berryblondeboys

Delightful narration, story of survival and hope.

Revisado: 02-23-16

What made the experience of listening to Angela's Ashes the most enjoyable?

I loved that I was hearing the author's narration because then I knew I was hearing it as it was intended. Plus, he was a marvelous story teller.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Angela's Ashes?

His feeling of being doomed for being human - masturbation, having sex.

Which scene was your favorite?

No favorite.

Any additional comments?

Some people say that it's bleak and maybe that is true if reading the book, but I don't see how anyone could feel this novel was bleak when heard through the author's voice.

He also has that rare talent of being in touch with his inner child - remembering what it's like to think and feel like a child.

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Completely relatable.

Revisado: 12-28-15

Would you consider the audio edition of Year of Yes to be better than the print version?

Hearing the author speak her own words is more powerful than seeing it in print. It allows it to be interpreted as it's meant with the author's voice guiding intpretation with voice cadence and inflection.

Who was your favorite character and why?

NA

What about Shonda Rhimes’s performance did you like?

It was honest and easy to follow and understand.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Year of Yes?

To go for it and not stick with status quo just because that's familiar and comfortable.

Any additional comments?

Shonda and I are 1 month apart in age. We are both from the midwest. We both struggle with our weight and exercise. We both struggle with trying to be a perfect mommy and with finding balance between work and life. We are both women. We are both college and grad school graduates. We both have jobs we love.

There are plenty dissimilarities too- I do not have a fear of public speaking like she did. I am not a black woman. I am not from a well-educated family. I'm married (and have been for half my life) and I have two boys versus three girls. I opted to be a stay at home mom for a decade (stepping away from a career for awhile). I am not close to my siblings. So, we are as dissimilar as we are similar, BUT... the battles I think are relatable to so many even if they are different battles/circumstances.

What I could relate to and what drew me in was the honesty about how we get comfortable.... and how we settle for good enough. How we sometimes can look so successful and great to outsiders, but feel unfulfilled and a failure to ourselves because we are hiding. Hiding behind food, hiding behind work, whatever is the crutch, we all probably have one.

I listened to this as a recommendation from a friend. I've heard of Shonda Rhimes as I do live on the planet earth, but I have never seen a TV show by Shonda Rhimes as I don't watch TV hardly ever - but that didn't matter. I decided to listen because of the recommendation and the title of the book alone.

Listening to this came at a good time for me while I'm at a crossroads with my career (after being a stay at home mom for a decade). I LOVE what I do for a career now, but there is an opportunity to do something more and I was going to walk away from trying it. Now, I think I'm going to try to pursue. I'm going to say yes to doing something uncomfortable.

My only quibble is that the book ties up nicely (probably because of an impending deadline). I do not believe for a minute that it is all nicely wrapped up. She was laying track. Life is not that tidy. She will forever be a work in progress if she continues this path. Her year of yes started a time of deep reflection. Her thoughts of how she is now will morph as she keeps changing/growing (as long as she keeps that window open).

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All so familiar, but in different form.

Revisado: 12-15-15

Where does Life, Animated rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best because it was so personal.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Not really applicable.

Which character – as performed by Ron Suskind – was your favorite?

Not really applicable.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

How the parents deal with their son on the spectrum. That internal battle you continually have and feel.

Any additional comments?

Full disclosure - I have a 10 year old son on the autism spectrum. He's "probably" a bit less impacted than Owen Suskind is, but it's similar. We always had speech, but the echolalia and use of scripted language from movies and TV shows was our norm and still can be.

The main takeaway of the book for me is that the parents are trying to reach Owen. And Owen is trying to find is voice to reach the outer world and together they find it - it can be fleeting, and Owen has to be motivated to want to work on it and it's expensive at $60,000 a year in therapies.

And I wonder, does the therapies help? Or is it that Owen figures it out on his own (and the parents follow the lead he's showing them). That's been my experience with my son - he finds the way to rewire his brain to communicate with the outside world. Therapies are hit or miss - mostly miss. Education is mostly miss (unless I guide and teach the schools what to do, but they can't do it as well as I can - which is why we are probably going to home school soon).

The parent's love and commitment to Owen (and to Walter) trumpets throughout the book and it can feel disheartening to think that you need to spend so much $ to "fix" autism. My take away? You don't have to have the same resources to spend. I don't think it's the $$$ in therapies that helped Owen. It was having parents who had the luxury to take the time to observe and listen and to work with him. Eventually they learned/figured out that they couldn't "fix" him (nor should they want to or need to).

I may not agree with the special college and the massive "team Owen" as being intregral, but I get it. If I had the same funds, I would probably do all of that too. I'll be curious to see if the sidekicks movie ever gets made. That would be amazing!

This book basically, was refreshing as it's my life. MILLIONS of our lives - or a variation of it. It's relatable. It's honest. It's our lives as parents and it's a rare glimpse at how another family struggles with something we are still trying to understand.

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