Archive for June 10th, 2007
Sunday, June 10th, 2007Lucky - Book Review
If they caught you, long enough for me to see that face again, maybe I would know your name. I could stop calling you ‘the rapist,’ and start calling you John or Luke or Paul. I want to make my hatred large and whole. - From Lucky, pages 98-99-
Alice Sebold has written a searingly honest and brutally explicit memoir about what it is like to experience rape … and then how to move forward through life following such a savage attack. This is not an enjoyable read. It shocked me. Made me angry. Made me weep for what was stolen from Ms. Sebold on the night she was raped. And scared the wits out of me.
Alice Sebold writes with a rawness that is uncomfortable for the reader. She reveals the coldness of the legal and medical systems in how they deal with rape victims. And ultimately she demonstrates the strength of self a victim needs to survive this type of crime.
A book like Lucky is one that is difficult to read, but I believe it is an important book. I imagine it took Ms. Sebold a tremendous amount of courage to write it. I turned the last page with a new found understanding of what it truly means to be a survivor.
Recommended with a warning that some sections are graphic and disturbing.