Book Review For Illegal

Genre: Memoir

The Analysis:

People like me should never read political commentaries or nonfiction. Because we tend to boil things down to its most common denominator. Thus we see the black and white of the issue. No gray. And I knew just by reading the prologue that I wouldn’t agree with this man. But boy has he led an interesting life! Illegal by John Dennehy, let’s book review it together. Although at its completion this felt like more of a critique.

Heres the Blurb:

A raw account of a young American abroad grasping for meaning, this pulsating story of violent protests, illegal border crossings and loss of innocence raises questions about the futility of borders and the irresistible power of nationalism.

Illegal tells the true story of love and deception, revolutions and deportations as it chronicles the trials of John Dennehy. Naïve New Yorker, Dennehy refuses to be part of the feverish nationalism of post 9/11 America. His search for hope takes him to Ecuador, where he falls in love with firebrand Lucia, who perfects his broken Spanish while they find solidarity in the brewing social upheaval. Amid the unrest, Dennehy is arrested and deported to the United States but he has found something worth fighting for.

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[/one_half]This cover reads like fiction. As does the blurb. But I loved this cover. I thought it was so well done. It doesn’t necessarily tell you exactly what this story is about, but it’s certainly intriguing. And gets one to buy. Comment below what you think?

Despite the dates, I found myself still getting confused as the story seemed out of sorts in the beginning pages. But it does even out the further along I got.

Thoughts On Book:

Knowing what I know now about the length of the Iraq War. My heart went out to the little protester that could. The one that was wasting his time, but believed in so much right and good. That guy I wanted to hug. Maybe because I’ve had my own experiences with society just letting you down.

Lol. President Bush was reelected and he actually left the country. Boy, how do I wish I was brave enough to do the same when Trump was elected. Kind of funny to see because so many people have threatened this, but this guy actually did it. Ahhh, to be young and unattached.

My dream consisted of going to England where I’ve heard tons of good things. He went to Ecuador. He was certainly bitten by the activist bug early on in his life. However, his travels do remind me of a very important quote:

Travel is the cure to Racism, Fascism and any other ism.

However, the most controversial section of the book doesn’t come until much later. Not controversial to me, but perhaps to America as a whole. Stating that the immediate feelings after the attacks were not Patriotism, but Nationalism. I was in 8th grade when it happened. Old enough to know what was happening, but still young enough not to feel its effects personally. Even looking back, I think the only things I remember where all the positive images that circulated. Those stayed with me the most. So I can’t say if this were true or not.

But this is one of those answers that’s on a slippery slope. By his own definition, the terrorists were displaying there own Nationalism by believing that the problems of their people and government far outweighed the innocence of those people in the towers.

And if the Trump election has proven anything. Is that once the election is over, the people who didn’t vote for that nominee have positively no voice in what their government does and doesn’t do. And that can be half the country. Our electors to Congress are supposed to circumvent any radical actions and changes. They’ve also proven to be unreliable from years of working the system without there constituents knowledge. Our system is broken and it was back in 2011. So holding strangers feet to the fire in a democratic system where some might not have even voted is a fallacy.

I’m also starting to grow a bit wary about his penchant for chaos. There rioting let me pull up a chair. There protesting in the park, I’m at school, let me leave early to see it. Maybe, its a black thing because we run away from danger, not to it. I don’t understand. He’s not a journalist in search of truth and knowledge. He’s not joining the disenfranchised protests. There’s no record of him actually even asking to help the protests he’s so in awe of. He’s just coming off as a thrill seeker.

Words and Phrases that should never be used to describe Protests (however well-meaning) or Riots:
• Joyful Fascination
• Envy
• They Should Be Braver
• Hijack Buses