Heart Matters

I am reading the book “Heart Matters”, the autobiography of Adrianne Clarkson, the first Chinese Canadian woman who was appointed as Governor General. Even though I have not finished the book yet, I am enjoying it very much, that I have to write about it right now and possibly in more than one post.

Her intelligence and wittiness is remarkable in every chapter of this book. Her honesty through out her writing is truly moving. Similarly to anyone else, she has to overcome or pass so many battles in her life to get as far as she have gotten.

Her perspective on life, culture, literature, and even languages is very enlightening. She was born in China and raised in a Chinese family. Although her family does not represent an usual Chinese family but she definitely made a wonderful job analyzing them and comparing them with Canadian families.

I am living in a multicultural society which Chinese community shapes most of it. Reading this book was very eye opening in the sense that I can evaluate the extent of my knowledge about Chinese culture, which does not go further than Chinese food and bubble teas, unfortunately. On page 34, she writes “I realized that the deep-rooted sense of Chinese identity was such that foreign encroachments or displacement to a foreign country mattered very little.” “… if you have one drop of Chinese blood you are Chinese. This sense of strength and identification and belonging is very different from the European idea of race...”

Later on when she moves to France, she has more amusing insight about French culture as well. But what I found the most interesting was her point of view about different languages. On page 97, I read “...language is about communicating the essence of civilization.” I had never thought of language as the way she puts it. The way French was imposed on me while I was living in Quebec, did not make me any good. I did learn French but lack of interest and practice cost me to forget almost everything I learnt. If I had read this book earlier, I would have been more enthusiasm learning French and not simply think of it as the way of communicating and getting a job.

To be continued...