Who saved your life?

I just finished reading Shakespeare Saved My Life, a memoir written by Laura Bates. Bates is an English professor at Indiana State University, who began a program at the local prison that would allow inmates from the maximum security unit to analyze and discuss the work of Shakespeare.

This wasn't a book I went after or was even looking for,  I was just at the library and I came across it. This was really different than anything that I've read to date. I don't think there was anything special about it style wise, but the content was shocking. I'm considering a career in criminal justice and I have a relative who was in prison for several years (though it was nothing like the inmates in the book) so everything about the book was interesting to me.

My favorite part of the book was the sentence that inspired the title of the novel. After several years, Bates had finished her program with a certain group of  inmates who had the most impact on her life. One of the prisoners in particular, Newton had made a special connection with her. He had been troubled his entire life, serving over ten years in solitary confinement, the young twenty-something year old had his life changed by Bates. Before their interactions he was a violent human who had numerous escape attempts under his belt. By the end of the program

his attitude towards life was no longer evil, he wanted to further his education and make a difference helping people. Bates’s  final meeting with the convicts was bitter sweet. She was proud she introduced something so beautiful to people who had only met ugly behind bars. This was her final encounter with the group:

Whenever a participant left the program, I distributed a short survey in which I asked, “What has Shakespeare done for you?”

“It helped me to expand my mind,” Greene had written.

“ It introduced me to a whole new world,” Jones had written.

“It got me out of my cell,” Guido had written.

After I watched Newton disappear down the hallway, I took the folded paper out of my pocket. It was the survey. What has Shakespeare done for you? He had written, “Shakespeare saved my life” (Bates 152).

If it’s possible for a memoir to have a climax I think this is without a doubt the moment., it gave the book its meaning.

Structurally, the chapters were short, none being more than three or four pages. This made it, not an easy read, but it was easy to get through because of that. There were also photos included and I really liked this because I felt like a part of the group. Those weren't just words on paper, Bates went to an actual prison and got inmates to sew a quilt together.

While reading this, all I could think of was the tv show Beyond Scared Straight. It’s basically a program that gathers a group of troubled teens and takes them into a prison for a day to witness how daily life would be like if they continued on their destructive path.

Overall it was a solid book. I’d recommend it but it’s definitely not for everyone, it’s not fiction so there’s no “good” or “bad” writing.

ASSATA pt.2

I settled down one Sunday and finished Assata. As I mentioned before, the chapters in this autobiography switched from present day to chronologically reminiscing her past. Eventually the time periods met and towards the end of the book, all events are present. Once I reached the end I held conflicting emotions.  I was captivated throughout all the chapters but just as the part I had been looking forward to was approaching (her prison escape), I was hit with the postscript. WHOA, HOLD ON. Where is this legendary escape? How did she get out? Who helped her? Was it like the show Prison Break (awesome show by the way)? After I finished the the entire book I realized that my favorite part of the book was the postscript. Sure, I was disappointed that I wouldn’t learn the details, but that was what made it great. There are dozens of articles describing Assata’s escape and her one chance to set the record straight was not taken.  Most of what is written about her is biased, whereas this entire book was her account of events. I just found it so odd how society can have one perception of Assata Shakur and her book tells the complete opposite. I think that’s why she decided not to include the story of her escape. It was a life changing event and it’s moment she keep to self. I had fun thinking of her escape. There were moments that I thought, “damn, Assata was a badass” and at other times I recognized her weakness and flaws. Articles describing her escape state that she escaped with the help of three armed men but how can I believe these reports when these are the same people who beat her in her hospital bed? I can’t.

The postscript begins with her arrival in Cuba, which she describes as, “ Lazy sun against blue-green ocean. A beautiful city of narrow, spider-web streets on one side of town and broad, tree-lined avenues on the other. Houses with peeling paint and vintage u.s. cars from the 40s and 50s” (Shakur 267). Here, she learns from the villagers that race does not exist to them. Color was just color, nothing more. It was clear she was revived once she began her life in Cuba. I found inspiring that through all she has dealt with, she still wanted to understand and dive into learning about a different culture. The postscript was hope. It showed hope for Assata’s future and her hope for humanity was once again sparked.   

Besides the postscript, I really enjoyed the poems that were included at the conclusion of each chapter. My favorite poem by far is Culture, (Shakur 159).

Culture

i must confess that waltzes

do not move me.

i have no sympathy

for symphonies.

i guess i hummed the Blues

too early,

and spent too many midnights

out wailing to the rain.

All of the poems that were included perfectly summed up a feeling that Assata had felt during that chapter. I helped me better understand her pain or happiness or to see her optimism better than the chapter had. I also think all of her poems were relatable. She wrote about love, about tradition, about society, about everything that a reader can relate to in one way or another. The choice to include these poems was interesting to me and it was actually the first time I had read a book that was set up this way. I’ve read books that were entirely poems, or based on a poem, but nothing like this. That part of the structure was really fun.

Overall, I’m glad to take this book off of my to read list, and I hope others add it to their list.

I give it 5 Stars!