Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Sebold is very blunt and outspoken in telling her traumatic story. You pull for her through her retelling of the grueling, painful life experience she had at such a young age in such different times.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I thought Alice was wickedly straight up, and I appreciate her willingness to be a voice for rape victims and PTSD.
What an amazing journey of self-discovery and healing. No one can call Sebold a victim.
Powerful words, an unbelievable journey.
Powerful words, an unbelievable journey.
This is an older book by Sebold. I thought it was very brutal--at times, even hard to read. I have never read a book where a rape was described in such detail and to add to that, Sebold was describing her own rape, that took place while she was a college freshman at Syracuse University. It was her first sexual experience. At once, you feel so sorry for her, but then you are uplifted by the strength and determination she showed while testifying in court and bringing her rapist to justice. Like her other books, this one is a quick read, but it is so depressing. It doesn't end in a way that makes you feel good. There is no happy ending. She doesn't fall in love and live happily ever after. The reader wants her to be okay, but she never really will be. As one character states, there are just some things you don't get over. Sebold will never get over her rape, and there were a few times she thought she did in this book. But it always came back, and she drank, ate, and did drugs to cope. There is never any real closure for her, and it hurts the reader because we want her to be fixed.
Some reviewers on Amazon.com said she came off as being selfish. They were probably referring to her attempts at trying to help a friend who was also raped, cope with the trauma. But her friend chose to handle it differently. She just wanted to make it go away. She didn't want to find this guy and bring him to trial. I don't think Sebold was being selfish at all. She was trying to help in the only way she knew how, and her friendship ended with this woman because this woman couldn't be like her and having her in her life was a constant reminder of the strength she didn't have.
I didn't really like the "Aftermath" section of the book. I don't feel like Sebold put as much thought into it as the rest of the book. It should have been called "Afterthought." I imagine her editor sitting her down and saying this book doesn't really end and people will want to know what happened next. I would have never given Sebold that advice. I would have said it not necessarily on an upbeat note, but let the reader know that there is still hope and that while you suffered a trauma, there is still life after it. You can go on to other, positive experiences, but that the memory of your trauma is never as distant as you want it to be.
Some reviewers on Amazon.com said she came off as being selfish. They were probably referring to her attempts at trying to help a friend who was also raped, cope with the trauma. But her friend chose to handle it differently. She just wanted to make it go away. She didn't want to find this guy and bring him to trial. I don't think Sebold was being selfish at all. She was trying to help in the only way she knew how, and her friendship ended with this woman because this woman couldn't be like her and having her in her life was a constant reminder of the strength she didn't have.
I didn't really like the "Aftermath" section of the book. I don't feel like Sebold put as much thought into it as the rest of the book. It should have been called "Afterthought." I imagine her editor sitting her down and saying this book doesn't really end and people will want to know what happened next. I would have never given Sebold that advice. I would have said it not necessarily on an upbeat note, but let the reader know that there is still hope and that while you suffered a trauma, there is still life after it. You can go on to other, positive experiences, but that the memory of your trauma is never as distant as you want it to be.
This book is intense and sad. Based on a true story, Alice Sebold pulls from a horrific experience and the consequences following. If you enjoy reading about the dark side of the world, with a light of hope shining at the end of the tunnel... then pick up this book. It's a quick and easy read for the average book worm.
Powerful is too tame a word. Sebold's memoir of being raped at 19 is more than a replay of the brutal act. Part of what made it riveting is that she reflects upon what a multifaceted crime rape is. It changes her relationship to her family, her friends, her body, to every man she meets, to law enforcement, her own security, where she lives, to sexism, and to her own future. Luckily, there is some redemption here, in the trial of her rapist and in Sebold's own steely strength.
I read Sebold's novels prior to reading her memoir. Knowing what she lived through definitely puts context into how she was able to come up with such horrific/morbid tales. The memoir was fascinating to see how one woman handled such a terrible crime. Chronicling what she then experienced as a friend was also raped depicts that no two people will respond the same. They shouldn't be expected to and as friends/acquaintances we should support them as individuals and not categorically the same.