Finding Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study from Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary (PKWS), Koh Kong Province, Kingdom of Cambodia

#422
Title: Finding Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study from Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary (PKWS), Koh Kong Province, Kingdom of Cambodia
Authors: Nim Vantha, Ven Virak, & Sok Sotheavy
Publisher: KBNRM Learning Initiative
Year: 2002
30 pages

This monograph gives case examples of communities where mangrove deforestation for charcoal production, plus non-sustainable fishing techniques, have placed those communities at ecological and economic risk. A number of interventions are described, including education and training, use of more sustainable techniques (some of which work better than others at trial), and broader community development concerns such as drinking water and schools. A good case study that highlights the interconnectedness of multiple development efforts and considerations.

Legends of New Caledonia: A Collection of Legends from the Isle of Pines

#421
Title: Legends of New Caledonia: A Collection of Legends from the Isle of Pines
Editor: Jean-Claude Staudt
Translator: Hilary Roots
Illustrators: Island children
Publisher: Sitmar Cruises
Year: 1984
Country: New Caledonia (colonial collectivity of France)
31 pages

This collection of folk tales from New Caledonia may be illustrated by children, but it is not for children with delicate sensibilities. The stories have not been sanitized to make them less grim (or Grimm). People are eaten, animals chopped up, and in one case, a monster is defeated by a mighty enema blast.

A fun little collection if you can get hold of a copy. Color paintings by children illustrate the sometimes-grisly text.

Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone

#420
Title: Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone
Author: Larry Devlin
Publisher: Public Affairs
Year:  2007
Country:  Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa)
306 pages

Devlin is no stylist, but his account of his tenure as CIA Chief of Station, Congo (Kinshasa) will still hold your attention. Devlin was transferred to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a period of great and swift turmoil. Later, his superior attests that he has a skillful, excellent operative in the post. As Devlin comments, what else could he say? That in fact, he had installed a relatively unexperienced chief at a station that was supposed to be a sleepy backwater?

Devlin's narrative style is methodical, a straightforward recounting of events with only superficial commentary or analysis. When he does comment, it is typically to add a piece of evidence to his contention that though he was ordered to assassinate Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, he did not do so. I can't evaluate the veracity of this claim, but note that whatever Devlin's protestations, he  gives numerous unsurprising examples of collusion, cover-ups, and pragmatic lies on the part of all of the agencies involved. That there should therefore be a cover-up of a political assassination is not that great a stretch. However, Devlin says he finds the idea of assassination morally repugnant, and I have no reason to disbelieve him. That doesn't mean another U.S. or Belgian agent didn't do it.

I disagree with many of Devlin's political ideals, but appreciate his effort to articulate them. It says something about his ability to do so that I enjoyed reading this information-dense memoir.

Lord Sunday (Keys to the Kingdom #7)

#419
Title: Lord Sunday (Keys to the Kingdom #7)
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2010
320 pages

This seventh and concluding volume in the Keys to the Kingdom series has two tasks: To wrap up the action of the first 6 books, and to depict adolescent struggles with identity and responsibility.

As to the former, there is plenty of swashbuckling, giant pointy bugs, explosions, and the like. The plot points are resolved, though some characters and their motives remain a mystery. Why, for example, have none of the Trustees done more than allude to what they fear will happen when the Will of the Architect is re-assembled?

The thematic business is captured by Arthur's shift from a human boy to an otherworldly Denizen as he uses his power. Who is Arthur, and who is Lord Arthur? This question, which has recurred throughout the series, is answered in Lord Sunday. As the mortal children Arthur and Leaf take on more burdens and responsibilities, they are both nostalgic for the sense of safety they experienced before these events, and willing, though not always glad, to take on adult roles. I was pleased that this included real choices and sacrifices, both developmental and interpersonal.

