|
|
Suzanne
Rating:
 
Review
This book is nothing like I thought it would be – it's wonderful and uplifting and astonishing. On one level it's about Martha and her husband John's discovery that she's pregnant with a baby with Down's syndrome, and her decisions surrounding that. This happened when they were graduate students at Harvard. On a more general level, it's about learning to stop listening to what other people tell you to do, and to start listening to your heart and not just your head. The culture of so-called "success" at Harvard really comes across as ugly here, and I think many other academic environments have a touch of this attitude about them as well. I was especially struck by their professors' disapproval of them having fallen in love and gotten married! Martha elaborates on how life can spiral out of control, and things can happen which we don't know how to explain; her ability to do so in a spiritual way without getting all moral about it is a huge gift. And I could appreciate her discovery that some of the values you're brought up with may need to be modified to make your life a more joyous one, and that having a joyous life is even a good goal! As a bonus, I learned some nice and interesting things that I never suspected about people with different chromosomes, i.e. Down's syndrome. Martha Beck is an amazing writer.
Best Line:
"I'm not proud that I spent years dulling any impulse that did not motivate me to work." (pg. 152)
Kim
Rating:
Review
This is an extraordinary book, and I would have never, ever chosen to read it had it not been for a friend of mine, who is childless by choice, mentioning that she's read it twice. Ms. Beck recounts her entire pregnancy with her second child, Adam, who has Down's Syndrome. Her words are beautiful, and blaringly honest, not just about her condition, but her thoughts and feelings as well. The author and her husband, John, were students at Harvard and parents to 18-month-old Katie when Adam was conceived and their whole world began to change (When It All Went To Hell, as she puts it), and sometimes run out of control, yet became more clarified as they approached Adam's birth with much anticipation, along with a lot of fear of the unknown. There were times that I laughed out loud while reading this book, since Ms. Beck has quite the sense of humor, but I mostly was in awe that I was reading such a heartfelt, tender love story, and that it's been missing from my life for all this time. Many thanks to the author for putting into words what needs to be read by as many people as possible.
Best Line:
"He says you'll never be hurt as much by being open as you have been hurt by remaining closed."
|
|
