Tia’s review of Small Great Things > Likes and Comments
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I totally agree. I'm half way through this book and was sure at most it would have a 3 star rating. I felt like this book is doing more to perpetuate negative stereotypes than address social justice. As the inaccuracies about the medical response are ridiculous. In a code you go on autopilot, you don't stop to consider the moral issues. Thank you for your honest review!
Yaaaassss!!! I agree with you 1000% on every point. I am so glad I wasn't the only one thinking are you f kidding me?! I felt like the author just made a few black friends right before and suddenly she felt like she had some insight that she just had to share. It was too much!
YES. I was excited for this book, but it frustrated me so much I couldn't finish.
I had to stop at the part where she first met with the lawyer and said, "I was just doing my job". NO you weren't. You stood there and watched a baby die.
I'm a NICU nurse and I can't imagine someone just standing there. Grab a mask and do CPAP. Call someone!!!
She cared more about her job than the baby in that moment. And for that, she's guilty.
No hospital especially in the NY tri-state area would allow a patient to dictate who will treat them because they're not the patient's preferred race. Hospitals have a non-discrimination policy and the supervisor who put the note in the Bauer's file would have been disciplined.
I've been "reading" this book for the last 3 months (lord knows I'm trying to finish it) and every time I picked it up there was something that would make me put it down. And you just took the words right out of me.!! I agree Picoult did try, but I don't think it worked.
I was feeling guilty about not liking this book but after reading this review, I am feeling much better about my gut instincts. I also am very familiar with the medical profession and although the author went to great lengths to explain "procedures", the "policies" regarding non-discrimination were so wrong. There is so much more that could be said about each character both positive and negative and therefore will be a good choice for a book review club. Real life has so many more extenuating circumstances, emotions, and perspectives than this book full of cliches allows.
This book was hesitantly recommended to me by a white friend of mine. I've read this author off and on and generally have a positive experience. I quit reading this book in the first chapter because Turk infuriated and terrified me. So many things were just too realistic for me and hard to hear. I get the negative reviews. I think it's easy to criticize this author for being white and writing about a black experience. Her author notes talk about the research she did to write this. I'm impressed by that fact. I have people who have called themselves my friends for decades who would not even watch a black tv show to try and understand my life. Regardless of who her intended audience is, she wrote it. That requires courage and maybe a bit of empathy. How different would our world be if people stopped looking the other way and pretending racism doesn't exist, and actually took the time to truly care about someone who looks or believes differently than they do? Instead, most people continue to bury their heads in the sand and go on with their comfortable existence unconcerned with what doesn't affect them directly. I guess I'm glad she wasn't afraid to start a very difficult discussion. Obviously we're all entitled to our various opinions and experienced the book differently, but that is my two cents.
Thank you so much for this review. I'm only a couple of chapters into the book and it just rubs me the wrong way on a lot of levels. I came here to see if I was the only one who felt this way; glad to see I'm not. I'm sure a ton of people will read the book based on the author who wrote it (that's why I picked it up). We can only hope it leads to some good discussions.
Thanks for this review, Tianna. I didn't even get to 50 pages before I gave up. I had a bad feeling about this book so I quit and came to Goodreads to figure out why. Not even gonna waste my time.
I would have stopped at the 50 page rule.
I pride myself on finishing books that I begin, even if they are not as good as I had hoped. This was shockingly disappointing. After seven hours of reading, I simply could not continue. So many false notes, too hard to explain. I don't know where this was going - understand the evil of white supremacy because they are taught this hatred? Feel sympathy? For this? I was raised in the South, I was taught to look down on the "coloreds" and then I got educated. I read some books, tuned into the culture, job done! No, I will never know what it feels like to be a black woman, but this book is insulting to both races. Like we don't have enough to deal with in this political environment without this kind of capitalizing on ignorance. This book made me feel unclean.
Very glad to read a review by a black woman - such a different perspective.
It does happen it happens in nursing homes at least one in Lancaster Pa and I am sure because I worked there
sure, I can see from your lived expereince there are flaws and errors. That said as a white female, I do believe I have learned something and been challenged. Look forward to reading about the same topic written by a person of colour.
