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booksandladders 's review for:
Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory
by Sarah Polley
See this review and more on Books and Ladders!
Content Warning: Sexual assault, body dysmorphia, PTSD, death scare, pregnancy, surgery, parental death, parental neglect, concussions, stage fright, child actor
I picked this up because it's one of the shortlist books for the 2022 Toronto Book Awards and I also wanted to see Women Talking at TIFF (but didn't make it). But I kinda wish I hadn't. This is the type of memoir that pretends to be insights into what happens when you don't look at mental health struggles, and the life of someone who lives with trauma, but doesn't dig deep into those. Considering these are six stories that are supposed to be the "most dangerous stories of [her] life," I just didn't feel all that connected to them.
I only had empathy for Sarah during the J*an Gh*meshi essay - her story of being sexually assaulted at 16 was hard to read. And even harder to read that people believed her but also place doubt on her and her story. I remember following that story really closely and waiting to see what would happen.
But the rest of this memoir is ... meh. I know I should feel more empathy but this feels more like a humble brag than a "these bad things happened and I want to share my story." I know that the goal of this was to look at "a charmed and successful life" from the other side, but I don't know that I have that much sympathy for someone who still is in show business, still extremely successful, and still is able to get everything.
I don't think I can fully recommend this. I've read some really good essay collections, but this was not it. I have a feeling Jennette McCurdy's book will be much better.
Content Warning: Sexual assault, body dysmorphia, PTSD, death scare, pregnancy, surgery, parental death, parental neglect, concussions, stage fright, child actor
I picked this up because it's one of the shortlist books for the 2022 Toronto Book Awards and I also wanted to see Women Talking at TIFF (but didn't make it). But I kinda wish I hadn't. This is the type of memoir that pretends to be insights into what happens when you don't look at mental health struggles, and the life of someone who lives with trauma, but doesn't dig deep into those. Considering these are six stories that are supposed to be the "most dangerous stories of [her] life," I just didn't feel all that connected to them.
I only had empathy for Sarah during the J*an Gh*meshi essay - her story of being sexually assaulted at 16 was hard to read. And even harder to read that people believed her but also place doubt on her and her story. I remember following that story really closely and waiting to see what would happen.
But the rest of this memoir is ... meh. I know I should feel more empathy but this feels more like a humble brag than a "these bad things happened and I want to share my story." I know that the goal of this was to look at "a charmed and successful life" from the other side, but I don't know that I have that much sympathy for someone who still is in show business, still extremely successful, and still is able to get everything.
I don't think I can fully recommend this. I've read some really good essay collections, but this was not it. I have a feeling Jennette McCurdy's book will be much better.