Nov. 17th polutropos seeks an immigration nudge

With bows to Urania1, avaland, and depressaholic who have expanded the original nudging idea to reach for new horizons, it occurs to me that this group is eminently qualified to help me with my lifelong reading interest: the issue of immigration.

Having left Czechoslovakia in 1968 after the Soviet occupation and emigrated to Canada, the issue of emigration/immigration has always been of keen interest to me.

Much fiction deals with the issue; I have read lots. Could my fellow nudgers nudge me towards new titles, explaining also how the work they are nudging deals with the theme? And if there are sites or lists of immigration fiction you know of, they, too, would be most appreciated.

Harbor by Lorraine Adams.

Although this is about an illegal immigrant to the US, it does a wonderful job of showing the kinds of obstacles faced by people new to a country or culture. The main character, a young Algerian man fleeing the horrors of civil war and its aftermath, stows away on a freighter, jumps ship in Boston Harbor, and swims to shore. He is taken in briefly by an Arab he meets on the street before he can join others from his home town. The novel begins in the late 1990s, with flashbacks to the Algerian civil war, and ends shortly after 9/11/2001.

What Adams, a reporter, does extremely well is to create a sense of community among the immigrants, and she also does a marvelous job of showing how Aziz adapts to the language and culture.

I won't say more because I don't want to give away too much of what happens.

Hi Andrew,

The Book Nudger's corner is becoming more exciting by the day!

There were two threads in the Reading Globally group this year that dealt with immigration. In June there was a theme read on immigration. Suggestions and discussion around the issue may be found here.

The other thread was called Immigrants, Immigration and Its Issues and can be found here.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Akeela.

Perhaps direction is needed here: dylanwolf are you there? Is this taking the group in unwanted directions? Should I just have a look at the threads in akeela's post and drop this thread?

No! Don't drop the thread. I'm thinking, and I have to log out for the moment.

Andrea Levy - Small Island. West Indian immigrants in London during the Blitz - dealing with racism when you've been serving in the air force that has defended the racist is a hard one to swallow. Very good book.

I will add a 2nd nudge to Cariola's recommendation of Harbor (I'm following you around here, Deborah!).

The Road Home by Rose Tremain is a good evocation of the immigrant experience to England from the Eastern Bloc. She treats the subject with sensitivity but the protagonists assimilation process portrays our cynical, consumptive Western culture in a bad light.

Brick Lane by Monica Ali is a book mentioned on other threads and portrays an East Indian immigrant woman dealing with cultural shock in London.

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill also deals with an immigrant experience.

This tells of an English man who moves to New York and interprets the culture. His passion for cricket, and his search to play the game, provides a basis for his experience. Through this sport and the people he meets, he gives an immigrant's impression of the East Coast, NY area of USA.

The Joy Luck Club Tan by Amy Tan is a cute story of four Chinese-American mothers and their daughters adjusting to life in the United States.

and a non fiction read that you are probably aware of, Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt detailing the poverty of Ireland and the struggles the family faced returning there with Frank, who was born in Brooklyn.

Sorry to monopolize - I should stop and let others have a turn.

Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman. Please note, this is NOT the LIT that was made into a movie starring Scarlet Johansson & Bill Murray. It's a memoir about leaving Poland in the 50s for Canada, and then, for college, the States. And while it deals with many culture shock issues (bland, repressed 1950s Canada- as a Canadian I was a little taken aback...), it is mostly about language: Hoffman's love of Polish (its expressiveness and humour, the passion and outrage of Polish political debates) through to her newfound appreciation of American slang and idiom. It is insightful and beautifully written, an homage to Hoffman's Polish homeland and a love letter to the New World.

It's not clear, Polutropos, if your interest is focused on the experience of first-generation immigrants, or the issue more widely. In case it's the latter, I would highly recommend Typical American by Gish Jen, which is about second-generation Chinese immigrants in the US (and which mercifully avoids most of the cod-mystical overtones that ruin so many books about Chinese-Americans), and Anita And Me by Meera Syal, the story of the daughter of Indian immigrants growing up in a small town in the north of England.

Also a couple of non-fiction recommendations - The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, which is a gripping and incredibly sensitive telling of the culture clash between the American medical system and the parents of a Hmong girl with severe epilepsy, and Heading South, Looking North by Ariel Dorfman, a memoir of a life of exile and upheaval. The author was born in Argentina to parents who were both originally from Eastern Europe, and who had to flee from Argentina to the US, and then from the US to Chile, for political reasons - and in his adult life, he had to leave Chile following the coup against Allende.

Local Hero Alert!!!

Meera Syal (see wandering star's comment above) is from Essington, a small mining village in the West Midlands (not the North! nor the South! we are very particular about this) just a mile from where I was born.

She is a talented writer and actor. She starred in the very popular series "Goodness Gracious Me" and "The Kumar's at No.42" the first comedies to feature entirely Indian casts on BBC TV. In the Kumar's, a spoof chat/family sitcom show, she plays the grandmother to Sanjeev, played by her husband Sanjeev Bhaskar!