Have any of you ever met a crazy white supremacist"? I knew one worse than Turk. Scary folks. indeed.
I was also grateful to read your review. I keep putting this book down because I'm sick of the constant horrible cliches it is riddled with. Constantly eye rolling and yelling at the pages! I usually like Jodi's books, but this one I have yet to finish. I can't stomach it anymore! I now feel validated.
I forgot to add that it seems like the author is pushing her political agenda on her readers! Totally turned me off.
The moment when Kennedy fondled the bottle of hair relaxer in the store and had her "a-ha" moment, I threw the book down. I'm still so angered by this book that I check on these reviews. And I don't know why, because all the majority of the reviews do is make me angrier because they're all so praising and in awe of Picoult and her magnitude and bravery. Ugh. Just wanted to let you know I agree 100% with your review. You're not the only person who didn't like this book, even though it may feel that way if you look at all the 5 star reviews.
Yes yes yes! Thank you for your review.
"(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always always on the losing side. So that pissed me off."
WTF? are YOU fucking kidding me? WHAT. A. BULLSHIT... you review pissed me off as fuck. on what kind of world are you living?
wait. right: in USA. that explains everything.
if are you black - light brown skin or dark brown skin, it doesn't matter - you're fucked. black with light brown skin people they may also be get bullied. btw, not only by white people but also by black ones. whenever probably hard to believe it. so what are you a black female medical student? ....if you know very little about the world and write bullshit like this anyway...
A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always always on the losing si..."
I feel the need to add a disclaimer. I do not speak for every black person in the world. I do not speak for every black person in the United States. I can only speak for myself and give my point of view.
Are you arguing that colorism is non-existent? That darker skinned black people are not treated worse than their lighter skinned counterparts? Unfortunately, that is the world that we live in. That is the world that I personally live in as a dark skin black woman. Your words cannot invalidate my experiences. And again, I only speak for myself, but many would agree with me.
Yes, I live in the USA. The book also takes place in the USA.
As to your point about being bullied because you are black, independent of skin tone, I agree with you. I did not say that light skin individuals have never been bullied. However, in a comparison between light and dark skin, society hold lighter skin in a higher regard. Not only for black people, but also Indians and I'm sure other races as well. When is the last time you turned on the tv and saw the token black person was dark skin?
I mentioned my race and my field of study in the first paragraph to address the likelihood of the events in the novel actually occurring in real life. I have worked in a hospital setting and taken classes on biomedical ethics and I used this review to share my knowledge and my opinion.
I have to ask.. did you read the book? Because I was looking for your review and couldn't find it.
A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always always on the losing si..."
But...this is wrong. Like, factually, scientifically and just flat-out wrong. There are literally studies on this. While anti-black racism exists and affects all black folks, there are other factors which can intensify that oppression. Unfortunately, white supremacy (which is present in just about every social structure in North America) absolutely makes things harder for you the darker you are. This also includes interactions and social dynamics WITHIN black communities as well as the experiences of black folks in outside/mainstream North American life. As someone who is sort of in the "middle" (not light skinned by any means, but also not dark skinned), this is 100% true of my experiences and most black folks that I know personally. It's also reinforced in the media, in the dating scene, in workplace culture, literally everywhere. You'd have to be willfully blind to ignore this. No one said light skinned folks don't experience bullying or racism or racial violence, they do. But to deny colorism is extremely harmful of you. The dynamics between light skinned and dark skinned folks (which you hint at with your comment about light skinned people being bullied by other black people) is also really reductionist. Those dynamics are actually super complex. While bullying can happen in any direction, actual oppression based on skin tone/color can only occur in one direction - dark skinned black people do not have the social capital/political power to actually oppress their lighter counterparts for being light (I recognize there are lots of other identity politics that could be at play here, intersectionality is real, but we're simply talking about colorism so forgive me for that).
