Review: On Gold Mountain

On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family by Lisa See (1996) ISBN: 0-679-76852-1 I read On Gold Mountain slowly, with days between chapters to think about new ideas. On Gold Mountain was many things to me. It was an eye-opening revelation to me of how racist our laws and immigration policies were towards the Chinese, up until our recently. It was an amazing journey into Chinese society both in America and in China. It was an uplifting and hopeful account of how, in spite of everything, Chinese immigrants were able to come to America, work, and prosper. It was a heart-breaking indictment of the treatment of the Chinese by our government and big business, particularly the railroads. The suffering and death of so many people has gone too long unnoticed in our history books. It was an amusing commentary on the foibles of human nature, and how love truly can triumph over it all, down through the generations. It was an incredibly well-researched, well-documented and remarkably frank story of one Chinese immigrant and his numerous descendants. In the developing field of social history, and using social history to illuminate a genealogy, On Gold Mountain is a seminal work, published five years prior to the ground-breaking "Bringing Your Family History to Life through social history" by Katherine Scott Sturdevant. As such, it is a remarkable example of the professional standards to which the social historian/genealogist may aspire. Although the family history is rife with bi-racial marriage, multiple wives and concubines, infidelity and divorce, Lisa See presents the story in a sympathetic and factual manner, and avoids sensationalizing her family history. It is as much about the family business of importing Asian art, furniture and folk items, and other businesses the younger generations developed, as it is about the personal history of the family. I would recommend Lisa See's book to anyone planning to write a social history; to all high school and college students in classes on U. S. Government, sociology, immigration, and capitalism. I would also recommend it to anyone who likes a good work of non-fiction about real people.

We Are All Zaghawa Now

The Translator, A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari ISBN 978-1-4000-6744-2 Random House; March 18, 2008 I'm on page 103 of The Translator A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur, and something that has been nagging at the back of my mind finally came into focus. The day after the attacks of 9-11, Jean-Marie Colombani, writing in the French newspaper, Le Monde, said "We Are All Americans Now". What a beautiful way for him to say that the world stood with us in our loss, our hurt. I think we must all be Zaghawa now. Zaghawa, one of the many indigenous tribes of Darfur, is the tribe of Daoud Hari, author of The Translator. Hari, who used his literacy as a means to tell the story of his people, all the people of Darfur. Hari, who witnessed, and brought witnesses to testify to the horror, the genocide. Hari is Zaghawa. We must all be Zaghawa now. We must use our literacy to witness, and bring other witnesses to the crimes in Darfur against women, against children, against humanity. We must bring witnesses until the whole world cries out: "No More!" We Are All Zaghawa Now.

What IF?

What if connections were being formed between people all over the world? What if women could meet each other, share their thoughts, their family concerns, without leaving home? What if ideas and gifts and friendships could flow across oceans and borders as easily as the rays of the sun? What if people of different countries and languages could find out they have more in common than in difference?

"What IF" is happening. The Internet has enabled communication between people with common interests such as literature and work, vocation and hobbies, and the last barrier - language, will come down shortly as translator programs are perfected and computers become more powerful. Meanwhile, people who have learned more than one language are bridging the gap even now.

Thank you Angela, for bridging the gap by writing your blog in English too, for sharing friendships at GoodReads, for reaching out with kindness, and for the hand-made jewelry. It is a joy to know you.

My new old house

Our house was built in 1983, a time of rising interest rates and builder's nightmares. Two years later, as rates began to fall, we bought the house with a V.A. mortgage. Twenty-two years later, we have replaced the roof; painted the exterior for a fourth time; replaced the carpeting; replaced over half the fencing that GoldieBear installed all those years ago; turned a partially enclosed patio into an exercise room; upgraded the electrical panel and wiring; refurbished the solar plumbing; had a kitchen fire and replaced the microwave and stove hood; replaced the dishwasher. This week it was time for the kitchen plumbing - the garbage disposal and the pipes under the sink. New homes, like cars, have a certain length of time when we may enjoy them without doing much maintenance and repair - and then one day, it is time to refurbish, repair or replace so many things that it seems like a good solution to just replace the whole thing with a newer model. But we have lived here for twenty-two years, and are quite fond of our place -- it is home. It is familiar, and dear to us. So there is a schedule for the remaining work: replace the garage door opener, repaint the interior; install the back-flow device on the watering system; replace and insulate the hot water pipes; refinish the aggregate floors and replace the window coverings. Keeping a house, instead of just trading it in for a newer model, takes time and effort. Sort of like keeping a spouse after a few decades -- keep investing in the relationship -- repair, refurbish and replace old habits and patterns with ways that work better; sometimes hire a trained professional to help with the project. It is worth it in the long run, to have a marriage that is dear, a familiar friend that is home to our hearts.

Newly Published - People of the Book

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks ISBN: 978-0-670-01821-5 The Penguin Group; January 1, 2008 Inspired by her experiences as a journalist in Sarajevo, Geraldine Brooks breathes life into the history of a rare illustrated Hebrew manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadah. People of the Book spans centuries and continents to follow the guardians of the Haggadah as they flee war and persecution, often with little but the clothes on their back and their precious artifact. Muslims, Catholics, Jews and atheists take their turns defending the art, literature and culture encompassed in the small, fragile volume.

The religions that set The People of the Book apart have their common roots in the pictures and stories in the Haggadah. Every event in the novel resonates with our news today, as cultural treasures, individuals and ethnic groups are being destroyed by the same ancient divisions and hatreds, and the same greed for power and wealth that endangered the book and its keepers over hundreds of years

 A story of manuscript conservation and scientific inquiry which could easily be dry and boring vibrates with energy and life in this unforgettable novel. The people of the book are fascinating characters living in interesting times and their lives are relevant to ours, their choices and decisions speak to the greatest issues of our times.

Hail and Rain

Cold, hail and rain this morning, and a little water ski boat pulling away for the last time from the driveway. We waved good-by as a new and younger family took the boat home, and we were left with an empty place in the garage, but happy memories in our hearts. Southern fried chicken, frosted brownies, long summer days and Beach Boy tunes on the tape player; teenagers braving the cold water to ski around the lake; oops - red flag, skier down, turn the boat. Friends and cousins, picnics and suntan lotion, sun-burned noses and sand buckets. Life goes fast: catch a wave.