Category: memoir

Figure skating and coming out

SpinningSpinning by Tillie Walden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The problem with memoirs, if the author is being true to themselves, is that things don’t always happen in a neat, perfectly rounded up way, the way they do in fictionalized stories. As I was reading this, I didn’t realize it was a memoire, and I kept wondering why the author didn’t expound on what she was writing about, give more details, but the author is in her early 20s. This is her fifth book. As far as I can tell, she is entirely self-taught, so for me to be asking for things that she probably hasn’t finished processing is a bit far fetched.

I bring this up, because, for example, she mentions that she realized she was a lesbian early on, but didn’t know what to do about it. Didn’t know how long to hide it. Didn’t know, exactly how to act on it. She says she realized that she got into figure skating because of the love that her first instructor showed towards her, the mother figure she wished she had, and she realizes that is the only reason she continued to skate, as she was still looking for that love.

This is a sad, longing story, of a girl lost in the world of figure skating, going through the motions, but not happy about it.

And this is a girl that at some point realized that art was what gave her the love and passion and joi de vivre that she once felt for figure skating, and so abandoned it to focus on her art.

I can’t wait to see what she writes next. Deep, interesting read.

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Life as a refugee

The Best We Could DoThe Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I was in college, I took an oral history class. I was able to interview people that I thought I knew well, as those that I did not, and I found out quite a lot. One of those was my French teacher who told me how she escaped the Nazi’s during the war, when she was a young girl. She had been my teacher for all four years of French, but she had never mentioned that in class.

I am reminded about this, becasue Thi Bui became the work on this memoir when she was interviewing her parents for an oral history project. But, from there, she was able to get even more of the story, both through research, and continuing to hear the stories.

What strikes me about her story, is how similar it is to other memoirs I have read, about getting displaced, and how you learn to live with it. Not as horrific as Maus, but still with that sense of something missing, and always being ready to flee, because you never know when you have to again. I am currently, at the time of this reading, reading about book about a woman interred in World War II because she was Japanese. She took keeps everything she needs to flee on her at all times. I heave heard stories of those who have had to flee, and how it never leaves you. You are always prepared because you can’t trust the government to protect you.

Well, written, I hope others read it, and it becomes a standard in schools and libraires, because not only does it tell the story of one family, it tells the story of the Vietnam War, which is too recent for older people to know, because they lived through it.

And the last thing, that I thought was profound, was how much starvation there was. Thi’s grandfather defects to the the Viet Kong because they had food, and he was starving.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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