Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this more than I expected. She's writing abut the hard things - her concussion, having children, (and som mortal danger associated with) child acting and the dangers... easy quick, enjoyable read. Great vacation fare.
This was one of the best books I have read this year. Having raised three children who were child actors and dancers caused me to compare my own perspectives with her life story (luckily very different). Brave does not even come close to describing my admiration for what Polley has endured throughout her life, as well as her publishing a telling of it.
I don't think you can read any of these essays without coming away with admiration for the writer's strength and endurance. Each challenge would be enough on it's own, but her life has been a series of them. It speaks to her character that she has come through with grace and integrity and had the courage to write and reflect on her life and actions.
As someone who grew up watching Road to Avonlea and enjoyed Sarahs films as an adult, it was interesting to read this collection of essays. Despite the conceit and flagrant gossipy nature of the documentary she made about her mother cheating, this book was good. Not great, but good. The writing style could have been better as it was about the quality of a blog rather than a pseudo-memoir.
I had no idea that the business was that awful for kids. I wonder if it's changed these days. Let's hope so.
I had no idea that the business was that awful for kids. I wonder if it's changed these days. Let's hope so.
This book is very important to me. I wrote a lot of notes and I read every single word; the endnotes and acknowledgements included.
I didn’t much like the first chapter “Alice, Collapsing” where Polley details her inclusion as a child in a Stratford production of Alice in Wonderland. The scene where she describes being pulled aside to be told she was adding an extra vowel at the end of every word was just too….wtf. Very hard to imagine. Confusing. And seemed a bit unrealistic or over the top? I did like the character development of her Auntie Anne. She came across as witty and hilarious.
I have always strongly disliked the story of Alice in Wonderland, so reading an entire chapter about a story I detest was just ennuyant. The background information about Lewis Caroll being a total pedophile was like, yeah…duh. Were we supposed to correlate Caroll with Polley's dad? He kept making inappropriate comments…I guess her relationship with him was fraught.
The essay “The Woman Who Stayed Silent” was one of my favourites. It was so well written. So many excellently articulated lines that drove home the realities of victims of assault. So many different perspectives were addressed. The simplicity of some lines was really powerful regarding how and why victims may behave in certain ways after an assault.
The essay “High Risk” was really difficult to relate to but had one of the most gut-wrenching lines. When describing the day before her mother died Polley notes giving her mother an amethyst necklace and telling her it would heal her and that she would be fine. She writes, “Later, I realized that if she could hear me that morning, she heard an eleven-year-old who didn’t know her mother was going to die, who didn’t know how to say goodbye or even that she should”. I cried.
In the essay “Mad Genius” Polley expertly lays out the complications of memory and trauma. “So much of coming to terms with hard things from the past seems to be about believing our own accounts, having our memories confirmed by those who were there and honoured by those who weren’t”. Incredibly succinct and accurate.
Reading the essay “Dissolving the Boundaries” (I mean, the entire book really), was a complete game changer for me in terms of how I think of child actors. It is entirely inappropriate! As a society, we don’t believe children should work. That should be the full stop. But it just isn’t so. Polley details being a child actor and meeting terminally ill children whose wish it was to meet her. That seems like emotional abuse.
The essay “Run Towards the Danger” where Polley details her symptoms from a concussion accident was another game changer for me. Polley sprinkles humour throughout this essay but it was so sad to read because truths are hidden when it comes to invisible symptoms or injuries.
I will read or consume anything Polley puts out in the future.
I didn’t much like the first chapter “Alice, Collapsing” where Polley details her inclusion as a child in a Stratford production of Alice in Wonderland. The scene where she describes being pulled aside to be told she was adding an extra vowel at the end of every word was just too….wtf. Very hard to imagine. Confusing. And seemed a bit unrealistic or over the top? I did like the character development of her Auntie Anne. She came across as witty and hilarious.
I have always strongly disliked the story of Alice in Wonderland, so reading an entire chapter about a story I detest was just ennuyant. The background information about Lewis Caroll being a total pedophile was like, yeah…duh. Were we supposed to correlate Caroll with Polley's dad? He kept making inappropriate comments…I guess her relationship with him was fraught.
The essay “The Woman Who Stayed Silent” was one of my favourites. It was so well written. So many excellently articulated lines that drove home the realities of victims of assault. So many different perspectives were addressed. The simplicity of some lines was really powerful regarding how and why victims may behave in certain ways after an assault.
The essay “High Risk” was really difficult to relate to but had one of the most gut-wrenching lines. When describing the day before her mother died Polley notes giving her mother an amethyst necklace and telling her it would heal her and that she would be fine. She writes, “Later, I realized that if she could hear me that morning, she heard an eleven-year-old who didn’t know her mother was going to die, who didn’t know how to say goodbye or even that she should”. I cried.
In the essay “Mad Genius” Polley expertly lays out the complications of memory and trauma. “So much of coming to terms with hard things from the past seems to be about believing our own accounts, having our memories confirmed by those who were there and honoured by those who weren’t”. Incredibly succinct and accurate.
Reading the essay “Dissolving the Boundaries” (I mean, the entire book really), was a complete game changer for me in terms of how I think of child actors. It is entirely inappropriate! As a society, we don’t believe children should work. That should be the full stop. But it just isn’t so. Polley details being a child actor and meeting terminally ill children whose wish it was to meet her. That seems like emotional abuse.
The essay “Run Towards the Danger” where Polley details her symptoms from a concussion accident was another game changer for me. Polley sprinkles humour throughout this essay but it was so sad to read because truths are hidden when it comes to invisible symptoms or injuries.
I will read or consume anything Polley puts out in the future.
This is one I am going to be recommending for a long time. I LOVED THIS BOOK. The audiobook version was excellent. It should come as no surprise that a woman who just won an Oscar for screenwriting can tell a story but DAMN does Sarah Polley tell a story. The essays in this book are so personal, vulnerable, and visceral, but they are also written so well that it's hard to even describe. I thought I knew a decent amount about Sarah Polley. I had seen a handful of things she acted in, Take This Waltz, Women Talking and her documentary that came out a few years ago. There was so much more that I had no idea about. A lot of people have interesting loves but not very many can tell their stories this well. Read this one.
Really loved this book of essays (imagine that), and even more loved the message and outlook the author has on life that comes to light in the final essay. She details a couple really tough topics and experiences with grace.
The inspiration this book gives me to “run towards the danger” takes it from 4 to 5 stars. I’m impressed with how much it makes me want to be a better, braver person without being anything close to a self help book.
The inspiration this book gives me to “run towards the danger” takes it from 4 to 5 stars. I’m impressed with how much it makes me want to be a better, braver person without being anything close to a self help book.
Sarah Polley is a skilled writer and offers incredible insight on the act of remembering. There are many parts of this book that I imagine, were difficult to write, and I'm sure publication was a nerve-wracking process.
It is a brave and honest book about all sorts of things: family dysfunction, child labor, sexual assault, and complex healthcare needs.
Well worth reading, even if you weren't a fan of Road to Avonlea or Baron Von Munchausen.
It is a brave and honest book about all sorts of things: family dysfunction, child labor, sexual assault, and complex healthcare needs.
Well worth reading, even if you weren't a fan of Road to Avonlea or Baron Von Munchausen.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced