Naked by David Sedaris

This may be one of the few nonfiction books that I really enjoyed. It tells the story of young Sedaris, who suffers from OCD. To him, his life is miserable if he can't roll his eyes until they hurt. All his life he was laughed at about his tics, and his Dad always threatened him if he didn't try to stop. His Mom had a good laugh trying to act out his tics in front of his teachers. I was able to read up to the part where Sedaris goes to college, and must hide his tics from his roommate. Overall, this book is incredibly hilarious, but unfortunately, I was not able to delve deep enough to get much out of the book.

Nectar in a Sieve

This book is the story of Rukmani. She is an Indian girl growing in an upper-class family up during the early stages of British imperialism in India. During her early childhood, she always gloated about being married to wealthy upper-class men, just as her older sisters had. But by the time she came of age, her dreams were shattered. The British had taken control of the town, and since her father was the governor, he held no more power. Rukami was married to a poor farmer, Nathan, who lived miles away from her home. At first, Rukami was distraught about having left her home and her family. She was disgusted by the lack of food, and the small hut that they now called home. Nathan was so poor, that he could not even afford the land; he was only able to rent the land from the landowner. But when Rukami heard from the local gossips that her husband had built the hut by hand for her, she realized how much Nathan cared for her. Her life continues from this point, as she watches her own children grow up, face the hardships of famine and the hardships of losing a child, having to face the reality that her daughter had become a prostitute, and seeing her children leave her. Although her life is full of anguish and grief, Rukmani exemplifies a strong woman, braving all of the hurdles in her life, and lives a simple life with Nathan.
This book is similar to many other books in the fact that it tells the story of a person who must overcome unimaginable amounts of hardships, only to come out stronger. Rukami’s life is a turbulent one, and one that seems almost unrealistic. She faces difficulties, that in my opinion, no one should have to bear. Also, her transformation from an upper-class girl, to a lower-class woman is extraordinary. By the end of the book, she wants nothing more from life than to stay with Nathan and tend to her garden. Generally, the most annoying part of the book was that it became very monotonous. Only two or three times in the book was there something that made you want to keep reading. I liked that the book was generally historically accurate as well.
This book has a few connections to what we learned about British imperialism in India and from our Ancient India unit from last year. In this book, it is shown how local industries are demolished due to cheaper British goods. This led to people struggling to get money, so they had to work in the well paying factories in the area. Also, a strong Hindu and Muslim population lives in India, due to Akbar the Great’s rule. The polytheistic beliefs in Hinduism are clearly evident in this book.
All in all, it was a very satisfying read.