Sometimes all it takes to get through something is to know you're not alone. To know that somebody else has been there, and they lived. They made it through, and so can you. That's what this book is about.
I'm not a podcast listener, but I know a lot of my friends are. This book is culled from conversations on WTF with Marc Maron. Maron is a comedian and he interviews lots of other comedians, along with other pop culture celebrities like actors, writers, producers, musicians, and even a former president of the United States. And they open up about the most sensitive topics.
One look at the labels with which I tagged this post would lead you to believe it's a depressing book: childhood trauma, addiction, suicide. But it's actually a helpful, hopeful book with true stories and personal insights.
It would be a great book to dip into and out of, but I even found it hard to put down sometimes: I want to know more about what goes on in people's heads and how they've overcome their inner and outer demons.
You may just find the kernel of strength you didn't even know you were searching for.
Showing posts with label suicide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suicide. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Night Film by Marisha Pessi
The death of a famous, reclusive director's daughter prompts a disgraced journalist to reopen his notebook and investigate. Was Ashley Cordova cursed, or merely tragic?
Scott McGrath is driven by revenge and shame into reopening old sores - Stanislav Cordova was the man and the story that destroyed his reputation as an investigative reporter. Looking into Ashley's short life is a side door that leads Scott into a dark place he never really left, years ago.
NOTE: a lot's been said in other reviews about the "enhanced content" that accompanies this book. The included PDF had articles, webpage screenshots, etc. I listened to the audiobook and didn't realize my narrator was also describing that additional material until I was almost finished with the book - it had been seamlessly integrated for audiobook listeners.
Scott McGrath is driven by revenge and shame into reopening old sores - Stanislav Cordova was the man and the story that destroyed his reputation as an investigative reporter. Looking into Ashley's short life is a side door that leads Scott into a dark place he never really left, years ago.
NOTE: a lot's been said in other reviews about the "enhanced content" that accompanies this book. The included PDF had articles, webpage screenshots, etc. I listened to the audiobook and didn't realize my narrator was also describing that additional material until I was almost finished with the book - it had been seamlessly integrated for audiobook listeners.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Love, Alice by Barbara Davis
In the 1960s, a young English woman is sent away in shame. In the now, a young widow wonders where things went so wrong. The two stories meet and intermingle under the guard of a sad South Carolina cemetery angel.
The most famous marker in the cemetery sits not far from Dovie's fiance's headstone, where she visits every day to eat her lunch and wonder why he committed suicide. But one day her attention is drawn over to the Tate angel when an elderly woman leaves a letter (and her glasses) there.
Dovie's beating herself up about something she had no control over, and she's falling apart at the seams. Suddenly, it's much more interesting to get involved in somebody else's drama, even though she can clearly see this meddling is going to be bad for her career and future.
I'm not sure why I picked this book up, and I'm even less sure why I kept reading - it's way too saccharine for my taste, but I persisted. It's not a bad book - if you like romance novels and fated love stories you'll enjoy it. There are twists and minor surprises along the way. It resolves well. (Blech.)
The most famous marker in the cemetery sits not far from Dovie's fiance's headstone, where she visits every day to eat her lunch and wonder why he committed suicide. But one day her attention is drawn over to the Tate angel when an elderly woman leaves a letter (and her glasses) there.
Dovie's beating herself up about something she had no control over, and she's falling apart at the seams. Suddenly, it's much more interesting to get involved in somebody else's drama, even though she can clearly see this meddling is going to be bad for her career and future.
I'm not sure why I picked this book up, and I'm even less sure why I kept reading - it's way too saccharine for my taste, but I persisted. It's not a bad book - if you like romance novels and fated love stories you'll enjoy it. There are twists and minor surprises along the way. It resolves well. (Blech.)
Thursday, February 23, 2017
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson
Where, you ask, is the most dangerous place on earth? The American high school, of course.
This book is considered a novel, but it's almost a series of short stories. Perspective constantly shifts between students, and only a young, new English teacher pops up again and again with an embroiled outsider's perspective on the kids' drama.
The book takes these students from 8th grade through senior year. They study (or not), they party, they get in trouble, and they try to figure out what the world has to offer. We see their actions through the lens of other students (and their teacher), we see their roles in the social caste system, and sometimes we see things from their perspective, too - which often brings new information that alters your reaction to their behavior.
