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4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Polley’s set of essays shares unique insight into the human experience. She describes her most difficult experiences, and in sharing them she turns back toward danger (reliving them) to heal personally and to allow us as readers to reflect and heal socially. This was so moving. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the series of essays or the content and it blew me away. I was especially moved by “The Woman Who Stayed Silent” and “Run Towards the Danger.” Polley’s candor and vulnerability opened me up and taught me.
challenging
emotional
reflective
Having been out of Canada for 28 of the past 30 years, I had lost track of what Sarah Polley had been doing. I vaguely remembered her as someone in the entertainment industry (not having watched Road to Avonlea), and I must have read a review of this book in order to seek it out at the library. The book is a series of long-form essays covering different periods of her life - when she was in Alice in Wonderland at the Stratford festival, dealing with Jian Ghomeshi #metoo issues, the trauma of being in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and pregnancy/birth difficulties. Each essay is so compellingly written, clearly reflecting Polley's state of mind at the time - whether it is providing some later psychological insight or quickly switching to what others may have been telling her how to feel in the particular situation. Margaret Atwood said this on Twitter - it is spot on: "Fascinating, harrowing, courageous, and deeply felt".
I loved the final two essays, on concussions (title essay) and about visiting PEI. the rest of the book was also good, and I enjoyed the long look at each subject. This was more an essay collection than a memoir, but that freed it from some of the more boring typical expectations of a book like this.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Wow. I enjoyed listening to this book so much. I loved her honesty, writing style, and little interjections of humor. For all my fellow SLP--read the final chapter!!
A well written series of tales exploring vulnerability and how trauma impacts a life. I imagine it was very cathartic to process all of these events and their various outcomes. I journal a lot myself in therapy; sorting through the events in my life like pieces of a puzzle to see how they connect, and how I've learned from them.
I own this one, and will likely add it into my rotation of audiobook I listen to from time to time. There are lessons to be learned here, and ones not likely fully absorbed with a single pass.
Favorite quote:
What follows are some of the most dangerous stories of my life: the ones I have avoided, the ones I haven’t told, the ones that have kept me awake on countless nights. These are stories that have haunted and directed me, unwittingly, down circuitous paths. As these stories found echoes in my adult life, and then went another, better way than they did in childhood, they became lighter and easier to carry. These stories don’t add up to a portrait of a life, or even a snapshot of one. They are about the transformative power of an ever-evolving relationship to memory. Telling them is a form of running towards the danger.
I own this one, and will likely add it into my rotation of audiobook I listen to from time to time. There are lessons to be learned here, and ones not likely fully absorbed with a single pass.
Favorite quote:
What follows are some of the most dangerous stories of my life: the ones I have avoided, the ones I haven’t told, the ones that have kept me awake on countless nights. These are stories that have haunted and directed me, unwittingly, down circuitous paths. As these stories found echoes in my adult life, and then went another, better way than they did in childhood, they became lighter and easier to carry. These stories don’t add up to a portrait of a life, or even a snapshot of one. They are about the transformative power of an ever-evolving relationship to memory. Telling them is a form of running towards the danger.
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I'll come back and edit this bc I have to let my thoughts marinate. Still, I have to say this was a wonderful read. Polley puts into words many things that I have struggled with and makes me feel a bit less alone
Meaningful moments in the life of a sensitive soul. A few things particularly resonated with me, considering where I am at in life.