Hard Times

by Charles Dickens

Supposedly I read this in high school. What I mean by that is that I have a vague recollection of borrowing the book from a friend and reading it for an English class. The only thing I really remembered from the book was something about a circus – and, since that occurs within the first 25 pages, I doubt I read much beyond that.

But we read it for my Intro to Sociology class to take a look at the changing class makeup of England during the Industrial Revolution. I liked that we used the book to understand the social effects of industrialization, and it was worked nicely into our lecture material. What’s more, I found Dickens to be a very amusing author; I couldn’t understand why my classmates complained that the book was boring – they must have missed all the humor. Now I’ve bought a copy of Oliver Twist in hopes that it will be just as good.

The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

by George Saunders
 
In my Intro to Sociology class, we do one-page critiques of assigned books and articles. The first one for the semester was a Hugh Nibley article about the importance of having both zeal and knowledge. My critique earned me only 6 out of 10 points, and I was devastated by one of the comments made by a TA: “Please go to the writing lab for help with your writing,” it said. Quite honestly I feel like I have more-than-decent writing, especially when I see the work of some of my peers. But I tried extremely hard and managed to get a 9 on the critique for Gappers!
 
Gappers are strange orange-ish prickly sponge-ish shaped creatures that live in the sea next to the small town of Frip, where there are 3 houses. The owners of each house also own goats. Gappers love goats. Every day they climb up from the sea, over the cliff, into the yards, and onto the goats, where they latch themselves and emit a continual high-pitch shriek of pleasure. One day the gappers decide that instead of spreading out and traveling to all 3 yards, they will just latch onto the goats in the yard nearest the sea. (The owners of the houses make their children remove the gappers from the goats twice every day and toss them back into the sea.) The problem is that the neighbors refuse to help the girl who now has three times as many gappers on her goats. And the book is about what happens in their little town as a result.
 
Very amusing story, lots of messages to pick up, and fun pictures. Definitely recommended.

Nickle and Dimed

On (Not) Getting By in America
by Barbara Ehrenreich
 
While I have some contentions with this book, as a whole I think it’s a good look into both the numbers and the realities of the working class in America. Ehrenreich is a journalist who went “undercover” as a woman trying to make ends meet by working minimum-wage jobs in three different cities. She wonders, at the beginning, what “tricks” the working class has learned to make the numbers add up, and admits at the end that there are no tricks. The numbers don’t add up without working two full-time jobs and living in squalor.
 
I think Ehrenreich gives excellent descriptions of what daily life might be like for the working poor, but she intentionally keeps herself floating safely above any actual experiences of poverty. For instance, she is very firm about the fact that networks are a key to surviving as a low-wage earner; extended families and groups of friends help each other out. However, in the name of journalism, Ehrenreich rushes home from work every day to compile notes about her impressions, and never attempts to rely on others for support.
 
But aside from that, it is worth reading, and I recommend that anyone interested in understanding and eradicating poverty read it.