Book Review On My Beloved World

My Beloved World is the recently published book by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Coming from an impoverished Puerto Rican family living in the Bronx, and facing seemingly insurmountable odds like juvenile diabetes and a violent neighborhood, Justice Sotomayor rose to become the third female justice and the first Latino woman to ever occupy such a position in the United States Supreme Court. Early on in the book Sotmayor makes it clear that her book is a memoir and not an objective biography. She points out that memory is selective in its remembrances of past events which might be perceived differently by those who were part of her early life. When asked how much she owed to having a happy childhood during one of the many lectures she has given, it took her a while to arrive at a response and this is what triggered the writing of her memoir
It is her immediate and extended family, who in spite of the many problems each of them faced (her father was an alcoholic, her cousin and best friend is a heroin addict, and her mother is torn by grief upon her husband’s death to the point of neglecting her children and herself), provided her with the love and inner strength she needed in order to succeed in the highly competitive world where she ultimately blossomed.
Sotomayor takes the reader into a deeply personal journey. Through her writing her family members come to life. We meet “Abuelita” (grandma), Papi and Mami , as she affectionately referred to her parents. But it is her grandmother who is perhaps responsible for so much of her inner strength, for Sonia states that in order for a child to succeed in life s/he must have the unconditional love of an adult, and this is what Abuelita gives her as they share many moments together going to the slaughterhouse to buy chickens, to the open market and spending many evenings at her house where grandma makes the house come alive with parties full of laughter and the cheerful sounds of Latin rhythms.
We get a glimpse of Sonia’s sharp intelligence when at the age of nine, shortly after her father’s death, she questions the Christian attitude of the Catholic Church when Father Dolan, the priest from Blessed Sacrament, the elementary school she used to attend, refused to give spiritual comfort to her mother on the grounds that she did not attend church regularly. Yet, a Baptist pastor from another church who had never met her mother does not hesitate to pay her a visit during those days of grief.
Sonia also lets readers see how adverse circumstances only sharpened her self-reliance and determination to survive and succeed. We read in awe how at age seven she decides to learn to give herself the daily insulin shots which are vital for her survival because she cannot bear to see her parents fight over who will give her the shots.
Books had always been part of Sotomayor’s life. They sustained her during difficult times throughout her early life. . First, there were the issues of Reader’s Digest and later the volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica which were bought at great sacrifice by her mother because she firmly believed in the value of education. Limited as these books were in content and scope, they planted the first seeds of Sonia’s curiosity and yearning for knowledge while helping her at the same time get through the difficult days of her childhood and adolescence.
While at Princeton, Sonia takes refuge at the Firestone Library, where for the first time she sees the magnitude and depth of knowledge there is to acquire as she explores the books covering disciplines she had never explored. But as she comes into contact with well-to-do college students at Princeton, she realizes she has not had the benefit of a well-rounded education, an education that her classmates take for granted. She is determined to catch up on her reading of the books that make up the cultural baggage of college-educated individuals, such as Alice in Wonderland and Pride and Prejudice. Many years later as an attorney she reflects on how the discipline of learning helped her to be a fair and competent judge, for as she reflects, one often has to become an expert in a given topic of litigation if one is to make an accurate and fair interpretation of the law.
As a new student at Princeton she also discovers that her English is deficient and heavily influenced by Spanish grammatical structures; but she is determined to become a lawyer in spite of all her limitation and systematically begins her study of English grammar and vocabulary during her summer vacations while taking on a summer job. At Princeton Sonia’s determination to succeed help her develop an analytical and critical thinking mind, a far cry from fact storage and memorization which she learned in high school.
My Beloved World portrays not the Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has become, for as she puts it, this stage in her life is not yet complete and therefore, she would be unable to write about it with sufficient perspective. What the reader sees is a highly motivated individual determined to take up all the challenges that life offers her pushing aside the obstacles arising not only from her personal circumstances but also from the turbulent times of change that were revolutionizing the country during her formative years. Her story will certainly touch many Americans of all backgrounds whose circumstances bear resemblance to the situations described in the book.