The Foreign Student - Philippe Labro (Extra book)

How strange to read my second The Foreign Student in two days, this one by Philippe Labro.  This one is a bit more of what I expected.  A quick read and a “coming of age” autobiographical story that the author lived himself (or at least it appears a good deal of it is) in 1955. The story is based in a small liberal arts college in Virginia (Washington and Lee?) where the young French student is awarded a one year scholarship to attend for his freshman year.  The book is broken into cycle of the academic year, autumn, winter, and spring and all of the highlights and traditions that a college campus offers.  Philippe experiences the transitions that any first-year student does: fitting in, finding friends, and dealing with academic difficulties, plus all of the issues that an international student would experience as well (language barriers, American colloquialisms, feeling self-conscious).   The book includes some of the same issues that we experience today as back in 1950s: sexual orientation, homosexuality, social class, sexual promiscuity, race issues, financial difficulties, role of alcohol on campus, suicide, and self-esteem (He jammed in all of the same issues we see these days!).  The book begins as a self-reflective look back on the freshman year where Philippe remembers the death of a fellow classmate and moves into his elicit sexual relationship with an African-American older women.  It was interesting how realistic the story was and how much it relates to many of the issues that we find on our campuses today.  It was one of those fast reads I finished on my day off and enjoyed the journey and growing up phases that Philippe went through.  There are a number of issues that would help people who work on a college campus to think through the life of an international student.  There is also the changing societal issues happening during the 1950s with race relations in the south, especially the surprise relationship that develops for Philippe (music’s impact on students, on-coming sexual revolution, and the Civil Rights movement).  The book was a #1 best-selling book in France when published.  I can see why, kind of like the Catcher in the Rye sort of journey.  A period piece, yet does more than one would expect for even today’s readers.  Worth picking it up for student affairs staff.