From Ships to Revolutions: Book Reviews
but can be picked up and opened anywhere, which I found to be highly symbolic of the religion itself. Hinduism, which comes across more as a culture than a religion, can be easily understood through this book, which explains everything from Krishna to yoga to Diwali to karma in a simple and straight forward manner. The amount of information which is packed into 321 pages is a testament to the writer's ability for simplicity. Does the conversation between father and son come across as a real life conversation? No, but that is not the point. What can be seen as a confusing religion to outsiders, full of gods and rituals, is brought to a level anyone can understand. Are you a Hindu? Read this book and you may be surprised at your answer.
The Girl in the White Ship by Peter Townsend. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1981. I first read this book as a teenager and closed it with an overwhelming feeling that as bad as I thought my problems were, they were nothing compared to those of Tran Hue Hue. As one of the millions of "boat people" to flee Vietnam, Hue Hue's story could have been lost among so many tragedies and triumphs. Her story is both. Separated from her family as they attempt to flee the country, Hue Hue and her brother Trung board an ill-fated ship. Shipwrecked on a coral reef for months, they watch as one by one their fellow passengers die of starvation and disease, until at last, Hue Hue's beloved brother leaves her as well. It is a miracle that this fourteen year old girl is the only survivor of the doomed expedition. It is an inspiration to read how she does it, and moving to discover how she is eventually reunited with her family in Australia. This book is so much more than a sensational account, which is how the story first hit the worldwide press in 1979. That it reached out and profoundly affected the life of one American teenager, far beyond the realm of sentimentality, should say something.
Asian Americans: Oral Histories of First to Fourth Generation Americans from China, the Philippines, Japan, India, the Pacific Islands, Vietnam and Cambodia. by Joann Faung Jean Lee. The New Press, New York, 1992. I bought this book to help me discover my roots and finished the last page knowing both less and more. These oral histories
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