I ENJOY
reading books and read a lot. When I have this craving for reading, I succumb
to whatever book that is available, so that qualifies me as a bookworm. My
choice of books is eclectic, so I read everything that piques my interest.
I have my preferences, though, as an order
of priority whenever I have given so many choices at one time: historical
novels, award-winning books, and books that are made into outstanding movies.
But
lately, reading narrative
non-fictions, or first-person accounts that read almost like a novel, is an added delight. I’m always thrilled by personal truths written not only by famous writers, thinkers, and celebrities, but also by ordinary persons who examine themselves as they
navigate through life, or ones written by those who can honestly talk about themselves in
a purposeful way. And I am equally amazed by those who mythicize
themselves, unraveling their exploits or histories as only they know them, and by those who
start as a total no-gooder, but ends up as a total expert.
I
am referring to memoir, which is different from an autobiography, though both
words are sometimes used interchangeably. Unlike autobiography that is laden
with dates and facts of the author’s entire life, a memoir does not
delve too much into life details. It only provides a record not so much bound
with timelines but of a random set of events that occurred and influenced a person’s
life.
According to some authors, a memoir is a self-written account of selected events and phases in life that
stands out in the memories of a person. It is a true story with a real-life
plot, characters, setting, a couple of sub-plots, focusing on the part of the
writer’s past that has universal appeal. It should be interesting in itself, as
a novel might be.
The
best memoirs, for me, should contain witty, interesting short stories and feelings
or events that I can relate to in my own life. It should follow a story line or
compile several anecdotes, such documents of honest thoughts, with a related theme, touching a subject that is
either transformational or inspirational. It should have some kind of emotional
impact that an ordinary reader like me should care. And finally, the writing
has to be good.
There
are five captivating and awesome memoirs I have read over the past few years. I picked up these memoirs because I
believe they have permanently changed somehow the way I think about certain
things, and gave me the idea that all lives worth living are interesting to
read.
My
list here was arranged in the order when I read them.
1.
Out
of Africa by Isak Denisen
When
I first got hold of the book, I thought it was a novel, which is the basis of
the Oscar Award winning movie of the same title starring Meryl Streep and
Robert Redford. But the book is actually a memoir written by a Danish baroness (real
name: Karen von Blixen) who took over the management of a coffee plantation on her own in Kenya after she and her unfaithful
husband divorced. It’s a vivid snapshot of her life in Africa, or rather a
lyrical expression of her love to the wonderful people and nature that touched
her life there. But more than that, I was touched by her relationship (though
she did not clearly define in the book the nature of such romance) with Denys
Finch Hatton, the British farmer and hunter whom she met in the country. The pair had a tender affair, but not that of a “permanent partnership” that
Blixen would have loved to happen. Hatton would use Blixen’s farm as his home base. And they would fly over her farm and some
parts of Africa using Hatton’s biplane. The relationship ended when Hatton died
in a plane crash. I feel for Blixen in her anguish and infinite longing,
for the loss of a person she adored so much like a soul mate, and the loss of
the coffee farm due to low yields. The book is a slow
read; for it’s also an account on the charm, the majesty, the beauty of the
vast continent, and the culture of the tribes therein; but it’s definitely
a worthwhile read.
2.
One
L by Scott Turow
This is a journal-like narrative by Scott
Turow, telling his experience as a first-year student at Harvard Law
School where freshmen are dubbed One Ls. I first heard about
this book when it was recommended by one of our speakers during our orientation
as first year law students in a premier university. But I was only able to read
it when I was already in third year, or after I got kicked out and transferred to another school. Still, it was not a totally waste of time. I
came to understand where I failed or what I lacked in my freshman year. I
realized that first year in law school is the most critical in the life of a
lawyer. Early on, you have to survive the terrors, depressions, hazing,
compulsive work (e.g. reading up to 20 cases for a two-hour long recitation in
class!), and very intimidating professors. One memorable account in the book is
one that deals with the Socratic method of lecturing, where there
were no clear answers. It was a familiar experience in my first school to be
grilled with questions by the professor using that method. I suffered anxiety
over a single exam that may determine my future in law school. The book
narrates not only about law school but about being human in an intense, often
grueling, situation. It is a must-read for first-year law students and law
school applicants, or by anyone who has ever contemplated going to law school.
