Sam Gosda
Response 4 of 5: The Man in the Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado
The Man in the Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado is a story of her family starting from the moment her parents met. The tale is mainly focused on her father and his experience of going from a thriving bachelor in Cairo to a patriarch of a refugee family in New York City. The family had a number of struggles in Cairo, as the story begins in the middle of World War II, but the event that was the hardest on Lagnado’s father was their emigration into the United States. Once a womanizing businessman living a lavish life, Leon Lagnado had a difficult time coping with being an impoverished, infirm father in New York. It was refreshing to learn about these events in history from the very personal standpoint of a family. As you read you don’t notice that you are learning historical facts intermittently with personal ones about the Lagnado life.
This is my favorite way to learn about a period of time. When I am able to link it to an interesting personal story I can relate to it more and therefor remember the history behind it more effectively. Lagnado was simply recording her family history, but in doing so she recorded the history of Cairo and the Jewish community that was uprooted just as her family was as a result of the discourse there. She may or may not have realized this while writing the novel, however, she puts enough historic facts that it also because a record of the turmoil in the world during and after World War II. Her authorship was enjoyable and made the book feel shorter than it actually was. It was easy to lose track of how much time I had been reading for.
Focusing on her father’s reactions most of all probably comes from her close connection to him, however, it also inadvertently adds to the historic telling of the plight of Jewish immigrants, and any other immigrant for that matter, in America and New York City. It shows the real struggle of coping with the sudden and severe shift of leaving your home country and possibly the only country you’ve ever known, without a choice. Leon grappled with going from the well-to-do man he was back in lavish Cairo to the man in need of welfare in a cement city. This was the case of refugees many don’t think about. Many without first-hand or even second-hand experience think that any refugee that can make it to America and to New York City is better off and thankful for it. The Man in the Sharkskin Suit shows that some refugees once had a better live in their homeland. If it weren’t for the absolute need to escape injustice, some much rather stay right where they were. Coming to America took more than just their riches away, it took the Lagnados’ lifestyle. Leon missed smelling flowers and complained of the city being odorless. These are things many people may never think about when they are brought to reflect on immigrants in New York City.
In our class this is not something I, personally, had yet thought of. It’s hard hearing the word “refugee” and imagining someone who used to have great wealth. Reading this book brought me a more personal and all-encompassing understanding on immigration on the terms of refugees.
Questions:
1) Is it better to learn of history through several personal stories to get a more in-depth picture, or do personal accounts skew the facts too much?
2) If Leon found more business to work in New York as soon as they immigrated, would he have focused on what he missed as much?
