Yes. Another book report! Well this time I read The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles. It's a story about friendship, chasing your dreams and losing them in an instant. Graça is an heiress to a failing sugar ranch in northern Brazil and Dores is an orphaned kitchen servant to the estate. The two girls are instant friends considering their place in society, but Dores quickly realizes she will do anything and go anywhere with Graça . The two escape their lives from northern Brazil to chase their dreams of becoming radio singers in Rio de Janiero. Dores' devotion is put to the test when Graça becomes the star and she does not. Their friendship hangs on a string as Graça's fame becomes bigger and bigger until she goes to America. I really enjoyed this novel because it explored a part of the world to which I have never been, Brazil. The story is set right before World War II, and the political climate sneaks into places of Dores and Graça's story where you would never imagine. I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a novel about friendship and love, new places and a little bit of history sprinkled in.
The maps are simple enough to explain. I made a size-comparison of Brazil to the United States. You see they are both very large countries around the same size, but projections can distort the size and shape of countries, making it difficult to see the size comparison on flat maps. Here are pictures of a map hanging in my office.
Now since, this is a decorative canvas, I'm not 100% sure of the projection, but I think it's pretty safe to assume it is a Mercator projection based on the size, shape and location of the continents. The Mercator is famously known as a standard for navigation in the 16th century but greatly distorts the size of landmasses farther away from the equator. The biggest tell of this is the comparison of Greenland to Africa. Take a look here to see other map projections. This flat Mercator projection also distorts the sizes of the US and Brazil. If you compare these two countries using this map, it looks like Brazil is not wide enough east to west to fit even half of the United States, yet in an actual size comparison, they are nearly the same. Brazil also looks much longer north to south than in an actual comparison.
Every projection will have distortions because the purpose of a projection is to view a 3D world on 2D plane. However, there are some tricks that make this size comparison accurate and possible. My maps are projected in "The World from Space", a digital projection centered on each country, or city within their own map. Therefore, the distortion is happening in other parts of the map but not on my location of interest. Then, I simply created a new layout with the two map data frames on top of one another to show the size comparison. I chose to do both Brazil and the United States and Rio de Janiero and Los Angeles, because the storyline of The Air You Breathe takes place more specifically in the neighborhoods of Rio and Hollywood. Plus, size comparisons are fun and easy. If you're interested in creating one yourself, check out John Nelson's video. He explains is much better than me, and why re-create the wheel?
If anyone is reading this, you may be asking, why does she make her own "book reports" with maps? Well, the answer is pretty simple. I like doing it. Reading has always been a passion of mine, but when life gets busy sometimes it is hard to set aside time for myself. This is my meditation, my way of putting aside time for myself to complete a good book and then using my talents to make some maps. I love being a geospatial analyst but I also love the creativity and design that is involved with making a new product. These little projects of mine help me learn new tricks and explore more map making than I ever thought was possible. So if anyone is out there reading, I encourage you to spend some time on YOU and do what YOU love because we could all use a little more happiness in the world. Take care, and leave me a comment if you get a chance!
Book
The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles