarez.

Here's a summary of the book:

The Dominican Republic's most famous poet and her daughter, a professor in the United States, are the remarkable protagonists of this lyrical work, one of the most moving political novels of the past half century. Born in 1850, Salom called a revolution into being with her fearless poetry. Even as an adolescent, she saw her pseudonymous poems inspire bloodshed in the streets. Camila, born in 1894, followed the fortunes of her famous family into exile, first in Cuba, then on her own in the U.S., where she became an academic's academic.

The novel's protagonists are based on real characters, yet by offering history through the lenses of both the poet and the scholar, as well as by portraying male-dominated events from the perspective of female activists, Alvarez conveys purely Latin American revolutionary idealism with an intellectual sensuality that eschews magical realism. 

We're meeting on Sunday October 30th at 2pm at Cumaica Cafe in the SOMA/Van Ness neighborhood.

Next Book (November):

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

History of Korea... indeed

An amazing immigrant story, tracking her lineage from Korea, Anna decides to leave her unsettled shaky life in New York City to go find her connection to her family to her mother's country of birth. 

Even though there were mixed reviews with whether the story was compelling and different people seem to either get or not get into it, the one consensus was the effective and informative story telling of the history of Korea. It was here that we discovered the Japanese imperialism reigning in Korea leading to WWII where Korea eventually gets split by the 38th parallel line dividing Communism and Capitalism, as well as families. 

Anna's mother and grandfather lend their lens in their survival in a chaotic Korean landscape where everything they knew was taken away from them. Going through high and lows throughout their lives in terms of political standing and economic opportunities, the story ends up with the eldest daughter winning a chance to go to the USA and ultimately settles there. 

Connection to one self's identity and discovering where you feel belonged is at the core of this book.

One Thousand Chestnut Treets; A novel of Korea by Mira Stout

Our next book will trasport us to Korea, we'll be discussing "One Thousand Chestnut Trees; A novel of Korea" by Mira Stout.

Here's a book summary:

Mira Stout's protagonist is Anna (based loosely on Stout herself), a young artist who lives in New York and feels lost. Knowing little about her Boston Irish father and her Korean mother, and less still about Korea, she decides to journey to Korea, as Mira Stout herself did, to try to make sense of the random jigsaw pieces of her background--tidbits like the story of her great-grandfather, once the ruler of Kangwon Province, who was stripped of land and title by the invading Japanese and ordered a temple be built atop the highest mountain amidst 1,000 chestnut trees.

In the novel, Anna's Korean curiosity begins as a teenager, when Uncle Hong-do arrives from Korea to visit Anna's mother, the sister he never met. Years later, Anna turns to Korea as an answer to her feelings of existential angst, retracing her mother's steps in an effort "to see my family undie." Told in her voice as well as her mother's and grandfather's, what you get is a stirring novel that combines Korea's epic history with a family legacy and a personal exploration.

Hope to see you on Sept 18 at the Bean Bag Coffee House on Divisadero!

Next book to read:

October - In the name of Salome by Julia Alvarez

Watch The Whistleblower at you local movie theater!

Just watched this amazing movie "The Whistleblower" about human trafficking happening after the Bosnian war, involving US and UN employees based on a true story!

Inspired by actual events, Kathy (Academy Award® winner Rachel Weisz) is an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up and intrigue amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk. Directed by first time filmmaker Larysa Kondracki, the film also stars Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn.

http://www.thewhistleblower-movie.com/

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Let's take a ride towarsd Nigeria in our next book selection: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Here's a book summary:

With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor's beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna's twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and they must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all.

We will be meeting at Simple Pleasures Cafe in the Richmond neighborhood on Sunday August 21 at 2pm.

Life in prison sounds like a low budget retreat!

This book did not receive positive feedback from book club members - much of it had to do with a lack of being able to engage with the main protagonist Piper Kerman, whose memoir resembled more of a diary than providing insightful stories and descriptions of hardship prison life. She reminded us of her privilege, as she was able to have a job waiting for her at the end of her sentence as well as having a devoted boyfriend who visited her every week. 

There was frustration in figuring out her relationships with the different characters in the book, whom all seem to share a far more interesting story as Piper. Why didn't she talk about them in full details? Weren't there any hardships in even being able to bond within the prison? Everything seemed to have always worked out, but in reality, relationships are always complicated and one would assume that this is enhanced within prison. Yet, we just get a more surface telling of Piper's experiences in jail. 

Some commented that the story seem to get quite interesting towards the end of the book when she started to describe the conditions of Oklahoma City and Chicago. Danbury just seem too rosy in comparison. It is safe to say that Piper hasn't shared her whole story and maybe that's why we all felt robbed. The unsung hero of the story is actually Larry, her devoted boyfriend, which made Piper sound quite a whiner when she would complaint and miss him. It didn't seem to she really ever took responsibility of her actions, and literally thought she was going to get away with her drug-smuggling activities. The book was troublesome, but it was her story to share.

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Thanks to all who came out on Gay Pride weekend to discuss our book set in Iraq. Now we're coming back to the US and read Orange is the New Black, My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman.

Here's a book summary:

When federal agents knocked on her door with an indictment in hand, Piper Kerman barely resembled the reckless young woman she was shortly after graduating Smith College. Happily ensconced in a New York City apartment, with a promising career and an attentive boyfriend, Piper was forced to reckon with the consequences of her very brief, very careless dalliance in the world of drug trafficking.

Following a plea deal for her 10-year-old crime, Piper spent a year in the infamous women’s correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, which she found to be no “Club Fed.” In Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison , Piper takes readers into B-Dorm, a community of colorful, eccentric, vividly drawn women. Their stories raise issues of friendship and family, mental illness, the odd cliques and codes of behavior, the role of religion, the uneasy relationship between prisoner and jailor, and the almost complete lack of guidance for life after prison.

We'll be meeting at Rose Tea at 549 Irving Street in the Inner Sunset neighborhood on Sunday July 24.