Sunday, July 6, 2014

Summer Reading List: Complexity

This may not come as a shock, but I love to read, and lately I've had plenty of free time for reading. When I was in high school, I had a great English teacher all four years (thank you gifted program) who made us read excellent books and write excellent essays about them (boy, was I ready for those AP tests). Now when I read a book, I analyze it a bit like I will be writing an essay on it to be graded, but that isn't the case, so I've got all these pent-up analyses and opinions with no way of sharing them. Until now. 

For each book I've read this summer, I'm going to do a write-up/book report thing just for my blog. I plan on making this a weekly thing for the remainder of the summer with one or two books per post, sometimes with a theme. So without further ado, here are the books about human complexity I read in May:

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Heartbreaking. Illuminating. Must read. If this account of life in a Mumbai slum doesn't give you a little perspective, I am genuinely concerned for you in one way or another. Written from several different points-of-view, it showed me how different slum living is from my comfy middle class existence, but even more than that, it showed me how alike the two are in the most fundamental human and political ways. I think that it's easy to dehumanize less-priviledged people, especially when they're so far away from ourselves geographically, but Boo's book puts the reader right in the shacks of Annawadi residents, revealing just how complex life in the slum is. There are social and political hierarchies, different expectations of different people, and even religious prejudice. I really don't think I can do this book justice, but maybe John Green can help: 


 I think it's very important that absolutely everyone read this book or a book like it.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart
Truth be told, I had two rather strange reasons for purchasing this book: 1.) John Green recommended it, and 2. SarahFred, and Carly are on the cover. I thoroughly enjoyed the read. It had me nostalgic for a boarding school experience I never had. More importantly it made me question the way things are run, or more specifically the logistics of making connections and networking. It explores the complexity of a girl who just wants to be treated as an equal in her patriarchal boarding school experience, but who might take it a little too far and burn some bridges along the way. I am confident there is a lesson to be learned here in how to stand up for your beliefs. I definitely recommend borrowing it from a friend or your local library if possible.

What have you been reading this summer? Any recommendations? Let me know.

KB

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