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4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
This was a pleasantly surprising read. Well written and authentic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma
This is an incredible essay collection, beautifully written. One of the best memoirs I’ve ever read.
I wish I could tell Sarah Polley just how much her writing means to me, and how much I relate.
I wish I could tell Sarah Polley just how much her writing means to me, and how much I relate.
3.5
I think quarantine broke my reading life because I just read a nine hour audiobook in one day
I think quarantine broke my reading life because I just read a nine hour audiobook in one day
Part way through this book I read a handful of 1 and 2 star reviews for this memoir. I couldn’t disagree more.
I do not have a lot of experience reading memoirs, however strongly disagree with the low rating reviews. Many of them claim this is a middle class white lady violin “woe is me” ballot. I do not feel that way. I would never classify this as a “self help book”. (You want that, head over to “Untamed” By Doyle [although lots of good tidbits in there]).
I did not get the sense of “look at my trauma and look how far I’ve come”. Very interesting themes of memory were revisited multiple times, in a way I’ve never heard before. I closed the book thinking that Polley shared a raw recollection of life events (and traumas) that were challenging to navigate on multiple levels. She’s not completely heal from the events (what does that even mean, anyways!?) She isn’t preaching she has all the answers nor does she ever state she has it all figured out. It was a content ending but I would not put it in the “happy ending” bucket.
Polley’s essays stood alone yet quietly intertwined themes that in the moment the reader might miss, but as you work through the essays and reflect, you can seen the woven patterns starting to emerge.
I haven’t read a memoir or any book for that matter with this type of writing style. It was very unique and uncommon (to me). I felt like I was reading multiple threads of the same story in past, present and future tense. It was not confusing.
The ending essay about her concussion recovery was interesting and felt short in comparison to the other essays. The perspective of “run towards the danger” made sense to me for a brain injury but doesn’t apply to all aspect of trauma or injury - at least not in my opinion. But there was dense content to still “take home” and could be applied to other aspects of life.
I had no clue when I started what I was getting myself into … It was a nice surprised.
I do not have a lot of experience reading memoirs, however strongly disagree with the low rating reviews. Many of them claim this is a middle class white lady violin “woe is me” ballot. I do not feel that way. I would never classify this as a “self help book”. (You want that, head over to “Untamed” By Doyle [although lots of good tidbits in there]).
I did not get the sense of “look at my trauma and look how far I’ve come”. Very interesting themes of memory were revisited multiple times, in a way I’ve never heard before. I closed the book thinking that Polley shared a raw recollection of life events (and traumas) that were challenging to navigate on multiple levels. She’s not completely heal from the events (what does that even mean, anyways!?) She isn’t preaching she has all the answers nor does she ever state she has it all figured out. It was a content ending but I would not put it in the “happy ending” bucket.
Polley’s essays stood alone yet quietly intertwined themes that in the moment the reader might miss, but as you work through the essays and reflect, you can seen the woven patterns starting to emerge.
I haven’t read a memoir or any book for that matter with this type of writing style. It was very unique and uncommon (to me). I felt like I was reading multiple threads of the same story in past, present and future tense. It was not confusing.
The ending essay about her concussion recovery was interesting and felt short in comparison to the other essays. The perspective of “run towards the danger” made sense to me for a brain injury but doesn’t apply to all aspect of trauma or injury - at least not in my opinion. But there was dense content to still “take home” and could be applied to other aspects of life.
I had no clue when I started what I was getting myself into … It was a nice surprised.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Through six essays, Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director and actor Sarah Polley recounts the events that have most shaped her life to this date; from her stage debut in the Stratford Festival as Alice, to complicated feelings about her relationship with Jian Gomeshi, to a severe concussion that changed how she lived her life.
As is the case with most story/essay collections, some stories will latch onto your heart more than others. For me, “The Woman Who Stayed Silent”, the story of the sexual assault she experienced at the hands of Jian Gomeshi; and “Mad Genius”, the exploration of how the film industry depicts and heroizes eccentric male filmmakers, really stuck with me throughout, and after, reading this book.
I loved how Sarah took her experiences, some I shared, like scoliosis and anxiety, and wove in metaphorical and physiological explorations. The parallelism of her crooked spine and the lack of a linear childhood was not lost on me.
I wish we had explored her relationship with her father a bit more; Sarah made many subtle links between her father and Charles Dodgson, a man who had an inappropriate relationship with a young woman named Alice, who later became the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. Sarah’s father seemed infatuated with his daughter, and the line was delicately ridden between what was appropriate and not. Would have loved a whole essay on that.
Overall, I thought this was a beautiful memoir, and I loved hearing the stories of such a successful Canadian woman.
As is the case with most story/essay collections, some stories will latch onto your heart more than others. For me, “The Woman Who Stayed Silent”, the story of the sexual assault she experienced at the hands of Jian Gomeshi; and “Mad Genius”, the exploration of how the film industry depicts and heroizes eccentric male filmmakers, really stuck with me throughout, and after, reading this book.
I loved how Sarah took her experiences, some I shared, like scoliosis and anxiety, and wove in metaphorical and physiological explorations. The parallelism of her crooked spine and the lack of a linear childhood was not lost on me.
I wish we had explored her relationship with her father a bit more; Sarah made many subtle links between her father and Charles Dodgson, a man who had an inappropriate relationship with a young woman named Alice, who later became the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. Sarah’s father seemed infatuated with his daughter, and the line was delicately ridden between what was appropriate and not. Would have loved a whole essay on that.
Overall, I thought this was a beautiful memoir, and I loved hearing the stories of such a successful Canadian woman.