Amanda Suriya Ariffin explores some literary offerings on personal freedom
THERE are many good fiction and non-fiction books that chronicle the journey to liberation.We select several that have resonated with readers. Many have made it to the silver screen. Whether it is a tale of escape from the tyranny of familial abuse, liberation from one’s personal prison of misery and hopelessness, or freedom from the shackles of customs, these books capture the theme vividly.
Eat, Pray, Love
Author: Melissa Gilbert
Publisher: Penguin
352 pages
Gilbert pulls off the astonishing feat of not only having her 2006 memoir, a surprise hit, read like a delicious novel — it spent close to 200 weeks on bestseller lists — but she has left an indelible mark on the consciousness of women who sometimes just need to be reminded to get out of their own way.
Her extraordinary journey across three continents and an encounter with love is an ode to finding yourself, finding fulfilment on your own terms, finding happiness in new, challenging circumstances and — most importantly — liberating your mind from the shackles of your personal misery.
She finds if she stops trying to exert control all the time and lets life sort-of happen to her, it can be more wondrous than trying to control every outcome.
More than that, she finally allows herself the freedom to love again. Gilbert, in her infinitely I-could-be-your-friend voice, manages to make freedom seem like an attractive form of female empowerment. She does not sugar-coat her experiences and this is what makes the read so relatable and so very worthwhile.
The Secret Life of Bees
Author: Sue Monk-Kidd
Publisher: Viking Penguin
318 pages
Set in 1964 in South Carolina, the story of 14-year-old Lily Owens’ journey to a new family is heart-warming, at times harrowing, but powerful and memorable. Fleeing the clutches of a tyrannical father whom she believed killed her mother, Lily takes one courageous step after another, even risking communal contempt, and eventually flees.
She finds herself in the home of three sisters — August, May and June — who are at turns eccentric, inscrutable and mired in their own grief. The story reminds readers that families do not have to be biologically related to fit the definition. The irony lies in the fact that Lily frees herself from the clutches of a family she was born into which she does not want and is accepted into a family she never envisioned she would have. That is the magic of this story and the narrative told through Lily’s voice is simple yet stirring.
A classic tale that reminds us that taking a risk sometimes brings rich rewards that can right so many wrongs.
The Help
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Penguin
464 pages
This is more than just a chronicle of the trials and tribulations of the African-American maids working in white Southern homes in 1960s Mississippi. (The film, by the way, does not convey some of the deeper sub-plots or secondary storylines such as that of Constantine and her daughter Lulabelle.)
Stockett’s debut novel teaches us about oppression of the mob kind, where in this case the mob is a band of intolerant and spoilt housewives. The storyline is simple but the message is powerful. Through Skeeter’s decision to uncover the mystery behind a personal sadness (the departure of her beloved Constantine, the hired help in her family home), she unwittingly finds herself on a mission to chronicle the lives of the servants who are treated as second-class citizens because of prejudice.
The book is a triumph of personal liberation from crippling misplaced morality and from cruelty — in this case, Skeeter’s courage in breaking social taboos and Aibileen’s liberation from her grief through her immersion in the writing project. The book gives a powerful voice to the downtrodden who find the shackles of judgment and discrimination no longer binding them to a bleak future.
Under The Tuscan Sun
Author: Frances Mayes
Publisher: Random House
304 pages
More than just an essay that manages to combine evocative travel writing and a personal statement on taking on ambitious projects when you feel out of your depth, this book chronicles a woman’s journey from (in her mind) being a hapless person to independent woman who has broadened her horizons. Poetic and illuminating in parts, the magic also happens when Mayes juxtaposes the minutiae of daily life with asking the big questions and pulls off this composition deftly.
Mayes frees herself from mediocrity and mundanity by, ironically, tackling something as ordinary as creating her own haven from a pile of rubble.
Forever Lat
OF all Malaysian cartoonists, arguably none have left a deeper mark on readers than Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid, better known as “Lat”. Many are familiar with accounts of his formative years, travels and travails, as well as his succinct graphic commentary on local and world affairs, for which he has won much praise and accolade. He captures accurate details of what he sees, and how he conveys the sensitivity and insight of his observations.
MPH Group Publishing is now publishing Lat’s works. His latest compilation, Forever Lat, which features works published in local news dailies, as well as some unpublished and also new work, will be launched by Tan Sri Datuk Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the governor of Bank Negara Malaysia at the newly opened MPH Bookstore, Nu Sentral Shopping Centre on Aug 29.
This will be his latest compilation, after Lat: The Early Series published in 2009.
In addition, MPH is also issuing reprints of Datuk Lat’s evergreen titles Kampung Boy, Town Boy and Kampung Boy: Yesterday and Today, which will be released together with Forever Lat.
Get re-acquainted with the story of a village boy growing up in rural Perak, and his subsequent migration to an urban setting during his teens. The protagonist’s hijinks and scenes from a seemingly distant era are bound to strike a chord with all Malaysians.
Smile, laugh or shed a tear as you follow the incidents related and realise that some things — for better or worse — never change.
Other recommended reads:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Room by Emma Donoghue