Corridor: a graphic novel, by Sarnath Banerjee. 6.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

You need the soul of Chengiz Khan to survive a June afternoon in Delhi.

The streets are empty save a few hard-core urban warriors.

I am hunting for a book… Life seems to depend on it.

In this graphic novel in which precisely observed sketches of city scenes mix with indie-style caricatures and the occasional (often hilarious) bit of colored clip-art, a set of hapless intellectuals, one-theory-to-explain-everything fanatics, and vaguely alienated young people wander through Delhi, searching for used books, a cooler persona, true love, enlightenment, sexual potency, and a cup of tea.

There’s very little plot – it’s basically Slacker: Delhi - but I didn’t miss it, I was so charmed by the meticulous detail of the setting, Banerjee’s hipster sense of humor, and all the shout-outs to places and things I recall from my childhood: Phantom (The Ghost Who Walks) comics, used bookshops selling beat-up Perry Mason mysteries, mutton biriyani, Connaught Place, hippies (That morning Angrez Bosch arrived from Rishikesh, armed with advanced knowledge of energy pyramids), the call to prayer broadcast on loudspeakers, outdoor tooth-pullers, mango shakes: every page held a new hit of familiarity.

Corridor: A Graphic Novel

7/50: Flygirl, Sherri L. Smith

[livii.livejournal.com]

Wonderful, already well-reviewed (which led me to it, which I'm grateful for!) YA about a young black girl who joins the WASP during WWII by passing for white, all to make her dreams of flying come true. I'm a huge nerd for aviation history and in particular the history of women in aviation and women in aviation during WWII, so this was a real treat for me. I thought the author did a great job with the bits with aeroplanes and accurately described the tension of being a woman pilot during that era, and added even more by having it also be about race, and passing, and the intersectionality of race and sex. Ida Mae is a well-realized character, but in particular her family and friends come off even better, very real, even those who briefly pass through - they never feel like stock characters or bit part players.

I did have a few issues with the writing at times - I know it's YA, but it felt a little simplistic in parts, a little dumbed-down and repetitive which I don't think YA needs to be - and there were a few editing errors, but otherwise it was very entertaining, and more than a little heart-breaking in parts (as elsewhere noted, Ida Mae's mother's visit to Sweetwater is very emotional). A very worthwhile read, recommended.

22: Ethical Ambition by Derrick Bell

[puritybrown.livejournal.com]

22: Ethical Ambition by Derrick Bell

Derrick Bell has been a professor of law at Harvard (among other universities) and before that was a civil rights lawyer for many years; he has a lot of experience of trying to live a life that is good both in the sense of being satisfying and in the sense of being ethical. Ethical Ambition is his attempt to distill that experience for the sake of readers, especially young people, who wish to succeed in their careers, but also to live an ethical life, a life of doing good.

It's taken me several months to read it (in between reading other books) and not because it's long -- it's less than 200 pages long -- or because it's particularly hard to read. (Bell's style is sometimes a bit overly formal, perhaps because of his legal background, but it's never unclear.) Rather, it's because it's chewy, and every paragraph gives me something to think about. A lot of the things he says are quite straightforward and unmysterious -- that honesty pays off, that taking risks makes you feel more alive as well as often being the right thing to do, that you have a responsibility to the people you have close relationships with as well as the people you're trying to help -- but getting these messages in such a concentrated dose is unusual.

Bell maintains that "an ethical life is not a life of sacrifice. It is, in fact, a life of riches"; of course, that doesn't necessarily mean monetary riches, but despite repeatedly taking firm and public stands against a lack of hiring diversity in the institutions he worked in, Bell himself is doing pretty well, and he's not the only one. The gist of the book, overall, is that doing the right thing doesn't have to mean starving in the gutter clothed only in your sense of self-righteousness; it can mean succeeding in your chosen field on your own terms and without having to compromise your moral standards. There's a lot of food for thought here.