Book Review

So, Jorge Ramos's memoir or autobiography Atravesando Fronteras only makes me want to meet him more after reading the book. I admire many things about Mr. Ramos, but there are some things that I do not agree with him on or I feel pain in my heart from some of his views about certain things or experiences he has been in. I admire a lot how he takes care of himself and the people he is close to by being it seems like a good friend and loves his family. He has had to make some pretty tough decisions in his life and he has made those and has triumphed over them without really looking back. He seems to be a pretty humble, down to earth man, and does not seem to write as a man with an ego problem. I admire his views about immigration and a strong advocate for the Hispanic Community in the U.S.

My heart feels pain when I read about how he does not really believe in a God or has any clear direction spiritually due to past experiences with the Catholic Church and School in Mexico. He seems to be a man always searching for something more and almost wants to believe in a loving God, but can't because he has too many doubts or sees people being hipocritical. I also feel sad in what he describes as his homeless state. He does not feel at home anywhere, Mexico his native country or the U.S. always feeling like an immigrant. Mexico because he has been gone so long because he left his family and everything behind when he was 25 and has not returned to live there since. There is a lot of intense feelings there from what I can tell and I could only imagine what that would be like. But at the same being in the U.S. for 20 years he still feels like a foreigner even though much of his life is here. He describes that the only true home he felt like was there is the house he grew up in in Mexico City with his family. He dreams about it every night if he is lucky and the dream is always about this home. WOW!

I think this book really made me think about my life and in someways feel like I am able to relate to Mr. Ramos. I mean right now I kind of feel like I have been on a search for my home for a while and where that really is and what that feels like. For me leaving Kansas is like leaving my home and going to live with my parents and brother again in the same house is like foreign to me, a place that I used to call home but not anymore. I know my life isn't as extreme as his life, but who knows maybe I will end up leaving this country someday to live in South America or Guatemala or something teaching English and working on social issues. Some other points that Mr. Ramos hits on his book is his strong advocacy for Hispanics in the U.S. which I am all about and just his views on social issues in general. I feel like we would have similar political views and ideas about how to end the cycle of poverty and what a country's government should consider important that type of thing. This book impacted me more than I thought on many levels. Pretty much I wish I had an internship at Univision and could just be like Mr. Ramos's assistant for about a month.

So I read this book in Spanish and I wrote all of this in English I need to practice more I guess about talking about a book that I read in Spanish in Spanish.