Pretty much they're all self-absorbed shits (they're teenagers - that's the default setting!). But Miss Nicholl isn't too far distanced from her own youth, and her naivety helps illustrate that maturity isn't a threshold you step over, it's more of a series of steps toward an unattainable goal.
The roiling dramas of high school is a near universal touchstone, even if you didn't grow up in this new, technological age, and this is a really, really good book full of complex characters and horrifying, realistic events.
It's being marketed as an adult novel, but it's very much like many of the young adult books being published today (I think the difference is the insertion of an adult rather than an all-teen perspective).
This book is considered a novel, but it's almost a series of short stories. Perspective constantly shifts between students, and only a young, new English teacher pops up again and again with an embroiled outsider's perspective on the kids' drama.
The book takes these students from 8th grade through senior year. They study (or not), they party, they get in trouble, and they try to figure out what the world has to offer. We see their actions through the lens of other students (and their teacher), we see their roles in the social caste system, and sometimes we see things from their perspective, too - which often brings new information that alters your reaction to their behavior.
Pretty much they're all self-absorbed shits (they're teenagers - that's the default setting!). But Miss Nicholl isn't too far distanced from her own youth, and her naivety helps illustrate that maturity isn't a threshold you step over, it's more of a series of steps toward an unattainable goal.
The roiling dramas of high school is a near universal touchstone, even if you didn't grow up in this new, technological age, and this is a really, really good book full of complex characters and horrifying, realistic events.
It's being marketed as an adult novel, but it's very much like many of the young adult books being published today (I think the difference is the insertion of an adult rather than an all-teen perspective).
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Ove is a fantastically detail-oriented person and it drives him crazy that no one does things the right way. Signs are meant to be read. Rules are meant to be followed. Also, schedules are very important.
It took me twice to make it through this book - the first time I picked it up at the recommendation of a Swedish friend, when it was first released in English, but I put it aside after about 40 pages because Ove is just such a bitter crab ass. Since then I've had about 27 library patrons tell me how good this book is and now we're discussing it at the library, so I had no excuse not to sit down and read it.
Now I finally understand the book's popularity!
Ove's a complex man, but it's hard to see past his persnickety nature. As the story goes on, the reader starts to see the man behind the scowl and to better understand his situation. You start to feel sorry for him and to care about his well-being. Just like his new neighbor, Parvaneh.
This book currently is being made into a movie - I've watched the trailer, and I'm curious about the project. So often good books are ruined in the film translation, and this book has such a delicate balance. We'll see how it goes. One good sign - it's being done in Sweden, not in Hollywood!
It took me twice to make it through this book - the first time I picked it up at the recommendation of a Swedish friend, when it was first released in English, but I put it aside after about 40 pages because Ove is just such a bitter crab ass. Since then I've had about 27 library patrons tell me how good this book is and now we're discussing it at the library, so I had no excuse not to sit down and read it.
Now I finally understand the book's popularity!
Ove's a complex man, but it's hard to see past his persnickety nature. As the story goes on, the reader starts to see the man behind the scowl and to better understand his situation. You start to feel sorry for him and to care about his well-being. Just like his new neighbor, Parvaneh.
This book currently is being made into a movie - I've watched the trailer, and I'm curious about the project. So often good books are ruined in the film translation, and this book has such a delicate balance. We'll see how it goes. One good sign - it's being done in Sweden, not in Hollywood!
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Love May Fail by Matthew Quick
In a mid-life crisis meltdown mode (after not quite shooting her philandering husband), Portia Kane returns to her childhood home to figure out her next step - little knowing it will lead her on an epic journey of discovery and disappointment.
Author Matthew Quick has become famous for his fair, honest depiction of human frailties and mental disorder, and this novel is well within that wheelhouse. Every character in the book has his or her issues, but they're not presented as a problem to be solved, just a thing to be experienced.
Portia's quest to "save" her beloved high school English teacher leads her down nostalgia's path in many ways, and the book is full of 1980s-vintage metal and hard rock lyrics, puns, and references. It's also full of strange coincidences, chance meetings, and what may be divine inspiration.
