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Book No. 65 was "The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race," essays and poetry, edited by Jesmyn Ward. This book was conceived as a response to James Baldwin's book "The Fire Next Time," and Ward asked various contributors to talk about the past, present, and future of race relations. I think somewhere around 5 or 6 pieces were originally published elsewhere, but the majority were commissioned just for this book. Some of the pieces were better than others, as with any anthology, but I thought it was both very diverse and very strong. The sections on past and present are much longer than the "future" section, but many pieces stay with me and I'll likely be thinking about them for a long time. Among the most memorable to me was the essay about the differences walking at night as a black man in Jamaica vs. walking alone at night as a black man in an American city. In Jamaica, the concern was that he would be the target of crime. In America, he was seen as being a probable perpetrator and had to adopt new strategies to stop himself from being targeted by police. I also liked Ward's contribution about doing a genetic test and what the results (including a few surprises) meant to her family's ideas around race. The piece by Emily Robateau about the "Know Your Rights" murals in NYC was also a stand-out, and Edwidge Danticat's piece, an open letter to her daughters and one of only three in the "future" section, was also beautiful. Highly recommended.
Book No. 66 was "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene. I'd read his book set in Haiti, "The Comedians", several years ago and always meant to read more by Greene. This book is set in southeast Asia while the French were fighting communists there in the 1950s. It's loosely based on Greene's own experiences as a journalist in the region during that time. Greene's books always seem like they should be a rip-roaring international thriller, and there are elements of that, but he always has serious themes about right and wrong, morality, the lies we tell ourselves, and other big ideas. In this book, the main character, Fowler, is a jaded middle-aged British journalist, and Pyle is a youthful and idealistic young American. They're both in love with the same woman, Phuong. Their relationship with each other becomes more entangled and complicated when Pyle saves a wounded Fowler when they're caught between two warring factions, and then when Fowler begins to believe Pyle, despite his innocent image, is involved in some violent factional machinations. Greene's writing is beautiful but economical and not flashy, what I would expect from a former journalist. He also twists the knife several times, throwing out seemingly trivial details that later have a big, devastating impact later on. I liked this and will be adding more Green novels to my "to read" list.
I have a couple more books in process right now but doubt I'll finish either before Jan. 1, so it's time for my year-end wrap-up.
( Book stats, favorites, and a complete list of 66 books behind the cut: )
Book No. 66 was "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene. I'd read his book set in Haiti, "The Comedians", several years ago and always meant to read more by Greene. This book is set in southeast Asia while the French were fighting communists there in the 1950s. It's loosely based on Greene's own experiences as a journalist in the region during that time. Greene's books always seem like they should be a rip-roaring international thriller, and there are elements of that, but he always has serious themes about right and wrong, morality, the lies we tell ourselves, and other big ideas. In this book, the main character, Fowler, is a jaded middle-aged British journalist, and Pyle is a youthful and idealistic young American. They're both in love with the same woman, Phuong. Their relationship with each other becomes more entangled and complicated when Pyle saves a wounded Fowler when they're caught between two warring factions, and then when Fowler begins to believe Pyle, despite his innocent image, is involved in some violent factional machinations. Greene's writing is beautiful but economical and not flashy, what I would expect from a former journalist. He also twists the knife several times, throwing out seemingly trivial details that later have a big, devastating impact later on. I liked this and will be adding more Green novels to my "to read" list.
I have a couple more books in process right now but doubt I'll finish either before Jan. 1, so it's time for my year-end wrap-up.
( Book stats, favorites, and a complete list of 66 books behind the cut: )
