Journal Entry # 2 and 3

Journal Entry # 2

I have read quite a lot of novels, some of which are marvelous, and some are ok, and a few are not worth mentioning at all. If I were to choose 2 authors, I would definitely choose Arthur Hailey and John Grisham. Since I can only choose one, I just tossed a coin and Grisham won. I have to give this man a lot of credits for making me read more and more of his books although law was not my cup of tea and still is not until today. Somehow Grisham has managed to make me understand more than just a few legal terms and got me interested enough to spend quite a lot of money to buy his books. He makes the legal jargons seem bearable to a lay person like me.

I also like the way he introduces his characters and the way he merges the plot together. The language which is used in his books (at least the ones which I have read) is not so offensive because I dislike books with too much offensive words. Most of them are unnecessary anyway.





Journal Entry # 3

I was never a reader during my secondary school years, especially reading materials in English. I contributed that habit or lack of it to my poor command of the language. However, I picked up the habit when I was studying in the US. I was impressed with the westerners who seemed to be reading endlessly, at the airport, at a bus station, in a fast food restaurant, at a bank (while waiting in line), and even under the trees around the campus. I guess my subconscious mind was succeeded in persuading me to start reading.

I read quite a bit of novels and magazines but nothing really stuck to my mind until I read a book titled “Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa” by Keith B. Richburg. The author is an African American journalist going on a tour to write a story on the African continent for the Washington Post. Before setting foot in the continent, he always dreamt of Africa being such a wonderful country where his ancestor came from, “like the adopted child imagines the birth parent”. His imagination encountered such a rude awakening. He witnessed so much suffering and senseless cruelty. When he finally got out of Africa three years later, he realized that black skin is not enough to bind him to Africa and that he is first and foremost a true American.

The great lesson which I learned from the book is that to always be grateful for what we have because the grass on the other side of the fence is not as green as it looks when you get to it.