So many times a month my daughter (letters of Kate) has to use her debit card or she is has to pay a service charge...A bank that charges you for NOT spending your money to which they are drawing interest on hmmm....man I knew I should of went with her when she opened this account....Anyhoo that's not what this rant is about. It just states the history of how her urgent purchase "I have to use this card 2 more times!!" landed a book (actually several) in our home....She also got a great deal on a very cute purse. That's my girl!
A few days later the package arrived and I stood by her side as she unloaded her "I have to use my card" treasures......BOOKS I love em, she had purchased 4 and these I had never heard of.....
"Our Sometime Sister," "The Kite Runner," "Little Bee"
& the book that sparked the inspiration for this post
"Running With Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs
The title alone is a "no, no" right?
It wasn't to long ago, before our nasty Governor made huge cuts in the area of Education causing over 7,000 of us to lose our jobs (ya you betcha I'm still a little bitter), that I was writing up creative lesson plans for 3 to 5 year olds on the proper use of scissors. Oh woe is me I loved that job!
Okay pity party over lets get back to my journey with Mr Augusten ...
I eagerly flipped the book over to read it's reviews and hopefully catch a glimpse as to what was written on the inside. Whoa....Stop the Presses.. Dare I read more?
The "reviews" alone send off another WARNING.....I will high light a few:
"It is as funny as it is twisted"---GQ I don't do well with twisted
"A memoir that is both horrifying and mordantly funny."----San Francisco Chronicle
mental note must Google "mordantly" *harshly ironic or sinister ....darkly sarcastic
"Running with Scissors will transport you"----Vogue
One of the reason's I love to read ....it's the great escape from ones reality...beam me up Scottie transport me PLEASE!
"Irreverent, scurrilous, profane, licentious, horrific, and vile. It'll warp your mind, upset the neighbors, and lower your standing in the community"
Now here is a Reviewer that has a love of words....and yes I had to Google a few of them too.
Of the 26 reviews written on the back and front sleeve the one that comes closest to a review I would of written (cause yes besides all the warnings I did go on to read it).
This was written by a representative of The Hartford Courant.
"It's gross, it's shocking, and its humor is blacker that a thousand midnights....But this hilarious, provocative and oddly touching book draws you into a bizarre world and keeps you rooting for its unusual narrator to survive, thrive, and break free."
All the right words to describe the "feelings" this book brought out in me.
I am 41 years old and there have been a few who have called me overly naive ..sheltered ....I say guarded. Yes, guarded for I was raised to believe that our eyes are the windows to our soul....guard what you see...in this case read....I threw caution to the wind, let my guard down and in 2 days time,read my first memoir and believe me this was no great escape!
No matter how shocking dare I even say stunned I was by the words I was reading I couldn't put this book down...the picture he paints with words is grossly tragic ....a few times I had to pause...skim over, even flip a few pages forward..I couldn't take it..and yet I kept on reading cause I had to know.
I vented aloud over the gross neglect and My hubby asked "if it is upsetting you this much why do you continue to read it?" I tried to explain that for him the narrator, the very author of this book.... This was REAL!... This wasn't some fictional character that he created....he is proclaiming in graphic detail unspeakable sins...CRIMES.. That happened to him and I'm reading on because I need to know that someone saved him....though it seemed impossible...I had hope that in the next few pages he would reveal his hero. Will he ever be rescued?
I don't want to ruin the book entirely for anyone who plans on reading it, though I definitely do NOT recommend it I have strongly encouraged Katie to PLEASE, I know your 19 but as your mom I plead with you, DON'T read this ...donate or throw it away. I also asked her...what led you to this book? ...she said it was the reviews...they didn't scare her one bit.....I'm not surprised as she does have a mordantly, funny sense of humor (wink wink).
So have you ever thrown caution to the wind (even if regrettable) and read something just for the love of reading?
3 comments:
I LOVE your quote about the soul
"Yes, guarded for I was raised to believe that our eyes are the windows to our soul....guard what you see..." that is such a great way to explain why we don't want to see or view a bunch of filth.
When I was probably about 13 I read Flowers in the Attic-which for 13 is not appropriate at all. It was my older sister's book and I snuck it and read it.
I am intrigued! But will most likely never read it. I don't have time! Nor would I want to use up the precious few moments on a book that is so twisted (though I am still intrigued). I read a very popular book series just because it was so popular and I still want those hours of reading it back. I felt like I had just wasted a few days!
I've had a lot of tragedy in my life. I really edit what I watch on TV and at the movies and what I read.
I figure if I can't escape from 'real life' through entertainment then I will probably go even crazier than I am already am...ha!
I would definitely not read this book.
Thoughtful post.
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