Wow. Mental illness is a scary, scary thing. Having read Augusten's brother's memoir first, I have decided that he actually had the easier time of it! First of all, he has Aspergers, so he was saved from the emotional turmoil that Augusten lived through on a daily basis. The two men have different writing styles too. Augusten is very funny; his brother lacks emotion. They both write an interesting story though, and they have both led incredibly interesting and disturbing lives. I believe the key word here is "survival". It's a curious thing to me how some people can grow up in this type of environment, learn to accommodate the craziness in order to survive it, and go on to be productive, successful human beings in their own right. Others get enveloped in the craziness and push this genetic vein along to future generations. Why?
Augusten writes, "I always wondered if the fact that the Finch children had been raised in a mental hospital was the reason their threshold for weirdness was so high." We can say the same thing about him! We see a nine year old neat freak who cares more about his clothes and hair than a model, adapt to the craziness of the Finch home with hardly a blink of an eye. He "numbs" himself against what he is witnessing and experiencing; he shoves his emotions inside. People are extremely adaptive to their environments - and he is proof of that! It made me wonder if we have been treating people with OCD the wrong way. Maybe we should throw them in whatever environment that would make them the most disturbed and let them learn how to deal with it. Maybe they will come out the other side a better, more balanced person. (Ok, I don't really mean that. It was just a thought.) It is interesting though that Augusten felt the need to control every aspect that he could within the chaos of his own home (clothing and hair), but when he was thrown into an environment that everything was completely out of his control, he just had to adjust to it.
I would be hard pressed to remember one person in this entire book that didn't suffer from some form of mental illness. Feel free to remind me of someone that I have forgotten! Crazy attracts crazy though. I also couldn't really tell who was the most mentally ill: Dr. Finch or Augusten's mother.
I could have done without the graphic sex scenes between Augusten and the pedophile, Neil Bookman, but I guess if you are going to write an honest account of your life, you would have to include that. I guess. Augusten seems to be proof that some people are "born gay". Not that I have any doubt about this.
Knowing several people who struggle with mental illness (family members, friends, consumers) I always feel fortunate to have had the childhood that I did. Very, very fortunate. I think I'm going to go do a "Bible-dip" so see what I should make for dinner tonight....
Wendy's Rating: ****
No comments:
Post a Comment