Book Reviews: Maurine Talks Memoirs

— by Maurine Barnett, from MaurineTalksBooks.com —

This month, reviewer Maurine Barnett presents her choices for memorable biographies and memoirs. A selection from this month:

Of all the genres one could read, biography and memoir has to be my favorite. There is nothing quite so fascinating to me as someone else’s life story, or parts of a life story. Memoirs in particular seem to resound with the strongest emotional landscapes, as they are recounted by the person who has experienced them.

Running in the Family, by Michael Ondaatje

Cover of Michael Ondaatje’s “Running in the Family”

I am particularly enamored with Ondaatje’s poetry (Rat Jelly 1973, and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid 1970), but most readers may remember him more for The English Patient. Yet what remains most strongly in my mind is his semi-fictional memoir about his childhood in Sri Lanka, where he lived until he was eleven. Wildly exotic, outrageously laughable and elegantly presented, this memoir has been further embellished with a sprinkling of the author’s lovely poems and old family photographs. The story unfolds in a non-linear arc; there are short vignettes and family stories rather than a classic narrative style. It written after Ondaatje visited his native country in the 1970’s (he is Canadian, born of a Dutch mother and Sinhalese/Tamil father). Charming, exotic, and bittersweet, plus written by an acclaimed writer who deserves all the awards bestowed upon him over the years.

And from last month’s “issue,” Maurine talks about important ideas:

The Empathy Exams, by Leslie Jamison

Book Cover of “The Empathy Exam” by Leslie Jamison

This is one of the most unique books I have come across in a long, long time–a collection of essays that explore the many aspects of empathy–both from the author’s own experience and that of others. I would Empathy-Exams-Jamison-200x300call it a brave book. Jamison’s stories encompass a huge range of examples of empathy, from deeply graceful to exceedingly painful. She starts with her own experience as a “medical actor”, helping medical students learn to carefully listen and diagnose from scripted symptoms. Violence and crime, reality television, extremely painful illness, tourism in a country of dire poverty–I was constantly astounded at the depth of this writer’s intelligence and compassion (and she looks so young in her cover photo!). I have recently been seeing this important book appear on lists of the year’s best non-fiction, and it is tremendously well-deserved. Take a plunge here, and I am sure you will be impressed too.

Readers may sign up for Maurine’s book recommendations at MaurineTalksBooks.com