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A review by kiki_lomein
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
4.0
I found myself narrating my own life in the voice of this author by the end, as it’s both sympathetic but incisive, both seeing and feeling. That’s to say it felt like a very fair shake, but also made me really evaluate me and those around me—how our actions and understandings and capacities all play into the reality of things.
Overall, I understand mental illness a little better, I feel frustrated at how capitalism thwarts availability and access to care and treatments, and overall I feel very sympathetic to the families who suffer.
My only complaint—sometimes Kolker kept too much of a remove. Instead of calling rape rape, for example, he would sidestep in an effort to maintain a position of neutrality, which I realize is essential to how the book succeeds BUT feels a bit like endorsement at the same time. Fine line to walk, he did it well, but I felt frustrated at the language leading up to calling the thing what it was, which was chapters and chapters later.
Overall, I understand mental illness a little better, I feel frustrated at how capitalism thwarts availability and access to care and treatments, and overall I feel very sympathetic to the families who suffer.
My only complaint—sometimes Kolker kept too much of a remove. Instead of calling rape rape, for example, he would sidestep in an effort to maintain a position of neutrality, which I realize is essential to how the book succeeds BUT feels a bit like endorsement at the same time. Fine line to walk, he did it well, but I felt frustrated at the language leading up to calling the thing what it was, which was chapters and chapters later.