My only quibble is that I found the character Danielle Bass flat. She's a means to move the story along, but I don't feel that we really get her perspective or struggles in any real way like we do every other character in the novel.
Author Matthew Quick has become famous for his fair, honest depiction of human frailties and mental disorder, and this novel is well within that wheelhouse. Every character in the book has his or her issues, but they're not presented as a problem to be solved, just a thing to be experienced.
Portia's quest to "save" her beloved high school English teacher leads her down nostalgia's path in many ways, and the book is full of 1980s-vintage metal and hard rock lyrics, puns, and references. It's also full of strange coincidences, chance meetings, and what may be divine inspiration.
My only quibble is that I found the character Danielle Bass flat. She's a means to move the story along, but I don't feel that we really get her perspective or struggles in any real way like we do every other character in the novel.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
On New Year's Eve, four strangers meet accidentally as they all queue up to kill themselves by jumping from one of London's most famous suicide spots.
They form a motley band of survivors, and almost reluctantly the strangers become a quasi-support group. They've got little in common, and many don't even have strong cases for why they're suicidal - which leads to some interesting conversations and soul-searching amongst the characters. It's both a funny book and quite thoughtful, too.
I listened to the multi-voiced audiobook, and I think having a cast brings a fantastic, diverse element to stories told in multiple voices (as this one is). Because we get the perspective of all the major characters, it's not just a single-sided look at suicide - you get four very different perspectives on what's wrong with their lives, why they think they should die, and how they got there.
They form a motley band of survivors, and almost reluctantly the strangers become a quasi-support group. They've got little in common, and many don't even have strong cases for why they're suicidal - which leads to some interesting conversations and soul-searching amongst the characters. It's both a funny book and quite thoughtful, too.
I listened to the multi-voiced audiobook, and I think having a cast brings a fantastic, diverse element to stories told in multiple voices (as this one is). Because we get the perspective of all the major characters, it's not just a single-sided look at suicide - you get four very different perspectives on what's wrong with their lives, why they think they should die, and how they got there.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
Liz Emerson may be the most popular girl in the junior class, but she's also a mean-queen diva who has decided to end her life but make it look like an accident.
The book moves back and forth in time - from Liz's childhood, to now in the hospital, to months ago, to last week, to 8th grade, to the day of the accident. How on earth did her life get to the point where she can see no other way?
Wow, this is a wonderful book - tough, but also fair in illustrating how broken many otherwise perfect-seeming people can be. Does she deserve to live? Could this have been avoided? Why would you even want to be her friend?
The book moves back and forth in time - from Liz's childhood, to now in the hospital, to months ago, to last week, to 8th grade, to the day of the accident. How on earth did her life get to the point where she can see no other way?
Wow, this is a wonderful book - tough, but also fair in illustrating how broken many otherwise perfect-seeming people can be. Does she deserve to live? Could this have been avoided? Why would you even want to be her friend?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Recently we interviewed high school students for part-time jobs at the library, and nearly half of the applicants told us their favorite author was Jodi Picoult. This is the second book of hers I've read, and I think I'm starting to see why they're so popular with teens: she writes extremely well from a teen point of view, and her themes are always ripped immediately from today's headlines.
This book deals with teen lovers and a suicide pact: she's dead, he's not, and now he's being tried for murder.
The angle that makes this story unusual is the relationship between the two families involved. They have been neighbors and best friends for 18 years. The kids grew up together as best friends and confidants. Both sets of parents had always hoped their children would grow into a couple and marry.
Picoult enjoys allowing her story's details to bloom and unfurl slowly as the book progresses. This technique keeps you reading, and keeps you guessing. You're always waiting for the twist or the reveal. And somehow, you're never let down.
This book deals with teen lovers and a suicide pact: she's dead, he's not, and now he's being tried for murder.
The angle that makes this story unusual is the relationship between the two families involved. They have been neighbors and best friends for 18 years. The kids grew up together as best friends and confidants. Both sets of parents had always hoped their children would grow into a couple and marry.
Picoult enjoys allowing her story's details to bloom and unfurl slowly as the book progresses. This technique keeps you reading, and keeps you guessing. You're always waiting for the twist or the reveal. And somehow, you're never let down.
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