The Glass Collector by Anne Perera (2011)
Read: May-June 2011
The librarian at work introduced me to this book and I borrowed the school copy to read - on finishing it I went online and bought two copies; one for us and one for my cousin in the UK. It was just brilliant.
The book sounded interesting at first, but on reading it it was so much more than that. The blurb says it is about a boy who lives in the Zebaleen and his job is to collect the glass from the rubbish for recycling. This sounded fascinating to me, as obviously we've visited the Zebaleen a number of times and spoken with them about their work recycling and sorting rubbish, and about what people in Cairo can do to support recycling. I thought it was amazing that a writer had been able to pick up on the story of this community and wanted to see what they had made of it and whether they had done it justice.
They did more than justice to this story - with it being aimed at a teenage audience I thought I'd get through the book in a few days, but by the first chapter I could see it was different. The writing was detailed, but not overly detailed, and the story was so engrossing that you had to really read it; not just skip along.
Read: May-June 2011
The librarian at work introduced me to this book and I borrowed the school copy to read - on finishing it I went online and bought two copies; one for us and one for my cousin in the UK. It was just brilliant.
The book sounded interesting at first, but on reading it it was so much more than that. The blurb says it is about a boy who lives in the Zebaleen and his job is to collect the glass from the rubbish for recycling. This sounded fascinating to me, as obviously we've visited the Zebaleen a number of times and spoken with them about their work recycling and sorting rubbish, and about what people in Cairo can do to support recycling. I thought it was amazing that a writer had been able to pick up on the story of this community and wanted to see what they had made of it and whether they had done it justice.
They did more than justice to this story - with it being aimed at a teenage audience I thought I'd get through the book in a few days, but by the first chapter I could see it was different. The writing was detailed, but not overly detailed, and the story was so engrossing that you had to really read it; not just skip along.
The story was touching on two levels – the situation of the Zebaleen and the situation of this young teenager who faces a harsh home life at the hands of his father and older brothers, whilst longing for a girl’s attention. I think that the story telling did the job of situating this book in the Zebaleen community so well, that you almost don’t realise it. Yes, they are talking about collecting rubbish and having to eek out a living and a meal from scraps they find, but a big deal is not made of this. It made me hopeful that if young people do read this book, then they will accept this community for what they are – hardworking people who have been given a short straw in life, but get on with the work in hand and all they ask for is our compassion and understanding. The boy’s perspective seems so real to me, from my limited knowledge and experience of the community. For example when he says that people don’t even look at him and all he wants is to be acknowledged.
Against all this though is that young teenage angst – when you are too young to really “fancy” someone, but your emotions are in turmoil with feelings about family and friends. This young boy only gains negative attention from his older brother, and his father offers him no attention. He shows care and compassion for the animals on which their lives depend – the donkey that tows their cart – and tries hard to be kind to all his neighbours, even those who he finds annoying and those whose lives he finds scarier than his own (one of his friends collects medical waste).
I was really moved by this book, as it is written about a subject close to my heart, and it is written in a way that allows an understanding of the community that is marginalised in life and in literature.
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