Outdated and Shallow Book Reviews

Evil

Long Walk To Freedom, by Nelson Mandela

As you may know, Nelson Mandela, freedom fighter, father of the democratic South Africa, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, spent 27 years in jail. In picking up this book, I thought it would be an easy read. Of the 625 total pages, I figured a good 600+ would go something like this: “Woke up, ate breakfast of gruel, pounded rocks into gravel for 6 hours, ate lunch of stale bread, walked around the courtyard for exercise, ate dinner of mealies, and then lights out.” Multiply that by 27 years and voila – instant memoirs.

But in fact, Long Walk To Freedom didn’t go like that at all. It starts with a detailed and fascinating account of Nelson Mandela’s childhood and tribal history. He was of royal decent in his tribe, but not in line to be king, as some accounts have suggested. Rather, he was pre-ordained to be the key advisor to the future king. Although as a child, he wanted nothing more than to one day become a champion stick fighter, which I found to be an endearing point.

This book is as much about the politics and dynamics of the South African democracy struggle as it is about Mandela’s life, though the two are of course intertwined. We meet the individuals and groups who aided in the struggle – not only Africans, but also Whites, Indians, and Coloureds. Mandela makes a distinction between “Africans” and “Coloureds” throughout the book, although I couldn’t figured out the difference. And it wasn’t just Manela’s categorization: the South African laws at the time discriminated as well. Africans had the least rights, Indians and Coloureds make up the next tier, while Whites were at the top. (If anyone knows what “Coloureds refers to, please post in the comments!)

Anyway, I read this book not because I care about any of this stuff. I just wanted to pose as an intelligent adult on my India trip.

The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis

This book is a rip-off! Don’t read it if you’re expecting an in-depth analysis of the role of the Left Tackle in professional football and its subsequent impact on the economics of the game. Because that’s not what you’ll get. This book is nothing more than a fluffy features piece on a specific person, Michael Oher, and his rise to prominence as a Left Tackle. Big deal! Yawn.

Memoirs Of A Geisha, by Arthur Golden

I didn’t buy this book. I got it from a nice Canadian girl who was traveling through Varanasi as I was. She had just finished it and I mentioned that I, having finished all the books I brought with me (a lie), needed more reading. So she gave it to me. I really wanted something else from this 20 year old Canadian art student, but all she gave me was the book. But oh well… it turned out to be a good book!

If you like the writing style of Evil Twin #1, I imagine you’ll like this book. We meet the protagonist, Sayuri, as a young and innocent girl from a small fishing village. We hear Sayuri’s story through her first person narration, which is touching, detailed, at times heart-wrenching, and always filled with folksy metaphor and simile. It wasn’t until I was one-third through the book that the character of Sayuri solidified in my mind – I kept thinking it was Evil Twin #1. Their writing style and tone are that similar (even though Sayuri is young and innocent and Evil Twin #1 is not).

Among the many though-provoking aspects of this book, I’ll call out one quote for you Hosers to discuss. This was spoken by Sayuri’s mentor and geisha “older sister”:

“Young girls hope all sorts of foolish things, Sayuri. Hopes are like hair ornaments. Girls want to wear too many of them. When they become old women, they look silly wearing even one.”

Current in-progress reading: The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck and The Art Of Seduction, by Robert Greene. Just ordered 7 books from Amazon to add to my reading list.