Ok, so I have another book to add to my list of "Why do I torture myself?" books. I've been reading
The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyle for a week or two now because a group of Midway people (some teachers, some moms, etc.) do a book club and I thought it would be fun, and this was the book they chose. It's also the
One Read for Columbia through the Daniel Boone Library. Anyway, so I bought it, and I've been reading it. It's confronting the issue of illegal immigration, which pretty much has everyone in an uproar right now (although, what doesn't have people in an uproar, it's 2 weeks before Election Day). It follows two couples, one upper class white couple with everything they could want and one illegal Mexican couple with nothing, camping in a canyon trying to save up enough money for an apartment. Anyway, I read it, and from about the moment I started it, I knew it was going to be just like the John Steinbeck books I get sucked into and then wonder why I even bother, since I mostly want to throw myself off the nearest cliff once I'm done with them. And this was about the same as reading
The Pearl, the poor couple get bad break after bad break, are constantly on the brink of being killed, deported, or something of that nature. The only difference is the white couple also has major issues... so there's really no happy ending at all. Every time something good happens, and life is looking up, especially for the Mexican couple, they get robbed, hit by a car, raped, or run out of their "house" (and I use that term loosely) by a forest fire. Seriously, as soon as something good happens, something even worse happens: someone gives them a free turkey on Thanksgiving, and they start a forest fire that nearly kills them (and a lot of other people) while trying to cook it. It gets a little redundant. The book itself is good, the writing is excellent, I feel for the characters, and understand the pertinence and reality of the situation, but I am reminded (again) of my reasons for sticking to kids books. At least it will make interesting discussion at the book club meeting, I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks!
Ok, so I have another book to add to my list of "Why do I torture myself?" books. I've been reading The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyle for a week or two now because a group of Midway people (some teachers, some moms, etc.) do a book club and I thought it would be fun, and this was the book they chose. It's also the One Read for Columbia through the Daniel Boone Library. Anyway, so I bought it, and I've been reading it. It's confronting the issue of illegal immigration, which pretty much has everyone in an uproar right now (although, what doesn't have people in an uproar, it's 2 weeks before Election Day). It follows two couples, one upper class white couple with everything they could want and one illegal Mexican couple with nothing, camping in a canyon trying to save up enough money for an apartment. Anyway, I read it, and from about the moment I started it, I knew it was going to be just like the John Steinbeck books I get sucked into and then wonder why I even bother, since I mostly want to throw myself off the nearest cliff once I'm done with them. And this was about the same as reading The Pearl, the poor couple get bad break after bad break, are constantly on the brink of being killed, deported, or something of that nature. The only difference is the white couple also has major issues... so there's really no happy ending at all. Every time something good happens, and life is looking up, especially for the Mexican couple, they get robbed, hit by a car, raped, or run out of their "house" (and I use that term loosely) by a forest fire. Seriously, as soon as something good happens, something even worse happens: someone gives them a free turkey on Thanksgiving, and they start a forest fire that nearly kills them (and a lot of other people) while trying to cook it. It gets a little redundant. The book itself is good, the writing is excellent, I feel for the characters, and understand the pertinence and reality of the situation, but I am reminded (again) of my reasons for sticking to kids books. At least it will make interesting discussion at the book club meeting, I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks! 
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