Editing to add: The tone of your comment is also incredibly inappropriate. I am not sure why you felt the need to be so aggressive and rude with that, but it's not cool. OP is discussing their experiences and it's fine if you want to respectfully disagree, but calling their post "bullshit" when it's filled with a lot of personal stuff is actually pretty awful of you. Just my $0.02.
Tianna wrote: "A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always a..."
ok, you only share your opinion. you live in USA and - indeed - the book also takes in the USA. good point. but still this is a dark-skined black point of view. I am a light-skinned black female and based on my experience: in USA, black people they may also be get bullied - by white and by black people. of course many would agree with you... many who are even more similar to you, with similar views.
and yes - I read the book. yesterday. when I wrote to you, I was halfway through the book. in my opinion, Picoult did a great job and Small Great Things is a very good book.
Best wishes,
AJ
Ebony wrote: "A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always a..."
I'm almost sorry to say this: reall, I don't give a damn about your opinion.
Best wishes,
AJ
WeOff my reading list it goes, I was getting upset by you just describing some of it.
This book is beyond bad. Jodi Picoult needs to step away from anything that has to do with race. In addition to the writing being so bad that I would not want my high schooler to read it, it is full of ham-handed attempts at racial sensitivity. I am not even going to finish this book.
Oh God, that was very validating, thank you! I am 1/3 of the way through and I just can't....
Thank you for writing this. As a nurse, I agree that a sticky note would not prevent me from helping anyone in distress. I work with nurses from all races. There is none of that, even here in Utah. Where I am from in Boston, every floor was diverse . I agree she was guilty for not interceding on a newborns behalf. I also would never pretend to know and write about a black nurses point of view as a white woman. No matter how much research I did.
Thank you for your perspective. I was really offended by this work as a white lady, but I don't think a lot of POC read this schlock. This was my first and last Piccoult novel. This book was cultural appropriation 101 and full of stereotypes.
I really enjoyed this book but as I’m white and from the Uk maybe POC from USA will disregard my opinions. Fair enough.
I have no experience to judge your experiences but looking at young people here in schools, everyone is totally mixed up in their friendship groups, I don’t see racism in my area but in the inner cities I do. Why?
At the end of the day I see this book as a story, well told, a page turner, and eye opening but that doesn’t mean I take everything as fact. I think many people create their own problems by standing on soap boxes instead of trying to fit in and get along but what do I know?
You probably as children enjoyed Disney but knew that elephants can’t fly, with or without feathers in their trunk but you enjoyed the story still. Can’t you enjoy this story as a story without picking it to pieces?
Now, I will crawl under a solid table and await the flack 🙂
Ps... Jodi isn’t a skinhead or a lawyer yet she’s allowed to write from their perspective without comment hmmm
Agreed completely.COMPLETELY.and I am as white as the driven snow and you hit the nail on the head .As to naming her son after Thomas Alva Edison????T.A. Edison was a racist ,bigoted prick who stole everything he could get his hands on!!And this is such a huge inaccuracy to me.You have no idea.You're right. Riddled with cliches and frankly a whole lot of narrow minded bull shit.Well done.JM
I wasn’t a fan of the book but I do want to point out that Ruth did try to save the baby before the rest of the crew came in. Just want to correct that inaccuracy. Everything else you all are saying... I agree with! :)
i doubt that I can finish this piece of trash!
I definitely agree here. My friends and close relatives are in the medical field and this would not fly. I didn't finish the book. I'm saddened because I had heard great things about the book, but unfortunately none of it lived up. I'm more saddened because I think the topic desperately needs to be addressed and talked about but not in this way and not from a white female's perspective. I work in an international organization so I don't pretend or even fully know what my friends from around North America and the world face in regards to this topic; however I thought that Picoult was coming from a biased, theoretical, white-female perspective, which was extremely disappointing and even detrimental for people who believe they are better educated because of reading this book. From now on, I have resolved to read these types of books from people of color so I can get a better, more holistic understanding.
Like Fareeda said, she did try to save the baby! But I can definitely see your point on the rest of it.
A long time ago I took a lit class from a white guy (I'm a white girl). He basically said male authors can't write decent female characters and female authors can't write decent male characters. I thought: How would you know? As a man, you can only accurately state the latter. I'm bringing this up because I thought it was brave for Jodi Piccoult to try to get into the mindset of an African American. I figured she probably failed (your review is confirmation of that), but I've seen people do far, far worse. Tom Wolfe and Scott Turow spring to mind. I have the same issue with you on the medical drama that frames this whole thing, but on the other hand, I CAN tell you that she pretty much hits the nail on the head for writing the clueless white liberal lawyer character. So if it's any consolation, I think there are some of us who can see ourselves in that character and work on ourselves a bit harder. As for 'only black nurse': The story takes place in New Hampshire. I'm not familiar with the place but I've always heard it is fairly white. So I just assumed that could happen. My thoughts are a little scattered, but I just wanted to say I appreciate your point of view.
I agree with you. Full of cliches and seemingly contrived things that I doubt would really happen. Someone following Ruth in TJ maxx asking to see her receipt as she left? The little girl looking at Edison's chain and saying "are you a slave". Just ridiculous things that like you, made me roll my eyes. It's a book with an agenda, not a story.
Thank you! This is exactly how I felt. I kept giving this book the benefit of the doubt but there where so many parts that irked me.
I definitely agree that one needs to suspend belief when it comes to the entire medical picture. I had a long career in hands on nursing management. Even going back many years, a patient/family demanding that a person of color not care fo4 them would never be tolerated. The supervisor would never ok it. A nurse would not allow a baby to die because they were told not to touch. A hospital can not revoke a nursing license..only a State Board of Nursing can do that, after due investigation. Hospitals cover their staff in these types of issues, not throw them under the bus. I have a very hard time believing that this nurse would be arrested on the say so of the patient etc.
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Michelle
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Feb 26, 2017 11:29AM
I totally agree. I'm half way through this book and was sure at most it would have a 3 star rating. I felt like this book is doing more to perpetuate negative stereotypes than address social justice. As the inaccuracies about the medical response are ridiculous. In a code you go on autopilot, you don't stop to consider the moral issues. Thank you for your honest review!
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Yaaaassss!!! I agree with you 1000% on every point. I am so glad I wasn't the only one thinking are you f kidding me?! I felt like the author just made a few black friends right before and suddenly she felt like she had some insight that she just had to share. It was too much!
YES. I was excited for this book, but it frustrated me so much I couldn't finish. I had to stop at the part where she first met with the lawyer and said, "I was just doing my job". NO you weren't. You stood there and watched a baby die.
I'm a NICU nurse and I can't imagine someone just standing there. Grab a mask and do CPAP. Call someone!!!
She cared more about her job than the baby in that moment. And for that, she's guilty.
No hospital especially in the NY tri-state area would allow a patient to dictate who will treat them because they're not the patient's preferred race. Hospitals have a non-discrimination policy and the supervisor who put the note in the Bauer's file would have been disciplined.
I've been "reading" this book for the last 3 months (lord knows I'm trying to finish it) and every time I picked it up there was something that would make me put it down. And you just took the words right out of me.!! I agree Picoult did try, but I don't think it worked.
I'm about a third of the way through this book and I agree with you completely, it is simply awful. I'm going to finish reading to see how bad it gets. I've never been a fan of Picoult, but this is the worst!
I was feeling guilty about not liking this book but after reading this review, I am feeling much better about my gut instincts. I also am very familiar with the medical profession and although the author went to great lengths to explain "procedures", the "policies" regarding non-discrimination were so wrong. There is so much more that could be said about each character both positive and negative and therefore will be a good choice for a book review club. Real life has so many more extenuating circumstances, emotions, and perspectives than this book full of cliches allows.
This book was hesitantly recommended to me by a white friend of mine. I've read this author off and on and generally have a positive experience. I quit reading this book in the first chapter because Turk infuriated and terrified me. So many things were just too realistic for me and hard to hear. I get the negative reviews. I think it's easy to criticize this author for being white and writing about a black experience. Her author notes talk about the research she did to write this. I'm impressed by that fact. I have people who have called themselves my friends for decades who would not even watch a black tv show to try and understand my life. Regardless of who her intended audience is, she wrote it. That requires courage and maybe a bit of empathy. How different would our world be if people stopped looking the other way and pretending racism doesn't exist, and actually took the time to truly care about someone who looks or believes differently than they do? Instead, most people continue to bury their heads in the sand and go on with their comfortable existence unconcerned with what doesn't affect them directly. I guess I'm glad she wasn't afraid to start a very difficult discussion. Obviously we're all entitled to our various opinions and experienced the book differently, but that is my two cents.
i agree!!!!!!.........i don't think i will even finish, so much better books out there!!!
Thank you so much for this review. I'm only a couple of chapters into the book and it just rubs me the wrong way on a lot of levels. I came here to see if I was the only one who felt this way; glad to see I'm not. I'm sure a ton of people will read the book based on the author who wrote it (that's why I picked it up). We can only hope it leads to some good discussions.
Thanks for this review, Tianna. I didn't even get to 50 pages before I gave up. I had a bad feeling about this book so I quit and came to Goodreads to figure out why. Not even gonna waste my time.
I would have stopped at the 50 page rule.
I pride myself on finishing books that I begin, even if they are not as good as I had hoped. This was shockingly disappointing. After seven hours of reading, I simply could not continue. So many false notes, too hard to explain. I don't know where this was going - understand the evil of white supremacy because they are taught this hatred? Feel sympathy? For this? I was raised in the South, I was taught to look down on the "coloreds" and then I got educated. I read some books, tuned into the culture, job done! No, I will never know what it feels like to be a black woman, but this book is insulting to both races. Like we don't have enough to deal with in this political environment without this kind of capitalizing on ignorance. This book made me feel unclean.
Very glad to read a review by a black woman - such a different perspective.
It does happen it happens in nursing homes at least one in Lancaster Pa and I am sure because I worked there
sure, I can see from your lived expereince there are flaws and errors. That said as a white female, I do believe I have learned something and been challenged. Look forward to reading about the same topic written by a person of colour.
Have any of you ever met a crazy white supremacist"? I knew one worse than Turk. Scary folks. indeed.
I was also grateful to read your review. I keep putting this book down because I'm sick of the constant horrible cliches it is riddled with. Constantly eye rolling and yelling at the pages! I usually like Jodi's books, but this one I have yet to finish. I can't stomach it anymore! I now feel validated.
I forgot to add that it seems like the author is pushing her political agenda on her readers! Totally turned me off.
The moment when Kennedy fondled the bottle of hair relaxer in the store and had her "a-ha" moment, I threw the book down. I'm still so angered by this book that I check on these reviews. And I don't know why, because all the majority of the reviews do is make me angrier because they're all so praising and in awe of Picoult and her magnitude and bravery. Ugh. Just wanted to let you know I agree 100% with your review. You're not the only person who didn't like this book, even though it may feel that way if you look at all the 5 star reviews.
Yes yes yes! Thank you for your review.
"(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always always on the losing side. So that pissed me off."WTF? are YOU fucking kidding me? WHAT. A. BULLSHIT... you review pissed me off as fuck. on what kind of world are you living?
wait. right: in USA. that explains everything.
if are you black - light brown skin or dark brown skin, it doesn't matter - you're fucked. black with light brown skin people they may also be get bullied. btw, not only by white people but also by black ones. whenever probably hard to believe it. so what are you a black female medical student? ....if you know very little about the world and write bullshit like this anyway...
A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always always on the losing si..."I feel the need to add a disclaimer. I do not speak for every black person in the world. I do not speak for every black person in the United States. I can only speak for myself and give my point of view.
Are you arguing that colorism is non-existent? That darker skinned black people are not treated worse than their lighter skinned counterparts? Unfortunately, that is the world that we live in. That is the world that I personally live in as a dark skin black woman. Your words cannot invalidate my experiences. And again, I only speak for myself, but many would agree with me.
Yes, I live in the USA. The book also takes place in the USA.
As to your point about being bullied because you are black, independent of skin tone, I agree with you. I did not say that light skin individuals have never been bullied. However, in a comparison between light and dark skin, society hold lighter skin in a higher regard. Not only for black people, but also Indians and I'm sure other races as well. When is the last time you turned on the tv and saw the token black person was dark skin?
I mentioned my race and my field of study in the first paragraph to address the likelihood of the events in the novel actually occurring in real life. I have worked in a hospital setting and taken classes on biomedical ethics and I used this review to share my knowledge and my opinion.
I have to ask.. did you read the book? Because I was looking for your review and couldn't find it.
A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always always on the losing si..."But...this is wrong. Like, factually, scientifically and just flat-out wrong. There are literally studies on this. While anti-black racism exists and affects all black folks, there are other factors which can intensify that oppression. Unfortunately, white supremacy (which is present in just about every social structure in North America) absolutely makes things harder for you the darker you are. This also includes interactions and social dynamics WITHIN black communities as well as the experiences of black folks in outside/mainstream North American life. As someone who is sort of in the "middle" (not light skinned by any means, but also not dark skinned), this is 100% true of my experiences and most black folks that I know personally. It's also reinforced in the media, in the dating scene, in workplace culture, literally everywhere. You'd have to be willfully blind to ignore this. No one said light skinned folks don't experience bullying or racism or racial violence, they do. But to deny colorism is extremely harmful of you. The dynamics between light skinned and dark skinned folks (which you hint at with your comment about light skinned people being bullied by other black people) is also really reductionist. Those dynamics are actually super complex. While bullying can happen in any direction, actual oppression based on skin tone/color can only occur in one direction - dark skinned black people do not have the social capital/political power to actually oppress their lighter counterparts for being light (I recognize there are lots of other identity politics that could be at play here, intersectionality is real, but we're simply talking about colorism so forgive me for that).
Editing to add: The tone of your comment is also incredibly inappropriate. I am not sure why you felt the need to be so aggressive and rude with that, but it's not cool. OP is discussing their experiences and it's fine if you want to respectfully disagree, but calling their post "bullshit" when it's filled with a lot of personal stuff is actually pretty awful of you. Just my $0.02.
Tianna wrote: "A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always a..."ok, you only share your opinion. you live in USA and - indeed - the book also takes in the USA. good point. but still this is a dark-skined black point of view. I am a light-skinned black female and based on my experience: in USA, black people they may also be get bullied - by white and by black people. of course many would agree with you... many who are even more similar to you, with similar views.
and yes - I read the book. yesterday. when I wrote to you, I was halfway through the book. in my opinion, Picoult did a great job and Small Great Things is a very good book.
Best wishes,
AJ
Ebony wrote: "A. Jacqueline wrote: ""(...) For example, Ruth got bullied for her light skin. Are you fucking kidding me? Yes there is a division between light skin and dark skin, but dark skin is always always a..."I'm almost sorry to say this: reall, I don't give a damn about your opinion.
Best wishes,
AJ
WeOff my reading list it goes, I was getting upset by you just describing some of it.
This book is beyond bad. Jodi Picoult needs to step away from anything that has to do with race. In addition to the writing being so bad that I would not want my high schooler to read it, it is full of ham-handed attempts at racial sensitivity. I am not even going to finish this book.
Oh God, that was very validating, thank you! I am 1/3 of the way through and I just can't....
Thank you for writing this. As a nurse, I agree that a sticky note would not prevent me from helping anyone in distress. I work with nurses from all races. There is none of that, even here in Utah. Where I am from in Boston, every floor was diverse . I agree she was guilty for not interceding on a newborns behalf. I also would never pretend to know and write about a black nurses point of view as a white woman. No matter how much research I did.
Thank you for your perspective. I was really offended by this work as a white lady, but I don't think a lot of POC read this schlock. This was my first and last Piccoult novel. This book was cultural appropriation 101 and full of stereotypes.
