The Wide Range of the Memoir

The past week have listened to about  8 presentations on memoir's that my fellow peers had read in my L.A class. I gave herd a wide range of memoirs from navy seals to single dads and the women who where consider to crazy in the 1960's when little was understood about mental illness's, all the way tot the story's of starts from hit TV shows.

The first memoir that was presented to me was Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. This uplifting story on friendship and believing in ones self is about a girl who lived in the 60s is sent to a mental institute after high school after she tried to committee suicide. She doesn't believe she belongs at such an institute which she is very correct about. While she there she begins to make friends with a few of the girls at the institute and they go and live hidden lives from the nurses,  haveing fun and act freely something they are rarely allowed to do.  This novel is really about finding ones self, staying true to oneself, and trying to remain sane in world full of the insane.

"Crazy isn't being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me amplified. I f you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be child forever." (www.goodreads.com)


Next is Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This story about a girl who grew up with two other siblings in extreme poverty with their alcoholic father and unemployed mother. This memoir is really about love and even though we may hate our family and other people for the things they do, we must learn to forgive and accept them for who they are, it is the only we can make it thorough this life without falling apart. The title comes from Walls's father who always told them as children that all the moving they where doing was not permanent, that someday he would build them a glass castle. The glass castle stands for a prefect, clear skied world throughout the novel.

“Things usually work out in the end."
"What if they don't?"
"That just means you haven't come to the end yet.” 
― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle (www.goodreads.com)

The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch. When Paush is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given three to six months to live.  The novel is actually about a lecture he gave called  Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams and all the places and people he inspired with his lecture, along with his own personal stories of living his last few months of his life. He moved many people and he was an amazing person. He did complete almost all of his childhood dreams before his death on July 25 2008.

The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” 
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture (www.goodreads.com)

Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin is the heart breaking story of how Logelin's beautiful wife, his high school sweet heart and one love, Liz, dies shortly after giving birth to their first child, Madeline, due to a blood  colt in the brain. The novel is about Matthew's struggle of dealing with Liz's death and trying to be a single dad. He takes Maddy to all the places that him and Liz used to go, learning to let her go and yet to keep her in both of their hearts.  Matthew wrote this book as his Taj Mahal to Liz who loved the beautiful building. 

"Together during the worst of times is better being alone at best of times. "(http://mentalfoodie.blogspot.com/)

5th,  American Sniper:  The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper by Chris Kyle.  The story of Chris's of becoming a navy seal and becoming one of the most impressive snipers of our time. He went to the army and wanted to join the Navy Seals but he broke his arm badly causing him to get pins therefore he was not accepted for Navy Seal training. He was later called and the asked him to join. He then was stationed in both Iraq and Poland. He killed about 106 people out 255 he ever shot at. He retired and began working at a shooting range meant for solders with PTS.  He was shot and died at the shooting range by a 25 year old marine on February 12 2013. 

“Great way to fight a war - be prepared to defend yourself for winning.” (www.goodreads.com)

Lastly, Happy ,Happy, Happy, Phil Roberston. This is the story of a famous man named Phil Robertson from the famous show Duck Dynasty. It is his story of how he found happiness and how he created a family of which he could be proud of. 

“Our founding fathers started this country and built it on God and His Word, and this country sure would be a better place to live and raise our children if we still followed their ideals and beliefs.”  Phil Robertson, Happy, Happy, Happy (www.goodreads.com)