3.
I
Know the Caged Bird Sing by Maya Angelou
I didn’t hear about
Maya Angelou until she recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the
inauguration of US President Bill Clinton in 1993. So when I read her
memoir more than 15 years later, I was amazed at the kind of life she
had endured and how she overcame her inferiority complex, trauma and racism, to
become what she is now, a self-possessed, dignified young woman, and a
multi-awarded poet and author, and playwright. I have read fictions and stories
about the origin of slavery of Negroes in America, the courage of black men and
women, proud and strong under oppressive circumstances, and issues of rape,
molestation, lynching and racism in their quest for independence and personal
dignity. I read them from Alex Haley’s Roots, Toni Morrison’s Song of
Solomon and Beloved, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, and Richard Wright’s Native Son to
name a few. And Angelou’s memoir covers topics common to these stories,
particularly the era following the civil rights movements. I was no longer
shocked and saddened by them. But it was a new experience reading this
autobiographical story, written in the perspective of a young girl, as a
three-year old then up to her early teens in a small, rural community during
the 1930s. I admire her strength, her candor, poignancy and grace, all told in
her powerful language, vivid scenery and emotions. It is a good book but not
recommended for young readers.
4.
Red
Azalea by Anchee Min
My love for historical fiction leads me to Katherine, a
novel about a Chinese girl and a seductive American teacher, and aroused my
curiosity of what was life in Mao’s China during the Cultural Revolution, and
to Anchee Min, the author of the book. And this has inspired me to pick up Red
Azalea, her honest and frightening account under the shadow of Mao. It is her
own story of inner strength and courage as she grew up in the rigid context of
Communism, and living up with ideology and gender issues, sex, suicide, humiliation and political subterfuge. The drama unfolds like the convoluted plot of a
telenovela. As a child, she was taught to be a good communist and was sent to a
labor camp to work in the rice fields. Consistent with Communist dogma against
any type of individualism or expression of emotions, communal laborers like her were
forbidden to speak, dress, read, write, or love as she pleased. She entered, however, into a secret love affair with her female supervisor at the labor camp. Later
on, she was selected to be trained as an actress for the film version of one of
Madame Mao’s political operas. But Mao died before the film was completed, and
Madame Mao was sentenced to death. It was then that Min
realized that she was just a victim to the craziness of the culture like
anyone else in her country, and that life might be better elsewhere. With the
help of a friend, she left China for America. It is an interesting book.
5.
Angela’s
Ashes by Frank McCourt
I have so little
knowledge about the book or its author when I picked it up in a bookstore.
Without the gilded seal bearing “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize” on its cover, I
wouldn’t have taken a second look, and wouldn’t have the chance to experience
glorifying this gem of a book. This is an honest narration of a young
Irish-American boy, crushed under the oppressive conditions of
impoverished childhood, heartbreaking struggles with his father’s alcoholism,
and his mother’s attempts to keep the family intact, the death of three of
his siblings, and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors, but narrated
by him with eloquence and remarkable forgiveness, and in astounding humor and
compassion. That’s a big wow for me. The story happened in the
Depression-era in New York and the war years in Ireland, where the family moved
after they left America. The story, seen through the eyes of the author’s
younger self, makes you laugh and cry with his heartbreaks and near-starvation,
and keeps you rooting for his family’s survival. It highlights abject poverty
and unemployment, those devastating conditions faced by millions around the
world, but as a whole, it tells a story of hope and triumph rather than one of
misery. Deserving of my five stars.
Just to round up my top ten, I must also confess an appreciation for the following autobiographical books: From Barrio to Senado by Juan
M. Flavier, Nothing Is Impossible by Christopher Reeve, The Measure of a Man by Sidney
Poitier, America is in My Heart by Carlos Bulosan, and Born on the Fourth of July
by Ron Kovic.
I would love to write one of my own
someday. I will definitely make one if only to help me make sense of my
life, confront
the truth, and provide myself new perspectives in life. But for now I just enjoy finding pieces of
myself in other people’s lives revealed through their well-written memoirs.