From Tajikistan to the Moon: A Story of Tragedy, Survival and Triumph of the Human Spirit

#418
Title: From Tajikistan to the Moon: A Story of Tragedy, Survival and Triumph of the Human Spirit
Author: Robert Frimtzis
Publisher: Ecliptic Publishing
Year: 2009
Country: Tajikistan
376 pages

Frimtzis's memoir chronicles his experiences as a child and adolescent during World War II and its aftermath. After detailing a long interval as a Displaced Person, Frimtzis describes life in the U.S. from late adolescence to the present. It's very interesting to read a memoir by a Jew whose family fled further into the USSR. Though still beset by anti-Semitism, they were comparatively safer in the far Eastern portion of the Soviet empire. Ultimately, however, they returned to their home, and then to the West.

While central to Frimtzis's life story, both Tajikistan and the moon are somewhat peripheral to the narrative. "From Tajikistan" does not refer to his departure from his original home in Romanian-occupied Bessarabia, followed by the family's arduous flight across the USSR to Tajikistan, where they lived for over two years. Rather, Tajikistan is the starting point for the journey of return and beyond, culminating in his engineering work that contributed to the Apollo moon landing.

This is a self-published memoir, which shows in the difficulties with verb tense, long asides that disrupt the chronology, and the inclusion of what seems to be every detail the author remembers about his youth. While this is interesting, much of it is only of personal interest. I would have liked more description of the environs in which he lived and through which he traveled. There's a lot of it, but this is the part that I can't picture and with which I'm unfamiliar as a reader. The story picks up speed in the U.S. section; unfortunately, this material is less engaging for the American reader because we are familiar with the settings and themes of the immigrant's narrative. Nonetheless, Frimtzis's memoir grew on me and I appreciate it as a good addition to my understanding of the Jewish experience of World War II and its aftermath.

The Mistress's Daughter: A Memoir

#417
Title: The Mistress's Daughter: A Memoir
Author: A. M. Homes
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2007
251 pages

Aficionados of Homes's seductively creepy novels and short stories will enjoy her memoir, which is in many ways no less weird than her fiction. The first half describes how Homes, at that point an adult woman, learns that her birth mother wants to be in touch. Homes's part of the back story, and her speculations, hopes, and fears about this unknown mother who asserts her motherness, will be familiar to those who have gone through this experience themselves (and to their friends, who have heard these anxious concerns before). The uncovering of just who these biological parents were and what they are now to the author is riveting.

The drive to know, plus the drive to buffer the experience and any potential commitment, explains the second half of the book. Critics have found this section less engaging, but I enjoyed it more, because here we see Homes at work, sleuthing and poking and fantasizing. She portrays herself as both obsessed and resistant, creating a parallel experience for the reader. We see the psyche from whom her strange, compelling fictional characters arise, the bizarre tangents that are their genesis. We see her enter into a world of genealogical and internet research and expose both the voyeurism and frustrations that any amateur genealogist has encountered. We ultimately encounter the insoluble riddle: Who am I if other people control the proof of my identity.

This memoir makes me want to re-read all the Homes I have, and go find even more.

A Blessing over Ashes: The Remarkable Odyssey of My Unlikely Brother

#416
Title: A Blessing over Ashes: The Remarkable Odyssey of My Unlikely Brother
Author: Adam Fifield
Publisher: Perennial
Year: 2000
334 pages

Adam Fifield's family wound up fostering Soeuth, a Cambodian refugee whose first foster family was not a good fit. This memoir recounts Adam's experiences of and with Soeuth and Adam's biological brother, interspersed with stories from Soeuth's experiences during the Khmer Rouge period and in adulthood. I particularly enjoyed Fifield's account of accompanying Soeuth to Cambodia, which took place after the country was back under more normal Cambodian governance, but while the Khmer Rouge were still active in the Northern and more remote areas of the country. This was a quick memoir to read, and because Fifeld is telling the American family's version of the foster family experience, an interesting companion to books by Cambodian foster children, such as Loung Ung's First They Killed My Father and Lucky Child.

Editors and proofreaders: Do you really not know that "numb chuck" is, at best, a slang rendition of "nunchuck"?* Do you not see several words incorrectly used by Fifield? Cleaning this stuff up is your job!

*Yes, pedant friends, I know that nunchuck is an Anglicized version of nunchaku.