I finished reading Isaiah Washington’s book last week but as I am still thinking about the book today, I guess it has earned the phrase “thought provoking”. Clearly this work resonated with me enough to warrant a few Jurascals comic strips and this blog book review right now, so here’s why:
The essence of the story for me is that it is a memoir of self discovery told in a very interesting voice with something new to say. While there is the narrative of the DNA that provides a link to Sierra Leone, I think there is a real discovery in how the reader perceives the author through his account of events. Mr. Washington is a man who knows what it is like to live in relative anonymity (as he starts out), to live in a world of approbation, and to live in a world of public disapproval, somewhat overblown media-hyped disapproval. The discovery is to be true to one’s self through it all.
There are vignettes of joy and of pain, of history and forgiveness. There is a celebration of knowledge, of understanding DNA and that it has "memory". The author is on a journey that is truly fascinating because he does not know where it will lead when it begins. I found the situations in Sierra Leone compelling and the narrative places that country squarely “on the radar”. Like all things in the book, Mr. Washington finds some situations in Sierra Leone exhilarating and some situations truly heartbreaking. There is a story on page 141 of a water pipe which I won't relate here-you can read it. But as a father, my heart breaks reading that story as his does while he is witnessing it.
There is a greater historical context to the narrative. Isaiah Washington does achieve history and this makes the book have many layers. There is not only a personal history, there is a history of a country (ours built in part on the backs of those who came through Bunce Island and the country from whence many came). I firmly believe that if the message to the reader that is the actual subtext of the story is heeded (namely "find out more about yourself because THAT knowledge is indeed power"), this book might actually revolutionize more than one nation. And as I said near the beginning of my review, I dont believe Mr. Washington knew that was the intent at the beginning of his journey and it makes his self discovery a discovery for the reader. And this is why A Man from Another Land is a story I felt so strongly about that I was inspired in my own, albeit non-historical but somewhat fun, way.
As I read A Man from Another Land, it seemed to me like a shoo-in for an audio book. You feel like the account is truly Mr. Washington’s personal journey that he is telling. Personally I think the voice is so strong that when the sequel is done, and I’d like to see it released as an audio book and printed at the same time, maybe with a podcast supplementing it.
Why do I think there’s a compelling second book there?
Mr. Washington read in the newspaper that Bausch and Lomb suffered a bad “media liability” moment. Their stock plummeted and he took that moment to buy stock, making enough to finance some of his Sierra Leone work. I think that’s where Mr. Washington was after suffering a simple bad media moment blown way out of proportion. The public also loves Act Two, The Comeback, and that’s clearly going to happen. Mr. Washington had a ten year plan to work with Spike Lee. He had a 365 day plan to build a school, and did it. I think any reader who reads A Man from Another Land to the end will want to see his three or four year plan for his career and for Sierra Leone. If he achieves success, as I believe he will, that will be the unbeatable story. We will want to watch it, hear it and read it and we’re going to learn how it’s done.
If the synopsis intrigues you, read the book and if after the book you want to read more check out:
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