Lately I’ve been
captivated by enigmas, which might be why I’ve chosen three books for this month's picks that promise to
shed light on three very different mysteries: the collapse of a civilization, life
behind China’s wall, and mystery meat on lunch plates.
THE STATUES THAT WALKED. Terry Hunt and
Carl Lipo. Free Press. 237 pages. $26
I was lucky to
visit Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, during a recent trip to South America. The
open, quiet island was mesmerizing in ways I hadn’t expected, inescapably buzzing
with burning questions: What happened to all the trees? Why did they build
these chicken-skin-inducing rock statues?
In Hunt and Lipo’s absorbing new book,
they use architectural research begun in 2001 to solve Rapa Nui’s riddle and ultimately
refute previous theories of environmental collapse. Elements of this readable
narrative echo facets of Hawaii’s past, including the destructive power of rats
on native forest and extended contact with Europeans in the 18th
century. Hunt is a UH Manoa anthropology professor.
CHINA IN TEN WORDS. Yu Hua. Translated by
Allan H. Barr. Pantheon. 225 pages. $24.95
People. Leader. Reading. Writing. Lu Xun. Disparity. Revolution. Grassroots. Copycat. Bamboozle.
“This tiny lexicon gives me ten pairs of eyes with which to scan the
contemporary Chinese scene from different vantage points,” says Chinese writer
Hua of the framework for his new book about the culture that continues to shape
modern Hawaii.
Hua wisely uses a simple narrative anchored in daily life and provides
an accessible and riveting window into “the social complexities and staggering contrasts
of contemporary China.”
FED UP WITH LUNCH. Sarah Wu (aka Mrs. Q). Chronicle Books. 191 pages. $22.95
Two years ago,
Chicago public school speech pathologist Sarah Wu launched the anonymous blog
“Fed Up with Lunch” to chronicle her experience eating school lunch every day
for a year. In her new book, she takes the journey and her identity public for
the first time. Think “Super Size Me” brought to nutrition and education, and a
look at just a portion of America’s children who are said to consume up to half
of their calories through school meals.
Wu has no specific connection to
Hawaii, but community wellness and the health of our children is inextricably
relevant here as we battle childhood diabetes and obesity. Photographs of each
pre-packaged lunch are undeniably hypnotic, if also familiarly revolting, but
it’s her earnest words and quiet revolutionary spirit that drew me in and got
me pointedly thinking about school lunch’s very real implications.
-Christine Thomas
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