Yes, I do believe that is Donnie Osmond hiding away on the left!

Ooh and can I reinforce Rachael's (flossieT) nudge for Small Island Andrea Levy's fabulous book. I love an ambiguous title - does it refer to Jamaica or the U.K.? Is there a hint of small-minded attitudes suggested?

Edited for fussy aesthetic reasons!

For nonfiction I would second the recommendation for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. I work with immigrants and Ms. Fadiman accurately describes their struggles.

If you're interested in Mexican and Central American immigration into the U.S. I would recommend Dying to Cross, Enrique's Journey, and Chavez Ravine:1949.

You can also check my library as I own quite a few books (fiction and nonfiction) about this subject.

Apart from Small Island that already has been mentioned I'd nudge White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

Thank you all so much and by all means please keep them coming. This is not a subject on which I will read one book, and then leave it; I will read all of the suggested works I have not read already. (And as I said in the intro, I have been reading in this area for a great many years, so some of the suggested works I am familiar with, (Brick Lane, Joy Luck Club, Angela's Ashes, Typical American, White Teeth but thanks for all.

And in response to #12, I would say first-generation immigrants I find most interesting, but am happy to expand to a wider perspective.

Again, many thanks.

Middlesex by Eugenides is a wonderful book but my favourite parts are to do with the family's migration from Greece. Absolutely fascinating.

You're quite right, Sloth. I thought of that book, and waffled about whether it really fit. Of course it does, and it's in my top five reads in recent memory. Nudge, nudge Middlesex.

# 11 Now I remember Eva Hoffman: she is also a pianist of some distinction. I read this article about her (hope the link still works). Music/language/immigration: should be ideal for you, polutropos!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/19/classicalmusicandopera.poland

tomcatMurr, what a lovely article! thank you.

Marvelous article, Murr. Thank you!

In addition to my first nudge above (Harbor), I want to add Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami as a second nudge. It gives us some background on some of the people crowded into a boat heading from Morocco to Spain. An excellent story.

What sort of immigration nudge do you want: an amusing nudge, a meaty nudge, a sludge, a nice fibrous nudge?

Oh Mary,

I am one greedy immigrant: I want ALL OF THEM.

LOL

>19 tomcatMurr:
Could I be naughty and plug the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/ and the Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/ as the sites of two quality UK newspapers providing good cultural coverage for those of liberal, left-wing sensibilities. If your politics are more conservative you might prefer to plump for the Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.

I wouldn't mind a few hints about which American or Australian newspapers provide quality coverage for liberal, left-wing aged-hippy types like myself!

I would like to nudge a book on immigration, (nonfiction), which deals with illegal immigration - The Uninvited: Refugees at the rich man's gate by Jeremy Harding. Although it was written in 2000 it is still relevant and is an uncomfortable read.

Dylanwolf, unfortunately Australian newspapers leave a lot to be desired for left-wing hippy types - probably the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald are our most enlightened newpapers. The Australian which is the national daily is very conservative in its reporting although it has one saving aspect. One of our leading leftwing intellectuals, Philip Adams, writes a regular column on political and social issues for that paper. One of the huge problems Australia has in terms of media ownership is that ownership is concentrated in the control of two or three corporations. But I won't hijack polutropos's thread with my thoughts on our newspapers!!

>26 mrspenny: Right you are, Patricia (mrspenny). I'll start a new thread!

polutropos,

As an aside, I saw an interesting exhibition at the Tate Modern that had an immigration angle. "The Irresistible Force" included a display of Brincos, shoes designed to assist in illegal border crossing from Mexico to the US - complete with built-in compass and printed-on map of the border area... The link is:

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/theirresistibleforce/

I'm going to nudge a book that examines the immigration/emigration theme from slightly different perspectives: from the perspectives of those left behind and from the perspective of a grandchild who must come to home utterly foreign to her - her mother's homeland. It is not about immigration/emigration per se, but I think it is one of most hearbreakingly beautiful books I've read: The Hero's Walk.

I'm going to recylce a urania nudge (call this a "rudge")...

The last book of poetry by Li-Young Lee focuses heavily on immigration. I picked it up yesterday, and will post somewhere around here as I have some more significant thoughts on it.

Wow! Significant thoughts. I thought such things had gone out of fashion. I can hardly wait :-)

I promise "more" significant, not significant.

More significant than what?

Than message 30 - I set myself low bars.

>13 dylanwolf: Totally irrelevant trivia to add to my local hero inconsequentia.
Sanjeev Bhaskar is currently starring as King Arthur in Spamalot in London's West End.

While researching African lit in the Reading Globally group, I saw that a couple of people mentioned Zenzele by Zimbabwean writer J. Nozipo Maraire. I haven't read it myself, but it sounds like it provides an interesting angle on immigration: it's written in the form of letters from a mother in Zimbabwe to her daughter who has moved to the United States to study at Harvard. Much of the book involves reminiscences by the mother about her youth in then-Rhodesia, the struggle for independence etc. Or so the online blurbs I've read lead me to believe...