Each year, a book is selected for the entire incoming class to read as part of the First Year Reading Program. The book is given to each freshman during summer orientation to provide a head start in academic studies before classes begin. Over the course of the fall semester, we engage in a dialogue about the book. Through a variety of events and activities, including a visit by the author on Undergraduate College Commons Day (October 21st, 2009), incoming freshmen have the opportunity to explore this book with their peers, instructors, and the broader campus community. Ideally, you will continue this dialogue, both in and outside of your classes, and bring your own experiences and viewpoints to bear on the issues raised in the book. The University does not necessarily endorse the viewpoints expressed by the author, but discussing issues like these are an important part of higher education.
The 2009 First-Year Reading is Sounds of the River by Da Chen
Themes that correspond to the first year experience
“…Da Chen’s touching new memoir…is refreshing in its simple, conversational tone…his most lyrical prose often emerges when he is writing about his roots: the fields, smells, and foods of his rural homeland. No matter how high he will climb, it’s clear he was nurturing a gift for language and observation long before he reached Beijing or America…With frankness and elegance, Chen paints himself in this memoir as a bridge between old and new, connecting the struggles of his ancestors with his own success.”
“…Chen recounts his often-awkward coming-of-age with humor, affection and a freshness that derives both from his almost implausible naivete and his relish at writing in his second language. Sounds of the River’s greatest strength may be the way Chen’s own awakening mirrors that of the country around him as it emerges from the Cultural Revolution…By the heartwarming tale’s end, the bumbling country boy Chen Da is well on his way to becoming the talented American writer, Da Chen.”
“Da Chen’s absorbing and moving new memoir, SOUNDS OF THE RIVER, is about a Chinese boy desperately making his way West…What makes this vivid coming-of-age story so worthy is not so much the lively and amusing anecdotes of university or city life…or the often lush descriptions of life in Beijing…but a bracingly wry self-awareness that gives traction to a story that could be cloying but is instead funny, exciting, and moving.”