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Reading Rescue, September 2008:
Stories About Foreign Countries
 By Anne Allen and Mary Anne Fulmer
As the weather gets cooler, we often find ourselves
growing tired of the light reading we turn to in the summer. This month,
the Reading Rescuers (no boring books!) are here to recommend three
non-fiction books and a recently released DVD that will interest,
inform, and intrigue you with experiences in foreign countries.
Eat, Pray, Love (910.4 Gilbert) by Elizabeth
Gilbert is her account of a year spent in travel. After the break up of
her marriage, Gilbert decides to explore the different facets of her
personality by traveling to three different countries. She chooses Italy
for the opportunity to eat wonderful food and learn to speak Italian
fluently; India to study at an ashram run by her yogi; and Indonesia,
home of the world's happiest people, to try to find balance in all
things. It is always fun to read about living in Italy, but Gilbert's
time in India is equally enthralling as she experiences the reality of
life in a religious community (lots of menial work and some very odd
characters). Even if Indonesia is no more than a place on a map to you,
Gilbert is able to convey a lot of interesting information as she writes
of her work with a native healer and her own attempts to help a young
woman with two children acquire a home. She is a skilful writer who
draws you into her story as she tells of her devastating divorce, looks
frankly at bad choices she made, and even finds love again.
Azar Nafisi had just been hired to teach English
literature at a university in Tehran when the uprising occurred that
sent the shah into exile and brought Ayatollah Khomeini back. In
Reading Lolita in Tehran (820.9 NAF), Nafisi uses ideas and passages
from the books she loves and teaches to illustrate how life changed as
Iran became an Islamic nation, and how she and a dedicated group of
students managed to continue their studies. Nafisi writes about living
through the long war with Iraq, the surprise she felt as Western books
were banned and destroyed, and how a revolution she initially supported
resulted in a country she had to leave. Her writing is vivid and she has
a compelling story to tell, but she also piques your interest in the
novels she and her students love so well. (In an especially interesting
episode, a fundamentalist student complains about the immorality of
The Great Gatsby and Nafisi puts the book on trial. The disconnect
between the Islamic view of the novel and the Western one is
breathtaking.) It is also interesting to read of the events of that time
through the words of someone living through them, a person with little
contact with the outside world.
In 1993, after the death of his younger sister, Greg
Mortenson went to Pakistan on a mission. He would climb K2, one of the
world's tallest mountains, and leave a necklace belonging to his sister
at the summit. Three Cups of Tea (371.82 MOR) by Greg Mortenson
and David Oliver Relin is the story of what happened after that failed
climb. Alone, exhausted, and lost on the mountain, Mortensen found
himself in a small village and dependent on the people's goodwill to
survive. As he regained his strength, he entered into their lives and
realized their great need for a school to educate their children,
especially their daughters. Born in Minnesota and raised in Africa,
Mortenson was a trained nurse who worked only enough to finance his
mountain climbing expeditions. But he returned from Pakistan with a
goal: to build a small school in the Karakoram Mountains. The co-authors
tell of the corruption in Pakistan, Saudi-financed terrorist schools,
Afghani drug lords, and tribal warriors on horseback that Mortenson
encountered. Inspiring is an overused word, but this book truly is when
you realize the accomplishments and dedication of one man who not only
built the school he promised Korphe village, but more than fifty schools
in a remote region of Pakistan.
In The Band's Visit (DVD Band's Visit), a
fictional account, the Alexandria Police Ceremonial Orchestra has been
invited to perform at a new Arab Culture Center in Israel. Short on
money and unexpectedly not met at the airport, the band hops on a bus
and ends up in the wrong town. The orchestra's "general", dignified and
formal in his pale blue uniform, learns there will be no transportation
out until the next day, and he is forced to accept accommodations from
the casual café owner, Dina, and her employees. Mostly in English (the
only language the Egyptians and Israelis have in common), this is a
humorous and touching account of two cultures finding common ground.
(Running time of 87 minutes; rated PG 13.)
It is never too early to bring donations for the Friends
of the Library used book sale. The fall sale is scheduled for October 8
through 14, during regular library hours. (The library now opens every
day at 9:00 a.m.) Don’t forget to sign up for the American Girls Tea, to
be held on October 24 at 6:00 p.m. This is always a fun night out for
girls and dolls.
As always, please send comments or suggestions to
mfulmer@pennlib.org or
telephone the library at 724-744-4414.
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