"The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K. Lee

"The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K.Lee.The novel opens with a description of Hong Kong:dirty with people everywhere: businessmen from all parts of world, Indians, British and Philippinos, Pakistanis with Pakistani rug stores and lastly, the Chinese.

Lee describes the British and the Chinese their ability easily mingle with one another.  And how the fish mongers butcher their fish in an unsanitzed manner, how feculence can be smelled and found in the alley ways of the tallest, high rise buildings.

The plot engages readers in the tell tale story of young newly wed by the name of Clair and her exposure to a brand new culture in Hong Kong.  Clair, the piano teacher would come to teach Locket, a young Chinese girl how to play the piano.  Clair is initially baffled by the prospect that a Chinese, upper class, family in Hong Kong would be well known in the community.  She's surprised that the the family speaks immaculate English and at the parents interest in pushing their daughter, like an animal, to learn the piano.

When Clair asked the mother about whether Locket, the daughter, will be attending school in America, the Chinese mother simply retorts "I don't want to talk about Locket's education, I want to talk about yours." 

 When Clair becomes infatuated with the family's riches, she decides to take some for her own:stealing a trinket and scarf without being caught by anyone.  Unfortunately, the family servant gets fired for stealing the items instead.  Clair is once again baffled by the Chinese traits in the home, as the young pianist she teaches seems unruffled at the dispearance of the servant, exclaiming that her mother had always  taught her that "all servants steal".

This incident would stick with Clair, putting her on edge in the family's home. Clair would come to have an affair in the novel, masking her obvious unfamiliarity in China with a new sudden interest.

Lee's generalizations of Americans and their over confident zeal, in this novel ,is obvious.  But what is even more stunning is how Lee depicts the character of Clair.  How could Clair be so unconscious of up-and-coming Chinese super power?

"Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson

"Three Cups of Tea" (Nonfiction) by Greg Mortenson. I enjoyed this book of nonfiction and intricate details of how the author, Greg Mortenson, describes his transition from working the night shift in a burn unit hospital to wanting to make a career change, and a change in his overall perspective of life. 


This man's need to help people led him to sleep in his car to save on rent so he could later use that money for supplies in the construction of school across the world in Pakistan.  This American man would make trips to Pakistan in the course of his career.  But his initial visit brought him to terms with the fact that he was privileged in his life in America.  That unlike many of the people he came in contact with his new job, back home, he did have safety and security.   


 After he spent many months in Pakistan he realized that he had the most interest in the actual construction of buildings and he narrowed his outlet to the building of schools for girls.  The amount of school for girls is strikingly low considering that girls are not encouraged to pursue an education, and instead encouraged to work in the home.

 Mortenson learns first that the completion of the schools wasn't a piece of cake even with an exorbitant amount of money, because of the fact that there were just too few roads that led into the mountainous regions of Pakistan.  He also realized that he'd have to build a bridge, first and foremost to get supplies over.  Once the first bridge was up and the first school, Mortenson would have to convince many Americans to help fund the making of even more schools, and he is still working his dream till this day.

"The Year of Pleasures" by Elizabeth Berg

   

"The Year of Pleasures" by Elizabeth Berg

 I distinctly remember reading the "The Year of Pleasures", by Elizabeth Berg when I was traveling from a large city to a very small town. 

In this novel Betta Nolan is left a widow after her husband's long battle with liver cancer, she is forced to rediscover herself as an individual, although for two decades she has shared interested with her now deceased husband, and she must rediscover all new interests.  

How does one recreate a new life, when they hammered out a life of routines with someone in the existence of marriage?  The writer, Berg, shows readers the year of pleasures by displaying an arrangement of pleasures that anyone can relate to so as readers can commemorate on their own pleasures and what makes them individual.

The character of  Betta Nolan begins her new life with the start of a cup of coffee everyday.  This transitions into a friendly greeting with her neighbors and then the upkeep of her new home.  She enlists the help of the neighbors as contractors and painters. She ends her days with the invitation of guests to a homely-made dinner.  

I am a romantic, in that ,I loved how the husband (before he died) created a treasure trove of small discoveries for his wife to find even after his death: a small array of trinkets she had collected from garage sales they had previously visited together.  Attached to these trinkets are small messages for the wife to open and discover one after another so that she would never feel completely alone after his death, making the mourning process slightly easier.