Black Infatuation

I find myself more and more intrigued with our nation's history of intercultural relations. I grew up in a home that was accepting of different races and cultures. My dad even belonged to a "tribe" and I have fond memories of watching those events. He made his clothing and was really involved for being a young father of multiple children and working retail. I remember one Christmas, several of my siblings were given moccassins that he made himself. I was fascinated and every year invited him to come and talk to my class at school about Native Americans.
We also were friends with people of all different colors of skin. I didn't understand that there were continuing race issues in my little world where everyone seemed to like everyone.
As I have grown older, my eyes have been opened to different situations and I want to understand why people do and say the things they sometimes do. It doesn't make sense to me, but I also realize that sometimes history and literature paint an extremely different picture than what was really going on. It wasn't how Margaret Mitchell paints the South in Gone with the Wind.
For this reason, I am grateful to read books like Uncle Tom's Cabin that opened my eyes to the North not being the "answer" to the slave issue or The Help which reminds me that, although "free" from organized slavery, the blacks in this country have had a hard time gaining true equality and what they had to suffer through along the way. Maybe it's the sociology. Perhaps the history. Or maybe it is just simply the politics that are revealed. It has my attention.

Industrialization

Elizabeth Gaskell has come recommended by a few of my friends who also enjoy reading Victorian literature. She's an interesting author; a contemporary of Charles Dickens. Her content seems related to that of Jane Austen, but approaches it from a slightly different angle, showing the lower class melting into the upper class in her story North and South as well as the industrial age and the plight of the cotton mill workers.
Although I found it slow to get into due to my association with book "colors" and moods (it's a VERY hot and humid summer compared to the dreary and cold Northern England I was reading about), I did enjoy it and I want to read more of her works. Her language felt more modern than that of Jane Austen as well as being more accessible than Charles Dickens. I also found it interesting that she wrote for Charles Dickens' journal and it seems there was a little competition, shall we say, for writing about the plight of the laborers.

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver does a great job weaving the lives of her characters into the historical backdrop of a country in turmoil.
I know I have a great lack of understanding of the history of the entire continent of Africa. There is much I would like to understand and more that I haven't even heard of yet. Seriously. I know governments can be blood thirsty for their own ideas of what is good and profitable, but I never realize how terrible they are and have been.
It's hard to decide where the goodwill of an individual creeps upon the freewill of another. I most heartily agree with the statement 'Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It's everyone's...Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization." Amen and amen. But, if this is a truth, than there must be a way for the opposite to happen as well. There must also be truths that are mistaken for illusions, which makes the whole figuring out right and wrong and the in-between more important to find.
The Poisonwood Bible is thought-provoking and has valid points to make. I think the portrayal of the father is a bit one-sided as he remains static and the explanations of his behavior are almost nearly a plea to allow his character to remain believable (and, I know that this kind of person can and does exist), but I probably would have left out the excusing sections of the book. A static character is a static character. On the other hand, Rachel proved to be a great court-jester and kept things from getting too serious and preachy. Her ignorance not only in human interactions but her mistakes in speech made me laugh. It's a clever author to write intelligent characters at the same time as writing one so blatantly dumb-blond and clueless to the fact.