Alice’s Comments (group member since Feb 02, 2017)

Alice’s comments from the Our Traveling Shelf group.

Sorry, I'm joining in a little late! With finals and some family emergencies, I had to put off reading for a little bit.

Anyways, this book was truly eye-opening! Immigration has been a topic that has dominated politics and the news for quite some time. Honestly, prior to reading this book, I didn't really comprehend how dangerous and risky the journey was. Of course, I knew that it wasn't easy but reading Sonia Nazario's well researched and well-written work gave me perspective and insight. I think with all of the attention and politics, immigrants were de-humanized. It just became an issue, something that had to be dealt with. But reading this book truly opened my eyes to realize that these are people, including many women and children, that make these treacherous journies just to have a shot at a better life. A life that probably you and I wouldn't even consider a "good" life. The pain and suffering of the journey is REAL and the sad part is that even after the journey, what seems like the hardest part at first, there are so many challenges. The psychological trauma is so damaging that so many children who make the journey fall into drugs or gangs. They even leave behind their own children and families back home. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

Both my parents are immigrants and as a first generation American, I realize the cultural and social differences that exist within the home. My parents came to America for a better life, a better opportunity. Enrique and his mother any many, many others journey to America for the same reasons. I honestly don't know what the solution could be but the way things right now don't seem right. It breaks my heart.

At first, the "journalist" type of flow was a bit annoying but I liked how Nazario tried to stay as neutral as possible. The book read smoothly and was presented in a way that read like a story but didn't feel like fiction. I, too, was really annoyed by Enrique's behavior in many parts of the story, but when I really tried to understand him (which I couldn't possibly understand a fraction of his experiences), I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and others like him. I can't imagine how it would feel to go through the experiences he went through. I can't help but feel thankful for the life I have now. I am definitely changed after reading this book.

This is awesome! Thanks Caro :)

Caro, I agree with you that a lot of the topics that he presented were bits and pieces of information that I think I already knew or were at least familiar with. In conclusion, I thought the book was very thought provoking and I think Pollan did a decent job at organizing the content. His narrative flowed alright and it wasn't too hard to follow along. However, I didn't find myself getting super submerged or losing track of time because I was interested like one gets when you find a "goodread" (Get it? Hahah).

From the get-go, I appreciated how he states, "food is also about pleasure, about community, about family and spirituality, about our relationship to the natural world, and about expressing our identity" (p. 8). I've definitely struggled with maintaining a healthy diet and losing weight. I feel like a lot of people resort to meal prepping, strict calorie counting, and meticulous macro, micro, carb and sugar etc. tracking. While all these methods may produce the results we want, I feel like it takes the pleasure, the joy, and community out of food. I'm not saying that people who do that are doing any wrong or that they cannot get enjoyment out of that because I've attempted all of the above (but without much success, to be honest). For me personally, I would much rather find a balanced, healthy diet that doesn't require me to stress out about every piece of food I put into my body.

That brings up the controversy of how much of the food in the "Western diet" is composed of artificial "nutrients" rather than actual food. As I live in a household that predominantly consumes Korean food, I think I can also relate how Pollan compares other cultures' traditional foods and the Western diet. At home, I eat many traditional Korean dishes that are pretty healthy and natural. When not home, it's much harder to make healthy choices when a lot of the foods are highly processed.

In summary, I think it was definitely an informative read that has helped not only supplement my current health goals but also shaped them. I see that he has written other similar books and I am certainly interested in reading them as well!