Play Book Tag discussion
This topic is about
I Am, I Am, I Am
2023: Other Books
>
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell - 4 stars
date
newest »
newest »
I read this one last year for Memoir Tag - coincided with the PBT Favorite Author's challenge. I agree this was more her reflections on life and resiliency - I really enjoyed it!
Great review. I like her writing and it sounds very meaningful. Resilience is a powerful thing. It reminds me that every incident could be framed in two completely different ways. One person might use it to explain why it’s so wonderful to be able to get out of bed and enjoy a new day. Another might tell a story with the same incident, and use it as a reason to just give up.
Sue wrote: "I read this one last year for Memoir Tag - coincided with the PBT Favorite Author's challenge. I agree this was more her reflections on life and resiliency - I really enjoyed it!"
Glad you enjoyed it too, Sue!
NancyJ wrote: "Great review. I like her writing and it sounds very meaningful. Resilience is a powerful thing. It reminds me that every incident could be framed in two completely different ways. One person might ..."Thanks, Nancy. I agree that "Resilience is a powerful thing." It was nice to read a book that emphasizes it in a positive way.
Maggie O’Farrell’s memoir is written in an unusual way. Instead of recounting her life story in chronological order, she has assembled a series of seventeen essays that document times of her life when death made an appearance. She was afflicted with encephalitis as a child, has taken many risks, experienced accidents and near-drownings, and miscarriages. A few times, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her daughter suffers from a significant immune system disorder. O'Farrell writes beautifully about and fragility of life and the times when one decision, one chance outcome could have changed the course of her life. It is not a series of near-death experiences. Rather, it is a reflection on life’s challenges and the resiliency of the human spirit. I think each reader will bring to mind their own personal experiences when life could have taken a much different direction. I found it both moving and insightful.