Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir by Jami Nakamura Lin

5 reviews

chris_reads's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

The writing style, the illustrations, the philosophical musings on mental health, cultural preservation, and the transient nature of memory being expressed through metaphors of folklore were breathtaking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Cancer, Drug abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Racism, Self harm, Infertility, and Medical content

hmetwade's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Chronic illness, and Forced institutionalization

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Miscarriage, and Terminal illness

starrysteph's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

The Night Parade is a truly beautiful book - both in its art (the collection of illustrations by the author’s sister are hauntingly gorgeous) and in its language. 

This is Jami Nakamura Lin’s story, and it’s not framed like many other memoirs or fictional books centered around mental illness. This isn’t a narrative of hitting rock bottom and forging your way towards a triumphant future. It’s as messy as life is, and Lin navigates the reality of living with mental illness and grief: it’s a never ending rollercoaster. You learn to coexist with your ghosts. 

She finds new ways to explore her experience with mental illness, grief & loss, and motherhood. A big part of the storytelling involves the Japanese myth of the Hyakki Yagyo. Sections begin with a yokai, and the narration often uses different elements of folklore and myth. The memoir is also written in a four act structure, which I thought was pretty neat.

I don’t think all the segments are equally successful - and sometimes the connections to the yokai felt a bit forced - but when it worked, boy did it work. Some moments broke me, and others were so relatable. I love memoirs that push boundaries, and this one was a fascinating experiment. 

(Also as someone who has experienced several pyogenic granulomas I was pretty excited to read about Lin’s experience - I mean, they’re a bummer, but this is the first time I’ve seen them mentioned in a book.)

CW: mental illness, death of parent, suicide attempt, miscarriage, pregnancy, forced institutionalization, cancer, terminal illness

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Chronic illness, Grief, and Terminal illness

sarahweyand's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

The speculative/metaphorical memoir genre has led to some of my all-time favorite nonfiction: In the Dream House, How Far the Light Reaches among them. So I am devastated when a book written in a similar style falls relatively flat to me. It's still a good memoir, but allow me to explain.

First: a personal bias: I was not expecting death to be such a prevalent theme. I figured it would be mentioned, but it was very pervasive and that topic often gives me anxiety and existential dread. This book was a lot sadder than anticipated and if I had known that I probably wouldn't have picked it up.

The premise of combining a memoir about mental illness and pregnancy and grief with a Japanese four-act narrative structure is brilliant. I enjoyed learning about yokai and other figures of legend from various cultures and I think I probably missed out by listening to this as an audiobook and not seeing the illustrations in the text.

However, some of the allusions to mythology and folklore seemed to fragment and confuse the memoir narrative. At times I felt like I wasn't drawing the proper comparisons between the memories presented and their legend/storytelling counterparts. I really wanted to stay engaged in the story, but I felt like I lost the thread a few too many times.

There's definitely something here to learn and reflect on, and this format is unique and thought-provoking. I might just not be its audience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Cancer, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization