What do You think about A Hope In The Unseen: An American Odyssey From The Inner City To The Ivy League (1999)?
This was a very interesting book. It chronicles the life of a young boy growing up in the projects of DC. He goes to one of the worst high schools in our country but manages to get everything he can out of that school. Thanks to a few very dedicated teachers who see his potential, he stays focused and graduates as valedictorian of his class. One math teacher, in particular, comes in early and stays late to work on higher level calculus with him. Despite his low SAT scores, he applies to Brown University (which he has decided is the school for him because it is an Ivy League school and is more liberal than the other Ivies). He is accepted and begins his college journey. This is where it gets really interesting because he is clearly not prepared for this level of academics. He also is not socially prepared for the people he meets there or even his roommate who is a very privileged white boy from Marblehead, MA (I think). Again, because of a few benefactors and teachers who help him along the way, he perserveres. While this book is a story of the triumph of the human spirit, it is also an in-depth look at the inequality of our educational system. I recommend it for anyone who teaches or is interested in improving our public education system.
—Heath
It's almost hard to believe that Suskind tailed this student for four years and still had time to eat, sleep and keep a job. I was actually incredibly skeptical, given the level of omniscience in the narrative, but I felt a lot better after I read the book's acknowledgments.Even so, to write this book, the vast majority of scenes had to be reconstructed. I remain a bit skeptical because people invariably act for the camera, if not the reporter, and embellish when they recount any formative or significant incident.On this point, too many of the scenes were too good to be true. Too many lines were perfectly crafted and suspiciously poignant. You're telling me that Cedric, an adorably clueless yet bitter and introverted teenager who struggles for recognition and individuality throughout the story, didn't exaggerate some of the events? Come off it. But even if he didn't, Suskind must have taken great liberties while filling in the blanks. Time after time, he expounds upon these unbelievably cogent and introspective internal monologues Cedric is supposedly having as an event unfolds. Honestly, I don't think the human brain even works that way. No one cycles through their entire year of experiences to answer a yes or no question. If it was 20/20 hindsight, then I think it would be more believable if it was presented as Cedric's recollections and not his split-second reactions. Sure, we all produce an insightful gem in conversation once in a while, but Cedric has to be a genius if Suskind is not embellishing. However, I don't think that's the case because a big part of the story is about the almost comically juvenile poem Cedric writes because he doesn't have the analytical or verbal skills to produce an expository essay.What makes it even more suspicious is that the supporting characters who become the focus for about a third of the book - like Cedric's mom, the pastor, Dr. Korb, etc, - offer completely believable scenes. Don't get me wrong: I really liked this book because it was interesting to read and the reporting was nevertheless impressive as hell. It was just too convenient for comfort.Suskind also subscribes to the notion that "ish" is a an appropriate suffix for any word. I think this is both wrong and irritating. Smallish? Maybe. Darkish? Perhaps. Tallish? If you say so. But quietish? Even the Goodreads spell check doesn't think that's a correctish word.
—Joe
The five stars go equally to Ron Suskind the author and Cedric Jennings, the hero of the book. As any other review will tell you it is a story about a boy from the ghetto who somehow managed to learn something in his gang-infested high school (think Gangsta's Paradise) and made it to one of the Ivy League universities. If you think this is some sort of Chicken Soup for the White Liberal Soul then you couldn't be more wrong. Basically the conclusion is: shit is bad, real bad. The challenges that Cedric had to face were many and of various kinds. Things that affluented white Americans take for granted, Cedric had to learn from scratch. The boy struggled not only academically but socially and culturally. And my heart went out to him and mind you, I am not the kind of person that even admits to having a heart at all. Don't tell my boyfriend but I think I developed a crush on Cedric. Ron Suskind is not bad either. The social observation and psychological analysis are of greatest quality. There is nothing in the book that sounds patronising and judgemental. Suskind had a great idea of removing himself entirely from the narrative and making Cedric the focus of it, so we see the world through his eyes, rather than Suskind's. I know quite a few authors that are way too egocentric to even consider doing that because they just love starting their sentences with 'I'.There were a few moments where I just had to smile, usually when Suskind tried to explain something about hip hop or r'n'b to his readers. It gave me that feeling you used to get when you were a teenager and your parents tried to be cool and engage in a conversation with you about some 'cool stuff'. And you felt slightly embarrassed but also warm inside because you knew they were trying. Enough. Go read it. It is good. It had me on the edge of my seat when I was waiting with Cedric for each exam results. I even got excited when he was going through some calculus problems (stuff that normally sends me to sleep in no time).
—Kinga
