Thought for the day

Just a little reminder to make the most of each day and be the best person you can be:

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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

Nelson Mandela

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a fantastic read - it should be compulsory reading for all people living in countries where they still pay for hired help to help them in bringing up their children and keeping their houses clean.


'Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell...'


I highly recommend this book - I couldn't put it down. The way it was written using the voices of the individual characters, the beauty she has been able to describe in situations that made me feel uncomfortable and the suspense towards the end of the book that made me so tense and nervous - I loved it all. I especially connected with the characters of Minny and Aibileen - Kathryn Stockett describes them so vividly that I have a perfect image of who they would be in my mind and they are tough, beautiful women who will stay with me for a long time.


As a child growing up in South Africa, I am vaguely aware of being looked after by 'nannies' as a small child. I don't remember much of these relationships - either good or bad - and now wish I'd paid more attention to those lovely ladies who were leaving their own families back in the townships or country to look after us for what would not have been much money (I am assuming a lot as I've never discussed these women with my mother and wonder whether she knew much about their personal lives either - should find out I guess!).


This book would make a great book club selection - there are so many issues in this book to discuss and I wonder how we would all go living in that environment. 


There is one part of the book that resonated with me ( and also I note in the back of the book, with the author herself) and that was for people to come to the realisation that "We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought". 

The Book of Salt

The Book of Salt is the first novel-length work by Monique Truong. It has a fascinating concept and I'm daunted by the fact that she is the same age as me and has written such a beautiful debut novel.


"[He] came to us through an advertisement that I had in desperation put in the newspaper. It began captivatingly for those days: 'Two American ladies wish...'" It was these lines in "The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook" that inspired "The Book of Salt", a brilliant first novel by a talented young Vietnamese American writer about the taste of exile.


We know from history that Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas whilst they were living in Paris during the late '20s/early '30s had at different points two chefs from "Indochine". Nothing more is known. Truong picks up that point of unknown and spins it into a novel about love, identity, home and food. It is such a different book - extremely visual and sensual. The descriptions of cooking and eating are as visceral as the descriptions of the books' lovers.


It is a very slow moving novel with Binh (the vietnamese cook) recollecting his past in Vietnam, his present day loves in Paris and his constant discussions with his deceased father. My only complaint about The Book of Salt is that I thought it was less successful at investing Binh with enough of a character to really give the book depth. We read a lot about his thoughts about other characters and events but I never got a real feel for Binh himself. Nonetheless it was a lovely journey Although this book was not a great page turner for me, it was a lovely journey and I'm glad I read it (thanks to Kate B).


(The book is not to be confused with the Angelina Jolie movie 'Salt' as one of my friends did!)