I just want to highlight two books that I read a couple of months ago that I think are worth reading.
The first is: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I read a review of the book last fall that intrigued me and I couldn't resist. The story is first of all, interesting and true but more intruiging than the story itself is the ethical questions the story raises. One woman, Henrietta Lacks, made one of the biggest contributions to medical science known today without either her or her family's knowledge. And while her family's life has been hardscrabble, the effect of Henrietta's contribution has been enormous on lives around the world. The question the book ultimately raises is: Are our cells our own once they have been removed surgically from our bodies? I don't know about you, but this is one question that I have never ever asked myself. And frankly, I probably won't ever, because I am fortunate enough to have great health insurance. But, for the Lacks', the question of not benefitting from their mother's inadvertant contribution has been a constant source of pain for them. While medical science has advanced due to the use Henrietta's harvested cells, her family has languished without consistent medical care. The book doesn't answer difficult questions so much as pose them while telling a pretty fascinating story about a family who have certainly been on the short end of the stick.
Secondly, a friend sent me a book for my birthday called Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman. This is also non-fiction and was another book I couldn't put down. The title pretty much sums up the story. Again, this book raises more questions than it answers. It would be an awesome read for a book club; you could talk about it all night. The author is a white, upper middle class girl with a good education and loving family. Piper, in her young and less discerning days, made some pretty bad decisions about drug trafficking. Woah, that sounds more horrible than it really was. But, in some ways, her actions, were horrible. She reflects on how her actions not only got her into prison but how her choices trickled into greater society and contributed to the downfall of some of her fellow inmates. On the other hand, the Kerman's story also raises a huge question about the efficacy of our prison system. While telling about her survival in jail, she brings attention to a system that in many ways seems broken. Both prisoners and prison administrators are stuck, and inadvertently become their own worst enemy. I certainly don't know how to fix a problem so large as repeat offenders, abuses of power by administration, and the inhumanity overall of the entire prison system. But, there are absolutely questions we need to be asking, and really need to try to determine some kind of solutions. Those are the larger questions that the book raises, but on a personal level, Piper's story is a true one of regret, and one that challenges the notion that our youth is meant to be spent making stupid mistakes. Some mistakes are just not worth it. I don't know if Piper Kerman knows what she should have done differently, or what might have given her a better ability to make good decisions as a student fresh out of college, but it certainly was a reminder that no matter our age, we are responsible to make the right decision, or it just might catch up with us in an awful way.
Now I am searching for some more good books to read. Any ideas?
