Wow, could it be the case? A non-fiction book? Do such books obey the typical rules of concept, character, scene work, dialogue, tone and theme? Let’s find out! This is also our most recent book, and one that I’m sure many of you haven’t read, but it’s one of the bestselling books of last year with good reason --it’s an instant classic. If you haven’t read it, these eleven pages are self-explanatory and will give you a taste of the wonderful book that awaits you. And isn’t that a gorgeous cover? (Here’s the doc.)
2 comments:
Very interesting analysis. I agree the asterisked comments and footnotes are appealing. I recently read analysis from someone who believes this breaks the barrier in memoir by allowing the author to write about things they don't fully remember. I really didn't think so. I felt it was a clever literary device to allow the reader to really be imersed in the gaslighting which is another theme of the book.
I think you're both right. I do think Westover cleverly gives herself permission to include things she remembers that other people do not, which she has to do, because everybody in the family is gaslighting and neglecting everyone else, and nobody is keeping track of the past. Her parents try to kick her out of the house when she's sixteen because they've lost track of how old she is and think she's twenty! They have no idea what her birthday is, which doesn't help when she tries to get a birth certificate. And you're right that it doesn't affect the enjoyableness of the book. Every time she points out that nobody remembers anything the same, we feel more for Tara and her lack of a personal foundation.
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