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A review by frasersimons
Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley
5.0
I actually had only vague associations with the name Sarah Polley. I remember Stories We Tell, written and directed by her, but that’s about it. I say this because, often, memoir intersections like this essay collection, written by someone with parasocial relationships from being in the public eye, rely on an affinity toward the author developed elsewhere. This collection is not like that. Nor is it, as it may telegraph from the title, a vapid cringe self-help intersection.
This is a very well crafted—especially in structure—formulation of really key events in Polley’s life, starting with what should have been unbridled success at an early age: The production of Alice in Wonderland, with her as a lead. Instead, it’s merely a small toe in a large pond of a complicated relationship to being a child performer. One that other essays expound upon, but immediately, I imagine, reorient fans of Polley to who she actually is, rather than the various personas and characters she’s adopted through her work.
Polley has not had it easy, though in other ways is immensely privileged. She knows this, acknowledges it, and is adept at drawing boundaries for each piece collected here. It is surgical in it’s points regarding trauma, physical head injuries, memory, grief, motherhood, and the cost of her being a child star. Something perceived as a wish come true, but is far more complex than it’s perception.
I found this really moving, well written, excellently narrated, immensely informative, and often absolutely harrowing.
This is a very well crafted—especially in structure—formulation of really key events in Polley’s life, starting with what should have been unbridled success at an early age: The production of Alice in Wonderland, with her as a lead. Instead, it’s merely a small toe in a large pond of a complicated relationship to being a child performer. One that other essays expound upon, but immediately, I imagine, reorient fans of Polley to who she actually is, rather than the various personas and characters she’s adopted through her work.
Polley has not had it easy, though in other ways is immensely privileged. She knows this, acknowledges it, and is adept at drawing boundaries for each piece collected here. It is surgical in it’s points regarding trauma, physical head injuries, memory, grief, motherhood, and the cost of her being a child star. Something perceived as a wish come true, but is far more complex than it’s perception.
I found this really moving, well written, excellently narrated, immensely informative, and often absolutely harrowing.