The Foreign Student: A Novel Review

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The Foreign Student: A Novel ReviewI usually dislike reading KA fiction because it gets irritating when authors write about Korea but describe the country with skewed, distorted myths about it's culture and history and auto-Orientalist themes that cater to the mainstream.
Not so with this novel. I found myself completely lost in the story, not even caring about the "authenticity" issue because Choi does what all great writers do: she re-imagines and re-creates a palpable "real" universe that stops time. The fictional world transcends almost everything else I've read by Korean Americans, making you believe the characters, the location, the feelings. In short, it is a beautifully written novel and my personal favorite of all the Asian American novels I've read.
That having been said, I am happy to attest that Choi does indeed write about the truth of the Korean War that goes against the conventional American myths about this unknown conflict. Choi does not hesitate to go into little known aspects of the war such as S. Korean President Syngman Rhee's execution of political prisoners and the Cheju/Yosu rebellions which took 100,000 lives even before the Korean War erupted in June 1950. Moreover, Choi depicts the Orientalist, racist experiences for Chang, a foreigner in America's South, and subtly links it to America's damaging foreign policies that warped Korea. She even resurrects a devastatingly convincing portrait of Gen. Hodge, the commander of the US military government in S. Korea--you can practically hear him breathing and speaking. This novel is startling in its audacity to depict America's occluded responsibility for the war that probably even challenges what most Koreans over 50 believe. As a former fact-checker for the New Yorker magazine, I suspect that she used her skills to do meticulous research into the origins of the Korean War. Having lived in Korea (and in Chicago, where her description of Clark and Belmont is right on) I am surpised by her accuracy and the "truth" of her details. I've read an article where Choi downplays the "authenticity" issue of her novel, and emphasizes that it is fiction. She's right, of course, but I am simply delighted that she has rendered a beautiful story that will not only impress the common reader, but satisfy those familiar with Korean history. Her research only heightens the pleasure of reading this gem of a novel.The Foreign Student: A Novel Overview

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Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) Review

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Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) ReviewThis book presents Hamlet as Shakespeare's Everest, and Corum is your experienced serpa. I used this book to teach Hamlet to 9th graders and to expand my personal understanding of the play. The peak of the play is a crucial plea against tortured youth turing to violence; Corum's work is essential for your journey.Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) OverviewShakespeare's Hamlet, regarded by many as "the world's most famous play by the world's most famous writer," is one of the most complex, demanding, discussed, and influential literary texts in English. As a means of access to this play, this unique collection of primary materials and commentary will help student and teacher explore historical, literary, theatrical, social, and cultural issues related to the play. In an approach unique for this series, Corum guides the reader through a literary analysis of Hamlet's options. He examines the popular theatres of the day in which Shakespeare and his company first produced Hamlet and discusses the genre of tragedy in which it is written. Through judicious selection of primary historical documents, the work provides contexts for understanding Hamlet's melancholy, the ghost of Hamlet's father, the theme of revenge, and Hamlet's feigned madness. Chapters on Gertrude and Ophelia illuminate these characters in the context of the play and early modern English culture. Each chapter contains a variety of materials, many of which are not readily available elsewhere: essays, poems, histories, treatises, official documents, stories, religious tracts, homilies, memoirs, engravings, village records, and fifteen illustrations. An explanatory introduction precedes each document. Each chapter concludes with study questions, topics for written and oral exploration, and a list of suggested readings. This casebook will enrich the reader's understanding of the play and the context in which it was written.

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Airlift to America: How Barack Obama, Sr., John F. Kennedy, Tom Mboya, and 800 East African Students Changed Their World and Ours Review

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Airlift to America: How Barack Obama, Sr., John F. Kennedy, Tom Mboya, and 800 East African Students Changed Their World and Ours ReviewOne of the legacies of W W II was acceleration of the disintegration of colonialism in Africa and Asia. Colonialism, of course, did not end overnight, and it took longer to collapse in some countries than in others. The book AIRLIFT TO AMERICA looks, generally, at the end of colonialism in eastern Africa and, specifically, at an interesting and little known "crusade" or initiative whose main purpose was to prepare a country emerging from British rule to independence by providing higher education for its future leaders. The country was Kenya.
The crusade referred to in the previous paragraph was the so-called African "Airlift" to the USA. Beginning in 1959 and continuing for the next several years, and supported by people from both Africa (Tom Mboya) and the US (Harry Belafonte, Jackie Robinson, Bill Scheinman), approximately eight hundred east African students flew to the US to continue their education at a wide variety of colleges and universities all over the country, from community colleges to Ivy League schools.
Most of these students earned undergraduate and/or graduate degrees and returned to their African homes to take up positions in government, education, agriculture, and business, as their country prepared and attained self-rule (granted to Kenya in 1963). Some chose to stay in the US.
The airlift venture inevitably became connected to and involved in both the international cold war (the Soviets were also recruiting African students to come to schools in Moscow) and domestic US politics (the presidential election of 1960). These connections are discussed by the author in some detail. He also supplies profiles of numerous airliftees, i.e. the individual students, and their experiences.
One of these students happened to be named Barrack Hussein Obama, who left his native Kenya (and wife there) to study at the University of Hawaii (Hawaii's climate, he'd apparently heard, might be more to his liking than Maryland's or northern California's) and later earn a master's degree in Economics at Harvard and work toward a doctorate in that subject. As with most of the airliftees, Obama returned to his country where he worked in business and government. But while in Hawaii, he was married for a short period of time to a university student by the name of Ann Dunham, and this union produced a future president of the US.
Although Barrack Obama Sr. and John F. Kennedy are featured in the book's subtitle, there really is not much on either of them here. Readers would probably like to have seen a bit more. I'd also like to have read more specifics on the discrimination the students had to put up with in the US because of the color of their skin. Too, the book seems somewhat hastily put together in that there are a lot of gaps and "jumping arounds". (Perhaps a historian might take up this topic?) Still, in spite of minor imperfections, the book opened up a topic that I knew nothing about, for which I thank Tom Shachtman. And, in the end, how can one not fail to be moved or inspired by a cause as noble as this, in most repects at least, appears to have been.
Recommended.
Tim Koerner December 2009Airlift to America: How Barack Obama, Sr., John F. Kennedy, Tom Mboya, and 800 East African Students Changed Their World and Ours Overview

