By Stephanie Grant.
Thanks to Elara for reccomending this :)
After reading the novel Wintergirls, I didn't expect to like The Passion of Alice. However, there was something about this book that made it intrigueing. Some of the reviews on Amazon* weren't impressed with the lesbian theme of the book, but I thought this gave an alternative view which is usually overlooked. I am not convinced of the accuracy regarding eating disorders, but as a novel it was good. It demonstrates how within inpatient treatment you can often learn more about yourself from other patients than you can from the therapists. The only problem is I feel that the story could have been built upon more, and I would have liked to find out what happened to Mauve (The protagonist's lover).
* Amazon.com. There are usually more reviews on the American site, so I check there before buying at .co.uk.
'...So I almost told him right then and there about the emptiness that the overeaters tried to fill with impossible amounts of food, again and again; the emptiness that the bulimics try to disgorge, as if it had been caught, a chicken bone or a fragile green fish’s gill in their quivering throats; the emptiness which we anorexics, in our superior knowledge and practice, tried to constrict, tried to compress by strangulation and deprivation...’
‘What seemed remarkable, finally, when I thought of it, was not that I loved women, but that I had loved a woman so imprecise. Maeve in all her chaos... That I loved her imperfection...’
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About Me
- Alba
- Durham, County Durham, United Kingdom
- (November 2010) > I am taking a year (or two) out of university to recover from an eating disorder; originally diagnosed as restricting anorexia 7 years ago, but has more recently morphed into BN non-purgeing type/ BED/ COE/ EDNOS / whatever you want to call it. I thought I would write a blog to give me a kind of project to work on, mainly giving an insight into the Eating Disorders books that I have read and any interesting articles/videos I find. However, there may be some updates on my life and thoughts once in a while. My quest is to understand these disorders, although I know the best I can do is to keep on researching xxx Update (2012): I have now returned to uni.
I'd agree with you, 3/5, and am glad you enjoyed it. Some of the inaccuracy could be chalked up to its publishing date.
ReplyDeleteAnother recommendation slightly more offbeat is an Australian YA novel, Killing Aurora by Helen Barnes. The narrative splits between two girls - anorexic, otherworldly, poetry reading Aurora and antisocial pyromaniac Web - who attend the same private girls' school.
But if you've run out of books, I'd love to hear more of your own writing. You explain the mindset very well.
Elara - It could be to do with the publishing date. It could also be a deliberate twist on reality simply to make it different/ more interesting. Or maybe, some ED clinics really are like that... Who knows!
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Killing Aurora before, but didn't decide to persue it for some reason. It is often hard to tell whether I'd like a book when the reviews are so mixed. I will reinvestigate.
Thankyou very much for wanting to listen/read :) I used to write a lot but I often get bored of myself now, so I am scared other people would find it boring too.
xxx
Oh, that must have been the reason I dismissed Killing Aurora; on the Uk Amazon site it is £77.53!!! I don't understand, there must be a mistake, surely it isn't made of Gold?! Lol. It is in 'used - very good' quality, so that makes all the difference!;) x
ReplyDeleteDid you like Wintergirls??
ReplyDeleteI bought Alice through the looking glass today??
Love A,
xx
Alba said...
ReplyDeleteI didn't like Wintergirls, I just found it... dull. But I plan to read it again to do a proper review as many people say that it's great.
Alice through the looking glass was one of the first ED books I read before I began making notes, so my memory is vague. I think it was interesting to hear the story from two sides; the perspective of the mother and the perspective of the daughter. I also could relate to the way Alice had OCD-like rituals such as having to do so many jumps before meals. I haven't read that in any book since, but I was kinda relieved that I wasn't alone in those strange habits.
xxx