Ron Suskind's A Hope in the Unseen
This is FSU's freshman reading book (the first one FSU has ever had) and the next book in the library's discussion series. I really struggled to get through it, especially the first part. It's not that the story--a young black boy from inner-city DC fights to get into an Ivy League school--isn't compelling, it's that the narrative style (journalistic omniscience?) was extremely annoying. It kept taking me out of the story--like how does this random white dude writer know what this kid is thinking? It really made me nuts. I hate non-fiction. C.
Funny you should mention A Hope in the Unseen. It just crossed my mind this week after a couple of year's absence.
ReplyDeleteI went to Brown and heard lots about the book via various alumniland buzz. Bought the book. Found it very annoying, as you did, perhaps for many of the same reasons.
If I recall correctly, Suskind's Pulitzer prize was for the Washington Post articles he wrote about Cedric Jennings (the Hope book's subject) before he got to Brown. I'm not saying Suskind should have quit while he was ahead. Rather, I wish he'd written a better followup.
BTW: I'm guessing that's Florida State University and not Fayetteville State University? (Fayetteville State is one of the UNC system's HBCUs (i.e., historically black colleges and universities)). If I were a Fayetteville State student reading about Cedric Jenning at Brown, I'd wonder, "why the hell is my school asking me to read THIS?" Actually, I might think the same thing if I went to Florida State.
By the by, I still haven't read the summer reading book assigned before I matriculated at the NC School of Science and Math. The book was "The Immense Journey", by Loren Eisely. I don't know when I've heard as much concentrated b.s. as I did when everyone "discussed" the book at the beginning of the '83-'84 school year :-)
All praise to any schoolmasters who assign a summer reading book that's actually interesting to read. When will the rest realize that students will get so much more from a good discussion (led by a good teacher) about an OK book that people read, instead of from an empty discussion about a (presumably) substantial book that no one's read?
I totally agree. I think the schools that go for, like, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are bound to have better results than the schools that assign more "inspirational" fare (i.e., this book, or the one UNC did a couple years ago, Blood Done Sign My Name, which I also couldn't get through, though for different reasons). I mean, if the goal is to foster discussion, people need to actually read the book. I just don't see that happening here . . . FSU is pretty diverse from what I can tell, and I think the students here won't really respond to this book (I can just imagine the sneers at this white dude pretending he understands Cedric's experience--I mean, I was sneering myself).
ReplyDeleteOur book discussion group meets this week--i already know that my co-leader loved it, so I'm curious to hear the other responses.