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Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) Review

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Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) ReviewI did not use this book in the manner intended, i.e., as a textbook for literary studies, but I found it very valuable for my own personal instruction. Unlike Cliff Notes and some other literary studies, it focuses on understanding the context of the novel, not in-depth exploration of its themes, writing style, etc. I learned things that I had not known from the previous twenty or so books that I had read on the era and on Jane Austen. Given the debates over JA's "failure" to discuss contemporary politics, it was quite interesting to read that literature was heavily censored at athe time, and she would not have been able to comment freely, even if she had wanted to. The book's intended audience of young adults has resulted in its being clearly, but not simplistically written.
The book should be very helpful for anyone intending to do serious research on the issues that are covered (see table of contents). There is an at least one-page bibliography on every topic covered, which should provide a jump-start into the literature.
Teachman begins with a brief but excellent literary analysis of Pride & Prejudice. I particularly enjoyed her comments on Mr. Bennet. Although JA delineated his failings as a parent, I think that readers (and perhaps his creator) tend to be so taken with his wit and charm as to gloss over them. If Mrs. Bennet wasn't naturally fretful, living with such an unsupportive, indeed quietly hostile spouse, facing widowhood on her dowry with no provision for her five daughters would fray stronger nerves than hers.
The main body of the book is composed of excerpts from various writings contemporary with Jane Austen. Teachman first gives a general overview of the subject of the chapter, then an introduction to each author, followed by the excerpts of their writing. There is a brief summation at the end of the chapter. These are fascinating as first hand experiences of both thought and writing style. There are a few that I would like to read in full. The chapter includes a list of suggested questions and projects. I hated these things as a student, and as an adult, I enjoyed skipping them.
The last chapter "Pride & Prejudice: Issues in the 1980s & 1990s" considers our continued fascination with Jane Austen's work and the issues that are still current today. I was very impressed with this chapter. Teachman was able to calmly and nonjudgementally discuss marriage, romance, sex and celibacy, subjects that are so emotional fraught that most people cannot mention them without ranting.
The book includes both a detailed table of contents and index for ease of access. There are three illustrations: one from an illustrated edition of P&P, one of a portrait of Jane Austen based on CAssandra's drawing, and a picture of Chawton Cottage.
I will certainly look for Teachman's general companion to Jane Austen and keep this series in mind for other favorite works.
Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) Overview

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Understanding The Scarlet Letter: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) Review

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Understanding The Scarlet Letter: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) ReviewThis book is one of the most fascinating books for studying the Scarlet Letter. I had to write my college research paper on the Scarlet Letter and I went to several libraries collecting books for this paper. All of these books had journal articles that pertained to my subject, but I soon realized that ALL I NEEDED WAS THIS ONE BOOK TO COMPLETE MY PAPER. This book not only discusses the themes in the book but it gives complete background knowledge on the puritans, analysis of characters, plot information, and articles that relate puritanist views to modern day events. I love this book and highly recommend it for people studying the Scarlet Letter.Understanding The Scarlet Letter: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series) OverviewSexual misconduct of society's leaders, the plight of single mothers, the separation of church and state -- all are burning issues of the 1990s which sparked outrage and controversy 150 years earlier in The Scarlet Letter. Now, no study of American history is complete without thorough examination of Nathaniel Hawthorne's timeless masterpiece. This multidisciplinary study of the novel contains historical documents, collateral readings, and commentary. In short, it is the ideal companion for students who wish to fully understand the novel in the context of its time, and to unlock its current relevance. Among the materials are original 17th-century documents that illuminate Puritan attitudes and bring the Salem witchcraft trials to life, private journals, historical reports, 19th-century magazine articles, sketches, and newspaper stories. Many of the documents are available in no other printed form. Not only do these materials provide a taste of 17th-century Puritan culture, but they also glimpse into Hawthorne's mind as he comes to terms with his witch-hunting ancestors and his vocation. Most importantly, this casebook contemplates the many issues raised by The Scarlet Letter which inextricably link the 17th-century Puritans to the 19th century culture of Hawthorne to the present. Each section of this casebook contains study questions, topic ideas for written or oral expression, and lists of further readings for examining the issues raised by the novel. Designed as a resource for students, teachers, and library media specialists, the volume is cloth bound and printed on high quality acid-free paper, making it an excellent addition to every library collection. A literary analysis focusing on the issues raised by the novel opens the casebook. In Part Two, the Puritan's code of crime and punishment and the basic tenets of their belief are analyzed through original 17th-century diaries, letters, and testimony from the Salem witch trials. Part Three examines the novel's introductory essay, the autobiographical "The Custom House," which finds Hawthorne grappling with the role his ancestors played in persecuting the Quakers and the Salem witches, as well as his own internal conflict over his vocation as a fiction writer. The moral attitudes at the time of Hawthorne's controversial work are also examined through reviews published at the time of publication. Part Four draws connections between two issues raised by the novel - the unwed mother and the lapsed minister - that remain controversial today and features recent news articles on these issues. A glossary of terms and a topic and person index complete this latest addition to Greenwood Press' "Literature in Context" series.

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