Monday 14 February 2011

Memoirs again

I'm still reading memoirs. My current recommendation is Eating Pomegranates by Sarah Gabriel. It is a memoir of a woman who has a genetic issue which means that she was always very likely to get breast cancer - and she does get it and survives, but only just. She writes her story so well and with such honesty. I could really understand this book and I think it could be helpful for anyone who is struggling with serious issues of life and death. I just started reading Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh. His writing is also wonderfully direct and unsentimental. But the book is a very hard read just because what happened to him is so appalling. I want to continue with the book because, after all, this is his life and he's been brave enough to write about it and so I should be brave enough to bear witness. But just for the moment I find the story too upsetting. I hope I'll get back to it soon.