Posted: April 2, 2022
Heartland
My continuing fascination with homelessness has resulted in my purchase of "Heartland". There is no homelessness in this book but there is struggle and poverty - there is also joy, and beauty and fulfillment.
"Heartland" fulfills one of my expectations from reading books: to experience what life is like for other people living in a part of the world different from my own. This book is about a farming family in Kansas and takes the reader in deep into the life of several generations of this family.
I would venture to guess that Americans reading this, and, more specifically, those living in Kansas, or near it, will experience little or no fascination about the narrative of Kansas or American life. They will perhaps read this for the discussion on the American class system and affiliated economic and social issues that this book also brings forth.
The power of this book for me stems from its non-fiction core. It is a memoir, as stated in the cover - a memoir of Sarah Marsh's family and, for me, reading about a culture and a place and a physical environment different from my own really expands my horizons. This book is like traveling without paying for a plane ticket or hotel accommodations.
From now on, when I read about Kansas in the news or - an unlikely event - it comes up in conversation, I now have more knowledge and understanding because of this book. The same goes for when I think of and read about the American farmer.
This book also discusses poverty and the difficulty of overcoming it. It is critical of the concept of the American Dream. It shows what we already know, even those of us who are not Americans: It is possible to work yourself to the bone with nothing to show for it.
Reading through this book I also note that there are dangerous "traps" that can keep one in the poverty cycle. Having a child is one such trap, particularly having a child when one is very young. Another trap is neglecting to have a specialized skill. Four people in this book have specialized skills: Arnie the farmer, Betty the judicial case worker, Sarah the writer, and Carl the accountant. All four of them hold their own because of their focus. Arnie owned and maintained the farm which serves as base and refuge for nearly all the characters of the book. Betty manages to amass a helpful nest egg. Carl provides for himself and his family. Best of all, Sarah, the author of the book, manages to work her way to a higher economic class.
I find the writing to be evocative yet straightforward. Marsh does not tell her tale chronologically but handles the narrative so well that there is no confusion. By the end of the memoir I became so attached to the characters that I actually became teary-eyed at Arnie's funeral. I know from Marsh's description that the cold Kansas weather isn't exactly a joy to have, at least not always, but I crave that kind of cold, me being stuck in the heat of the tropics. Yes, I want to breath in morning air so cold that it freezes the inside of my nose. And I want to see that vast plain and that big sky and I want to floor my car as it goes through a remote road where I'm the only one driving. It is all so fascinating.
Well, that was quite a trip. And you can have it too: just pick up and read "Heartland".