Daniel Chi Chi itibaren دھوپ سڑی، Pakistan
OK. Kind of an entertaining read, but drags a bit toward the latter half.
"The Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle is not without its flaws, but even a decade or more after publication, it has only grown in its relevance regarding the deep-seated problems of illegal immigration, particularly the Mexican-southwestern U.S. nexus. Boyle tells the story of two couples, one rich, white and privileged, the other homeless, Mexican and struggling, and how their lives intersect. Delaney and Kyra live in a polished, gated community north of Los Angeles, where she works as a real estate agent and he is a house-husband, ministering to his step-son and wife and writing a local environmental column. Delaney appears to be a classic, Eastern liberal -- although circumstances end up tearing off his veneer to reveal the darker attitudes that lurk just below the surface. Candido is Delaney's homeless, immigrant counterpart, a Mexican with a pregnant young wife, neither of whom can catch a break. In alternating chapters, their stories are told. The plot hurtles forward on Boyle's expert prose and the depiction of one vivid incident after another. While Boyle does skewer the privileged white folks without much mercy, there is enough dimension and complexity here for this reader to say that the author isn't merely bashing for the sake of bashing. The problem isn't easy, the anti-immigrant reactions aren't without justification, and no pat solutions are presented. What is presented is this horrendous confluence between haves and have-nots, and an environment in which the cultural, economic and language divide is deep and disturbing and far too open to tragic misunderstandings. This is not a problem that is going away; if anything, it has become more acute since Boyle wrote his book. I think where he succeeds the most is in getting us inside the heads of two desperate Mexican immigrants who are, at heart, honorable people. He helps us understand why they were driven to leave their homeland, gives us empathy for their plight -- while at the same time, managing to genuinely irritate us about their bad judgments. One is left, I think, with the sense that we -- as a nation of immigrants -- need to pay far closer attention to where we are going, and to develop public policies and resources toward genuine solutions. Terrible burdens are being paid every day for lack of this -- on both sides of the equation.
BOOK REVIEW THE CIVIL COURT PRACTICE 2011 The Green Book Editor-In-Chief: The Right Honourable the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury Consulting Editor: The Right Honourable Lord Justice Moore-Bick General Editors: P K J Thompson and Louise Di Mambro Butterworths LexisNexis ISBN for the set: 978-1-4057-5583-2 www.lexisnexis.com BE YOU PRACTITIONER, JUDGE, OR LITIGANT IN PERSON, YOU NEED THE GREEN BOOK NOW TO TACKLE THE INCOMING TIDE An Appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers We did not quite realize this before, but the aim of ‘The Civil Court Practice’ known as “The Green Book” (and steeped in such procedural history for many of us) is, in the words of the editors “to provide a handbook that is suitable for DIY as well as legal practice”. Hence the strict adherence to the principles of simplicity and ease of use inherent in the layout of what is now an indispensable and authoritative four volume set plus CD. What has always been considered a required reference for practitioners, as well as judges, can also now be used by all those LIPs out there – litigants in person – conducting their own civil cases without legal representation … whilst the trend continues to rise! There’s a veritable army of them out there now, small but growing, no doubt in response to the continuing erosion of legal aid availability. That these venerable and authoritative two volumes we have come to regard so highly, with the separate paperback books for forms and procedural tables, are accessible as much to the layman as the practitioner is good to know because it gives us confidence. It’s indicative of the work’s logical layout and plain speaking, and the plain English approach of help to all. As the editors point out, the work functions as a guide, to the bringing, defending and appealing of proceedings on all three litigation tracks and is an indispensable source of reference for all practitioners and members of the judiciary, whether in the High Court or the county courts. Certainly, the objective of providing ‘comprehensive guidance in as clear a way as possible’ has been amply achieved in this latest edition for 2011, so thank you again Butterworths and LexisNexis. The book presents three main parts over two hard-bound volumes, with Part I dealing with rules and procedure (in particular with Civil Procedure Rules and Protocols); Part II with the general jurisdiction of the courts and Part III, with the special powers and procedures set out under particular statutes. There is an especially useful section on ‘Developments Since the October 2010 Reissue of the Civil Court Practice’. An impressive feature of the Green Book is the ease with which you can look things up in - comparatively speaking – when in a large hurry if you have to. The main volumes contain a list of key references and there are detailed indexes in each volume averaging a couple of hundred pages each. The full set includes two additional volumes containing respectively, ‘Forms’ and Procedural Tables’ also indexed in detail. As you would expect, there are copious Tables of Statutes, Civil Procedure Rules, Rules of the Supreme Court, County Court Rules, Other Statutory Instruments, Practice Directions and Cases. For 2011, here is comprehensive guidance indeed – and, as if all this were not enough, there is an accompanying CD Rom. The law is stated as at March 2011 and there is one tip for all: read the ‘How to Use Section’ right at the beginning as it really will explain the incoming tide- we wish we had done that some years ago!