This year, I was fortunate enough to be able to read many books. Some of them were, not surprisingly, better than others.
I think there are a couple of books that stood in my mind. I certainly cannot remember on top of my mind every single book that I read, but I remember a couple of books that were really memorable. The first one that comes to mind is. Lucia Berlin’s Manual for a clean woman.
Lucia Berlin is just astonishing with her prose. It has been a long time since I read a book that was a as powerful and poignant as hers. Berlin has done an incredible job in relating to the reader stories seen from the advantage point of women.
That is one of the things that I find so interesting about this book. It really brings to the fore some of the challenging situations that every woman might have lived. Her life was even more complicated because of her alcohol addiction. Her prose conveys this in a masterful way. We can really feel a woman struggling with alcohol to survive the day-to-day fight against her addiction.
I especially remember in a very vivid way a story in which she as a pregnant woman dating an alcoholic and drug dealer in El Paso Texas. She is lured into crossing the border to meet a Mexican drug dealer to pick up some drugs and then bring them over to the other side of the border to his lover.
The scene is extremely poignant as it paints her with fear of losing her kid with fear of being detained. With fear of the unknown. Yet love leads her to cross the border into Mexico where she meets this drug dealer in a sketchy place.
At the end of the day she is able to get the drugs over the border, and relay them to her lover. Unfortunately, she loses her kid. I am sure I am doing a terrible job in relating the masterful way in which Lucia conveys this whole scene, however it is one of the most striking stories in the book.
That is not to say that the other stories are not masterfully delivered.
One of the prominent Spanish newspapers named Berlin’s book as one of the best of the 21st century so far. All of the stories in the book are worth reading.
I stumbled upon this book at Eduardo’s behest. At first, he suggested reading only a few stories. However, after reading them, I was completely poised to read the rest of them. It was a great adventure and I don’t regret it. If anyone, or any of you is looking for, an amazing book that will keep you attached to it and lead you to think and revisit the patriarchal way in which women are treated in our society. You should definitely read Berlin’s book.
The other book that perhaps deserves a good mention is to Souad Mekhennet: I was told to come alone. This is a story of a Turkish German journalist. She was born in Germany, and she did amazing reporting after September 11 on the different phases of Islamic extremism. The book touches on a series of different topics.
At first, I think it is remarkable how Souad portrays the experience of a Turkish immigrant growing up in Germany and the challenges that it meant. One of the most striking stories from her book comes from the moment when she and her colleague, a US journalist are alerted about a possible plot against their lives.
I believe that they were in Algeria. They flee Algeria and after she goes back to Germany, she starts asking some questions to her contacts in the German police. It turns out that mostly the German and US authorities were worried about the fate of the US journalist. The German authorities weren’t as worried about her even though she’s a German citizen.
At this moment she realizes that even though she holds a German passport the fact that she’s the Muslim plots against her in a sense. The German authorities don’t seem to care much about her. She hypothesizes that if she were an ethnic German things would have been different. Throughout her book she has different stories that touch on this point and I think I cannot remember any other book that touches on the Turkish experience of growing up in Germany as Souad’s book.
The second reason why I think is book is worth reading is because it gives a new light into the last 15 or 20 years of war that the West has waged against Islamist extremists. It really portrays some of the hypocrisies that the West has had on its war against Islamic extremists.
Souad portrays and writes with much more freedom than the typical journalistic style. Her memories and experiences in both Africa and the Middle East are extremely vivid.
I wish you all a happy 2020 and hope that you enjoy as many books as I have this year.