Book Review–Rosa Parks: A Life by Douglas G. Brinkley

 

This is the 18th book from my 115 in 2015 Reading Challenge.

 

Picture Source: Goodreads.com

Rosa Parks: A Life by Douglas G. Brinkley
Published 2000 by Turtleback Books

 

Most Americans know her only as the 42-year-old seamstress who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. Her quiet act of defiance is often considered the beginning of the modern civil rights movement, but historian Douglas Brinkley reminds us that it was neither the beginning nor the end of Rosa Parks’s quest for justice.

On that fateful day in 1955 she was already a veteran civil rights activist, married to a charter member of the NAACP’s Montgomery chapter, and a devout member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the many black churches whose congregants organized and fought to desegregate the South. Brinkley gives a thorough account of Parks’s political life in the South and in Detroit (where she moved in 1957 to escape death threats), capturing her majestic personal dignity.

Yet he also places her activism within a vivid historical context, anchored by extensive interviews with her peers and Parks herself as well as scholarly research. His subject is now a frail octogenarian, but Brinkley conveys the power of her legacy in a moving final scene when Nelson Mandela, just four months out of a South African jail in 1990, embraces Parks as a comrade and a beloved mentor.

 

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I’ve always admired Rosa Parks, though I knew very little about her life aside from the bus boycott, and I didn’t even know all the details of that. This book does a great job filling in the details of how she came to that point in her life, the people who inspired her along the way, and also the activism as well as her life after.

Those who love detailed history will like this book. There was so much detail and facts that I felt like a lot of it went over my head, but I learned some very interesting things about Rosa Parks and the entire movement that I didn’t know before. I definitely have even more respect for her now.

Not something I would probably re-read as I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction, but definitely a great reference book to keep on hand.

 

 

 

 

Book Review–Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

 

This is the 5th book from my 115 in 2015 Reading Challenge.

 

Picture Source: Goodreads.com

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
Published April 19, 1994 by Vintage

In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she’d never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. She spent most of the next two years in the ward for teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital as renowned for its famous clientele—Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, and Ray Charles—as for its progressive methods of treating those who could afford its sanctuary.

Kaysen’s memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers. It is a brilliant evocation of a “parallel universe” set within the kaleidoscopically shifting landscape of the late sixties. Girl, Interrupted is a clear-sighted, unflinching document that gives lasting and specific dimension to our definitions of sane and insane, mental illness and recovery.

 

 

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Plot:

The first half of the book was engaging and hard to put down. I’m not sure what happened after that point, but it became much less interesting. The plot is a little confusing as some of the events are out of order–for what reason, I’m not sure.

Setting:

The setting is what drew me in. I am fascinated by the psychiatric hospital setting. It was also interesting to see how things worked in the 60s and how much things have changed since then.

Characters:

This is an autobiography/memoir, but for the most part I enjoyed Susanna’s POV. I would have liked more detail on the other girls, but Polly and Lisa seemed interesting.

Relationships:

There’s not really much going on in terms of relationships in this book aside from Susanna’s relationship with Borderline Personality Disorder. I don’t know much about the disorder, but Susanna’s relationship with it was interesting.

Writing/Voice:

The writing engaged me for the first half of the book. While for the most part it was clear, there were some parts that seemed very vague, and a few where I had to re-read to make sure I’d understood. Good narrative but would have liked to see more details. Also, what in the world does a “basement-colored” person look like?

Ending:

Didn’t really wrap up well. The first half of the book seemed solid and the second half seemed disorganized. I did like the follow-ups on the two girls Susanna met again after being discharged from the hospital.

Overall:

Overall, I liked it, but probably not something I’d read again. If the second part had been as engaging as the first, I would probably re-read it. I’m torn on whether I want to keep this book or not. 3.5 Stars.