Anna Price
Welcome to my January Reads! This month I’ve indulged in memoirs – the diaries, thoughts and lives of people both ordinary and extra-ordinary. My interest in this category is likely linked to the fact that I am ominously approaching my media-dubbed ‘quarter-life crisis’ – the time at which millennials feel lost, unfulfilled, dislocated and isolated. For me, memoirs offer advice and inspiration; they provide solid evidence of how individuals have navigated difficulties and failures, how they have ultimately become successful, and documenting their honest emotional state along the way.
Becoming
Michelle Obama, 2018
Becoming, Michelle Obama’s first book, is quite revolutionary. It is insightful, inspiring, candid and motivational. You cannot help but be awestruck by this woman at every stage of her life – a normal girl with an extra-ordinary personality. She is driven, compassionate, confident and inspired, and this emanates throughout her book. Obama aims to build others up, to help them to incite change and find themselves within this ever-changing world.
Astutely written, and honest at every stage, Becoming is easy to consume. While I did find some of the language jarring, mainly the American slang (the prevalent use of ‘kids’) in and amongst the more academic lexical decisions, it is clear that this is just a representation of Obama herself. She is well-educated and intelligent, but she is also a normal American – she is accessible and relatable, and her language choices prove that. Accessibility and humanity become a big part of the Obamas’ campaign for presidency – they wish to connect to voters, and to the people of America, to show that they want the same change. This humanity is still apparent when the Obamas move into the White House – they never wish to lose sight of where they came from and who they are. Reading this in 2019 reveals the stark contrast between these leaders, and the ones we have now. A key element the reader learns about Michelle Obama is that she is always herself and avoids at all costs putting on a front; she is honest in her writing and honest in the presentation of herself. Even if she later becomes berated by the media for being ‘ungraceful’.
This memoir begins, however, with Obama’s childhood. Her roots in the south-side of Chicago, her close-knit family life and their endearing, ever-lasting support. The text navigates a young Michelle’s understanding of race and gender, how as a minority she finds her way to academic success through her Mother’s advocacy but also her own grit to persevere. The move to graduate life in a law firm is admirable, and her sense of un-fulfilment is understandable. The way in which the text documents Obama’s maneuverers through her priorities as a woman, reveals how Becoming is an important reminder of the difficulties women face when it comes to career success and motherhood. The behind-the-scenes feel of the account of Michelle and Barack’s relationship is appealing, as are the insights into campaigning and the White House lifestyle. These insider-snippets further break down the barriers and continue to show the Obamas as a typical, engaging family.
It is undoubtable that Michelle Obama is a brilliant woman. Her quest to ‘do something’ as First Lady transpires into four important, society-improving initiatives that focus on the younger generation, their health and their education. Obama’s brilliance resonates in the fact that she cares. She listens to, advocates and cares for young people and upcoming generations. She tells us we matter and that we can achieve our dreams, and this instilling of confidence and unwavering belief is irreplaceable. Becoming is a manifestation of her ambition as she motivates herself and those around her, striving for equality and understanding, reminding us all to do better and be better, and giving us the assurance that we are good enough to succeed.
Everything I Know About Love
Dolly Alderton, 2018
Dolly Alderton’s memoir of her 20s is canny, poignant, entertaining and, most importantly to me, relatable. This is first book I have read that has resonated with my life so firmly. She grew up in the same environment I did, we attended similar schools and our teenage interactions with boys, with our friends and with our families coincide, quite remarkably to me – but this is the point of the book. She encapsulates the normality of growing up in the 1990s/early 2000s and so many girls relate to her words. While Alderton’s teenage years and early twenties were perhaps more outrageous and outgoing than mine are now (she drinks a lot, parties a lot, experiences a lot), I know people like her and I can envision her hilarious tales with such clarity.
This is partly due to the fact that Alderton writes about events that have happened recently in her life, the proximity to these events is almost intense, rendering her writing quite raw as the memory of them is still very real. Alderton relays the tales of her boyfriends and her quest for love, and for happiness. The interspersed recipes of Scrambled Eggs and Cheese-on-Toast are hilarious, particularly combined with imaginary letters/emails from friends/colleagues regarding Hen-Do’s and Dinner Parties. Most predominantly, however, Alderton tells of her friendships and the love, loyalty and utter dependability that go with them. It is a reminder to remember those who have been there the longest, the value and to know you wouldn’t be where you are without the support system of your friendships.
This is Going to Hurt
Adam Kay, 2017
This is Going to Hurt is brilliantly funny, painfully honest and achingly moving. It follows the trials of tribulations of a Junior Doctor; the intense hours, the breakdown of home relationships, the extreme highs and lows and the diligence to provide the utmost care to patience. These memoirs herald the necessity and the glory of the NHS while reveal the shameful results of under-funding and neglect from the government. From short-staffed hospitals, to appallingly poor technological systems, Kay reveals all in his authentic diary entries.
It reminds me of an un-glorified version of Grey’s Anatomy – the ridiculous stories of objects in places where they shouldn’t be combined with difficult and ignorant patients provides for an entertaining read. But the underlying issues of doctors’ mental health, the fact they are so spread thin and the lack of compassion, understanding and support on the hospital floor, and within higher powers, is heartbreaking. The bear-all nature of these entries are so important in today’s uncertain times, and the insight into the closed doors of hospital wards provides snippets of advice that are invaluable.
A read in progress…
The Vanity Fair Diaries, 1983-1992
Tina Brown, 2017
Dubbed by Meryl Streep as ‘A Mile-a-minute memoir’ and by Stephen Fry as ‘Brilliant’, I was excited to read Tina Brown’s account of her years captaining the Vanity Fair ship in New York. I was expecting good things, not least due to the way in which Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes worship this ‘goddess’ in their podcast – ‘The High-Low’; the title inspired by Brown’s doctrine that in life that we need both high-brow culture (art, literature, theatre) and low-brown culture (gossip and celebrities). A concept that I do, whole-heartedly, concur with.
I was, however, disappointed by the preface outlining Brown’s life leading up to her position as Vanity Fair editor. To be honest, I wan’t sure what I was expecting. I think I was wanting something inspirational, an insight as to how I, personally, can be successful in the journalistic world. I wanted to read how she was studious and scrupulous, revealing decisions that proved her worth to the big editors in the early stages. But this is not that kind of book and I was wrong to expect it. Instead, we learn about her upper middle-class upbringing, her naughtiness at school, how she was accepted into Oxford University with a rather speckled formal education, and how from there, via connections and word of mouth, her university journalism was exposed and she became Editor for Tatler within two years of graduating. It was a different world. This sense of ease and luck is offset by the fact that Tina Brown clearly is a talented writer, with an eye for style and a natural knowledge for commissioning articles, understanding what her 80s audience will want to read.
Now in the midst of her diary entries, Brown is on the rise and the surreptitious cutthroat nature of the publication industry is revealed. The anecdotes of cocktail parties, extravagant dinners and people in high places are told with a fierce humour, divulging the superficiality and frivolity that comes with the territory. Sharp, funny and exposing. So far so good.
Becoming, Michelle Obama, RRP £25.00
Everything I Know About Love, Dolly Alderton, RRP £12.99
This is Going to Hurt, Adam Kay, RRP £8.99
The Vanity Fair Diaries, Tina Brown, RRP £7.56
All pictures are my own unless otherwise credited. Permission must be obtained before any reproduction and credit must be issued in any reproduction.
Under The Cypress Tree 