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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
main takeaways:
- religious guilt/brainwashing leaves people unable to enjoy their time on earth. Jeannette's mother thought that pleasure (even "innocent" forms) was wrong, so she truly hated being alive and tried to impress her dreary mindset on those around her. as Jeannette grew up and her mother disapproved of her relationships with women, Jeannette asked her mother to understand that she is happier than ever.... and her mother responds "why be happy when you can be normal." which is crazy and so so so sad.
- adoption is a fracturing. you are missing a part of your story. Jeannette never feels close to her adopted mom, and when she meets her birth mom, it's like meeting a stranger. adopted people have to form their own origin stories. but adoption does not mean you were unwanted.
- autofiction is a way to distance yourself from the intensity of your story while still working through experiences and emotions.
- religious guilt/brainwashing leaves people unable to enjoy their time on earth. Jeannette's mother thought that pleasure (even "innocent" forms) was wrong, so she truly hated being alive and tried to impress her dreary mindset on those around her. as Jeannette grew up and her mother disapproved of her relationships with women, Jeannette asked her mother to understand that she is happier than ever.... and her mother responds "why be happy when you can be normal." which is crazy and so so so sad.
- adoption is a fracturing. you are missing a part of your story. Jeannette never feels close to her adopted mom, and when she meets her birth mom, it's like meeting a stranger. adopted people have to form their own origin stories. but adoption does not mean you were unwanted.
- autofiction is a way to distance yourself from the intensity of your story while still working through experiences and emotions.
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
This memoir lurches forward at times with a sudden rush of drama; other times, it reveals lower middle class mundanity in 1970s northern England. Winterson tells the tale of her life as a seemingly unwanted daughter; her adoptive mother's extreme beliefs make her a tough person to understand. Where Winterson distills these experiences in fiction, here she seems less definite. A good read, esp if you've enjoyed her fiction.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
i always have a tough time with memoirs - i liked this one in some ways, and really liked the author, but they are really not my favorite kind of reading. that said, she seems like an amazing and very smart person......
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced