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dinasamimi's review against another edition
3.0
The writing is really lovely at a sentence level but this memoir goes nowhere. Maybe Grue is a big star in Norway and that is context enough for the target reader, whoever that is, but I definitely felt kept at a distance. Grue does zero grappling with his privilege and intersectionality in the greater disability world. I did not appreciate the heavy use of quotes as a sort of narrative arc? He needs quite a bit more growth and self-exploration in order to write a fully fleshed memoir, which this is not.
ipetrine's review against another edition
5.0
Jeg er overrasket over hvor godt jeg likte Jeg lever et liv som ligner deres. Jan Grue leser selv lydboken, og det var nok med på å løfte hele leseopplevelsen. Sitatene, rytmen, stilen - alt kommer til sin fulle rett i denne lydboken, som tilgjengeliggjør det utilgjengelige ved teksten. Jeg er faktisk ikke sikker på om jeg hadde kommet like godt inn i teksten dersom jeg hadde lest den på papir eller skjerm, noe jeg ser flere har slitt med. Grues formidlingsevne er fabelaktig, og den kler den nakne og selvransakende historien han forteller. Jeg så noen andre bruke uttrykket "horisontutvidende" om denne boken, og det er så treffende at jeg vil låne det.
Lurer du på hvilken lydbok du skal avslutte 2019 med, har du altså en glødende anbefaling her.
Lurer du på hvilken lydbok du skal avslutte 2019 med, har du altså en glødende anbefaling her.
kristinvdt's review against another edition
5.0
Medrivende og lettlest men med masse dybde og tyngde. Imponerende blanding av egen historie og filosofisk/akademisk tilnærming til det å leve med et handicap. Denne boka sitter lenge i, og jeg leser den gjerne igjen, for her er det mer å hente.
"Så hender det at man ikke tar seg for. Jeg var et barn som ikke klarte det, som falt hele tiden. En kort stund hadde jeg en blå hjelm i skumplast, men ikke lenge, det finnes verre ting enn å slå hodet, og en av disse er å være et barn som alltid går med en hjelm på hodet."
"Så hender det at man ikke tar seg for. Jeg var et barn som ikke klarte det, som falt hele tiden. En kort stund hadde jeg en blå hjelm i skumplast, men ikke lenge, det finnes verre ting enn å slå hodet, og en av disse er å være et barn som alltid går med en hjelm på hodet."
boggremlin's review
3.0
Jan Grue is a Norwegian professor and author who was born with a spinal muscular disorder, and he writes movingly about the body and his place in society as a person using a wheelchair. It's interesting to consider how Grue's life (and his full participation in what might be called "normal" life) is aided and abetted by being from Norway, with its strong social systems. But Grue has travelled widely, studying abroad in numerous countries, and is insightful about how his life was shaped by his parents' willingness to support him, and how his disability still allows him degrees of freedom.
His writing was most understandable to me in the latter third of the memoir, when he recollects the birth of his son. The way Grue wrote about grief (for the body he does and does not have, for the life he lives and did not live) and about how he understood his own personhood after meeting his son and realizing that whatever dreams he had had for the unborn baby were now replaced by the person his newborn already was, was incredibly resonant. Especially in the context of his own medical case notes, which are interspersed throughout the text. These are records of his disability, but they aren't the defining characteristic of Grue as a person. "You were just Jan," Grue's parents tell him, and as Grue and his wife settle into parenthood, he begins to understand that statement.
His writing was most understandable to me in the latter third of the memoir, when he recollects the birth of his son. The way Grue wrote about grief (for the body he does and does not have, for the life he lives and did not live) and about how he understood his own personhood after meeting his son and realizing that whatever dreams he had had for the unborn baby were now replaced by the person his newborn already was, was incredibly resonant. Especially in the context of his own medical case notes, which are interspersed throughout the text. These are records of his disability, but they aren't the defining characteristic of Grue as a person. "You were just Jan," Grue's parents tell him, and as Grue and his wife settle into parenthood, he begins to understand that statement.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
A really great look at what life with a disability is like. Written by Norwegian author Jan Grue who has spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair, this book is full of insightful commentary on how human people with disabilities are and the unique challenges they face. I especially enjoyed the sections about him and his wife experiencing the birth of their first child. At certain points he gets a little too cerebral, quoting other writers but overall this was highly relatable and a great book for able bodied readers to educate themselves. Recommended for fans of books like Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig.
ncrozier's review
3.0
This memoir wasn't really written with a narrative, and I just didn't find the style very captivating.
vandreskog's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book in one day. I had a day to myself in a foreign city, and walked from cafe to park bench to random flight of stairs. I sat down, read for an hour, felt a bit chilly or hungry, walked the shortest distance I could get away with, before sitting down and reading some more.
Jan Grue has written a beautifully poignant and literally accomplished memoir about growing up with a disability. At the same time, he draws on his unique academic insights as an accomplished disability studies scholar to make his tale both deeply personal and highly thought provoking and politically relevant. There are so many different strengths to this book. The sections where he's reading his own medical journals from his childhood through the dual lens of his grown-up self and the detached scholar spurred me to think about the objectification of the patient in modern medicine in ways that I never did before. His reflections around the coexistence of his marginalisation as a person with a disability and his privilege as a child of resourceful and committed parents in the highly educated Norwegian (upper) middle class add depth and perspective and challenges some common tropes about the high achieving disabled person.
You can read this book as a memoir. You can read it as an insight into growing up with a disability. You can read it as a thoughtful and mild-mannered call to political action. Whatever, as long as you read it!
Jan Grue has written a beautifully poignant and literally accomplished memoir about growing up with a disability. At the same time, he draws on his unique academic insights as an accomplished disability studies scholar to make his tale both deeply personal and highly thought provoking and politically relevant. There are so many different strengths to this book. The sections where he's reading his own medical journals from his childhood through the dual lens of his grown-up self and the detached scholar spurred me to think about the objectification of the patient in modern medicine in ways that I never did before. His reflections around the coexistence of his marginalisation as a person with a disability and his privilege as a child of resourceful and committed parents in the highly educated Norwegian (upper) middle class add depth and perspective and challenges some common tropes about the high achieving disabled person.
You can read this book as a memoir. You can read it as an insight into growing up with a disability. You can read it as a thoughtful and mild-mannered call to political action. Whatever, as long as you read it!