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Hunger of Memory : The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982)

by Richard Rodriguez

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9241622,742 (3.43)11
Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum. Here is the poignant journey of a "minority student" who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation -- from his past, his parents, his culture -- and so describes the high price of "making it" in middle-class America. Provocative in its positions on affirmative action and bilingual education, Hunger of Memory is a powerful political statement, a profound study of the importance of language ... and the moving, intimate portrait of a boy struggling to become a man.… (more)
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Autobiography is probably the touchiest genre of book a writer can attempt to write in. This is most likely due to the fact that most of us are self-conscious enough to already be defensive when we start reading such a book. For some reason probably no better than the inflation of our own egos, we always go in with a latent sense of competition; usually along the lines of whether or not the author "truly deserves" to write about him- or herself, while we humble readers are here living a "real" life of interest without a single word being spoken in its celebration. In other words, judgement comes with the territory, and thus should be accounted for by the author.
Richard Rodriguez, I find, after reading his autobiography Hunger of Memory, has trouble accounting for this selfishness in his readers. His book, which is subtitled "The Education of Richard Rodriguez", basically consists of his musings on race, education, and the various permutations of those two in different contexts. To put it simply, I think Rodriguez's book is a great work in and of itself, but is extremely prone to pretty disastrous misunderstanding on the reader's part.
It presents the reader with truly fascinating insights and ideas, told by the thinker in the context of his life and how he came to realize those ideas. In that respect, it represents, perhaps, a pure example of autobiography, written by a man for the sake of expressing his own thoughts and emotions on his own life. And in that end, it is really done quite beautifully. Rodriguez's prose is very unique: very succinct and almost clipped in its syntax at points, but also very complex. He says a lot in not a lot of words, and what those words say is very abstract - very thought provoking, especially considering that most of his readers will not have experienced anything like what he describes.
And that's where Rodriguez begins to run into trouble. Like I said, this book is very much a story of a man's life, written by himself, and never meant to apply to any other person's life. I don't think Rodriguez intends for anyone to consider his story an allegory or representative for any larger group which he may represent; but, alas, that is pretty much unavoidable with the nature of his story being what it is. He writes his story from the perspective of what he is: a Mexican man, born in America to immigrant parents, who overcame certain obstacles in order to become successful. A premise like that, or one along those lines, has been used before for autobiographies and memoirs; and in almost every instance, the purpose of the writer has been to use his or her story as a representative for those like them, those who may be faced with the same obstacles. Basically, they are usually meant to raise awareness to a perspective not usually seen.
So when Mr. Rodriguez begins his book by describing his early childhood and education, and the struggle with integrating a new language into his life, this old formula immediately applies itself in the head of the reader. And this proves rather destructive, mostly because of one simple fact: his story does not fit the formula. In fact, as the reader goes along, the contradictions (which are, of course, only contradictions when viewed within the parameters of the first-person-socially-disadvantaged-inspirational-memoir lexicon) begin to pile up. And that eats on the mind of the reader; because, as we've established, we all go into autobiographies, looking for validation of the autobiographee's worthiness. Or, more often than not, flaws by which we can claim his invalidity.
Rodriguez's are simple to point out. First of all, he makes it clear that he was not raised in a particularly socially disadvantaged situation: indeed, throughout, he repeatedly remarks that his education and instructors were all extremely beneficial, and all wanted him to succeed. For most reader's, this is not filling the bill for necessary hardship; especially in a book where the subject is primarily education seen through the eyes of a Mexican-American. And then there's the fact that his main revolving argument is that minorities need to stop being singled out as minorities- a righteous minority memoirist? That just doesn't add up! And there are many other little things that honestly (and I hate to admit this) make us less sympathetic with him and his struggles. They just aren't awful enough for us.
But in this fact, we see the brilliance of what Rodriguez is doing. His very point, is that education- no, every aspect of society, should not be viewed as something to be altered or customized according to race or ethnicity. The fact that a boy may not have white skin, and may not speak English fluently, does not mean that his problems should be pointed out incessantly, until they are blown far out of proportion and appear ten times larger than they are. His problems are unique to him, and maybe even to his culture; but that does not mean the problems of others are any less profound, they are just different. And as far as recognizing these problems goes, he argues that singling out the racially-specific issues is as much of the problem, as ignoring them is.
So when we claim that he is not angry enough, or even better, not angry in the "right way", we are disrespecting his intelligence, and his desire to portray a story of struggle that is not self-righteous or self-pitying in nature, but is in essence a fact and a personal experience, that may or may not apply to anyone in particular. His book is called Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, not Hunger for Justice: The Socially Oppressed Education of Ricardo Rodriguez. He wishes to inform us and share with us the strong emotions and experiences which formed him, alone. And show how those experiences shaped his view on the world and modern education, both in the social and academic sense.
Now there are other things which make this book good or bad. Personally, while I find his prose interesting, I also find it extremely repetetive, and at times, tedious. He also strikes me as fairly pedantic (an effect of years surrounded by a culture of "higher education", my guess); and at times, melodramatic. He severely overuses the word "ghetto", which always makes a person sound kind of ridiculous, and even more so with him, seeing as he went to a Catholic school run by nuns (which he, unfailingly, describes at one point as the "ghetto" Catholic school). And frankly, sometimes his narratives are just not as interesting as they could be. But readablility besides, I would encourage people to read this book, if only to be exposed to a truly fascinating take on the interaction between our modern education system in this country, and its students of the non-white "minority". And the greatest advice I can give towards enjoying it, would be to simply not expect the standard formula. I guess, just keep an open mind.
( )
  entmoot11 | Jan 6, 2024 |
Excellent story of how a man, born Spanish-speaking, excels at education and partly loses his old culture. ( )
  kslade | Dec 8, 2022 |
The history of a bilingual education. An intellectual biography of a Mexican American from a Catholic school kid to a college professor.. Richard Rodriguez's assimilation is distinct. Although his academic achievement amazed himself and others it came with great loss of family closeness. He is opinionated about the affirmative action that others assumed enabled but was not the case for him. Highly recommended for high school seniors and first year college students or anyone wanting a better understanding of how education brings about deeper changes than one would ever expect. Contemplating this autobiography may cause the reader to be more reflective about their own life long learning. ( )
  TustinRanchSA | Jul 19, 2021 |
A beautifully written book by a sad man alienated from his family, his past, and ultimately, himself.

The son of immigrants, Rodríguez believes that the only option for minorities is to "assimilate" (that is, live up to the majority's expectations and standards), and he thinks the only way to do that is by turning away from one's past and heritage. He also seems to think that racism (at least towards brown people) is mostly a matter of class and education.

I disagree with all of his conclusions, but I admit that I enjoyed his writing and sympathized with his sorrow. ( )
  giovannigf | Jul 13, 2021 |
An internal memoir, more an explanation of who he is instead of a transformative or redemptive memoir. He relates his thoughts and feelings about external events and the external world, as opposed to following a classic character arc of challenge and change. I disagreed with much of what he said, but agreed with just as much. It is a complex, deeply personal autobiography, and overall recommended as an exemplar of its form. ( )
  rumbledethumps | Mar 23, 2021 |
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Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum. Here is the poignant journey of a "minority student" who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation -- from his past, his parents, his culture -- and so describes the high price of "making it" in middle-class America. Provocative in its positions on affirmative action and bilingual education, Hunger of Memory is a powerful political statement, a profound study of the importance of language ... and the moving, intimate portrait of a boy struggling to become a man.

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