I really enjoyed this book but as I’m white and from the Uk maybe POC from USA will disregard my opinions. Fair enough. I have no experience to judge your experiences but looking at young people here in schools, everyone is totally mixed up in their friendship groups, I don’t see racism in my area but in the inner cities I do. Why?
At the end of the day I see this book as a story, well told, a page turner, and eye opening but that doesn’t mean I take everything as fact. I think many people create their own problems by standing on soap boxes instead of trying to fit in and get along but what do I know?
You probably as children enjoyed Disney but knew that elephants can’t fly, with or without feathers in their trunk but you enjoyed the story still. Can’t you enjoy this story as a story without picking it to pieces?
Now, I will crawl under a solid table and await the flack 🙂
Ps... Jodi isn’t a skinhead or a lawyer yet she’s allowed to write from their perspective without comment hmmm
Agreed completely.COMPLETELY.and I am as white as the driven snow and you hit the nail on the head .As to naming her son after Thomas Alva Edison????T.A. Edison was a racist ,bigoted prick who stole everything he could get his hands on!!And this is such a huge inaccuracy to me.You have no idea.You're right. Riddled with cliches and frankly a whole lot of narrow minded bull shit.Well done.JM
I wasn’t a fan of the book but I do want to point out that Ruth did try to save the baby before the rest of the crew came in. Just want to correct that inaccuracy. Everything else you all are saying... I agree with! :)
i doubt that I can finish this piece of trash!
I definitely agree here. My friends and close relatives are in the medical field and this would not fly. I didn't finish the book. I'm saddened because I had heard great things about the book, but unfortunately none of it lived up. I'm more saddened because I think the topic desperately needs to be addressed and talked about but not in this way and not from a white female's perspective. I work in an international organization so I don't pretend or even fully know what my friends from around North America and the world face in regards to this topic; however I thought that Picoult was coming from a biased, theoretical, white-female perspective, which was extremely disappointing and even detrimental for people who believe they are better educated because of reading this book. From now on, I have resolved to read these types of books from people of color so I can get a better, more holistic understanding.
Like Fareeda said, she did try to save the baby! But I can definitely see your point on the rest of it.
A long time ago I took a lit class from a white guy (I'm a white girl). He basically said male authors can't write decent female characters and female authors can't write decent male characters. I thought: How would you know? As a man, you can only accurately state the latter. I'm bringing this up because I thought it was brave for Jodi Piccoult to try to get into the mindset of an African American. I figured she probably failed (your review is confirmation of that), but I've seen people do far, far worse. Tom Wolfe and Scott Turow spring to mind. I have the same issue with you on the medical drama that frames this whole thing, but on the other hand, I CAN tell you that she pretty much hits the nail on the head for writing the clueless white liberal lawyer character. So if it's any consolation, I think there are some of us who can see ourselves in that character and work on ourselves a bit harder. As for 'only black nurse': The story takes place in New Hampshire. I'm not familiar with the place but I've always heard it is fairly white. So I just assumed that could happen. My thoughts are a little scattered, but I just wanted to say I appreciate your point of view.
I agree with you. Full of cliches and seemingly contrived things that I doubt would really happen. Someone following Ruth in TJ maxx asking to see her receipt as she left? The little girl looking at Edison's chain and saying "are you a slave". Just ridiculous things that like you, made me roll my eyes. It's a book with an agenda, not a story.
Thank you! This is exactly how I felt. I kept giving this book the benefit of the doubt but there where so many parts that irked me.
I definitely agree that one needs to suspend belief when it comes to the entire medical picture. I had a long career in hands on nursing management. Even going back many years, a patient/family demanding that a person of color not care fo4 them would never be tolerated. The supervisor would never ok it. A nurse would not allow a baby to die because they were told not to touch. A hospital can not revoke a nursing license..only a State Board of Nursing can do that, after due investigation. Hospitals cover their staff in these types of issues, not throw them under the bus. I have a very hard time believing that this nurse would be arrested on the say so of the patient etc.
