4thace reviewed The spirit catches you and you fall down by Anne Fadiman (FSG Classics)
Review of 'The spirit catches you and you fall down' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I received a copy of the 25th anniversary edition of this book through First Reads. This was a wrenching read, deftly handling the disparate points of view of the Hmong immigrants, the medical practitioners, and the various intermediaries during the saga of Lia Lee's fraught health conditions. A great deal has changed since the 1980s, in part due to the publicity this book brought to cultural issues in the health system although increased awareness of the Hmong's role during the secret war in Laos and their subsequent exodus to this country is really not one of them. I'm also not sure that there is really a much better understanding of what it's like to live with grand mal epilepsy. The most hopeful note I noticed when reading this was the evidence of extraordinary reserves of good will available on all sides despite a desperate life-threatening series of medical emergencies.
I received a copy of the 25th anniversary edition of this book through First Reads. This was a wrenching read, deftly handling the disparate points of view of the Hmong immigrants, the medical practitioners, and the various intermediaries during the saga of Lia Lee's fraught health conditions. A great deal has changed since the 1980s, in part due to the publicity this book brought to cultural issues in the health system although increased awareness of the Hmong's role during the secret war in Laos and their subsequent exodus to this country is really not one of them. I'm also not sure that there is really a much better understanding of what it's like to live with grand mal epilepsy. The most hopeful note I noticed when reading this was the evidence of extraordinary reserves of good will available on all sides despite a desperate life-threatening series of medical emergencies.