Book Thoughts: When I Was Puerto Rican

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book, which I read as part of a series about Hispanics in America at our local library, was a fascinating read. A memoir, Esmeralda Santiago relates stories from her childhood, from when she was growing up in Puerto Rico, primarily in the village of Macun, from around 7-8 years of age, to when she moved to New York City when she was 13, and for about a couple years after that.

Santiago's writing is easy to read, and it vividly creates the world as seen by a young child - how she sees her environs, her parents, her family, and how certain social mores strike and confuse a child. Santiago's memoir takes the reader to rural Puerto Rico, and what strikes me is not only the beauty of the island that is conveyed, but how the undeveloped aspects of life are presented without judgment, as only a child's memories could do. In the same way, much of what the author presents about her parents, who fight often and are deeply flawed, is done without judgment, but simply with explanation. In this way, the book serves not only as insight into Puerto Rican culture and society during the 1950s, but also can bring a reader back to their own childhood, and cause a reader to reminiscence about the simpler way we viewed and experienced things as a child.

In the epilogue, we learn that the author made it into a local performing arts school in New York City (the audition was the last story related in the book), and that she eventually went on to Harvard. Such is obviously a credit to the determination and perseverance of the author, which we can see in the many stories throughout the book. But in a sense, it makes the book very similar to other memoir type books written about children growing up in the 1930s-1950s America (thinking of Russell Baker's "Growing Up" and particularly "This Boy's Life" by Tobias Wolfe). Through a child's eyes we see the conflict of understanding the love from one's parent, but the confusion at recognizing the parent's flaws; and we see the myth of the American Dream sustained by the hard work and resulting success of the child. Thus, even though Santiago's work gives wonderful insights into Puerto Rican culture and history, it's a story that feels almost quintessentially American - an immigrant finding that "American Dream" success.

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