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| Music, media, libraries and my tortuous ascent into the middle class. |
Lisa, bright and dark***** 5 out of 5 stars
When you need a quick read, nothing beats the YA novel. This classic came to me from the 50-cent paperback book pushcart located outside the doors to the Main Library's bookstore. When I bought the batch that this book came in, the gentleman in the grey suit who manages the store finally asked me, "you must really like these books."
"They're cheap," I responded. And yes they are, but much more. They're also pocketable, and something of a treasure hunt as well.
As a novel for young adults, Lisa, bright and dark doesn't delve too deeply into the full range of narrative expression, but it does touch more than the surface characteristics of its particular subject. In the time it takes to read the first five chapters of the latest adult thriller to hit the supermarket shelves, you've already finished Lisa... and come away with a greater sense of the author's intent.
Here we have a story about young Lisa Shilling who has, at the beginning of the novel, realized that she is seriously ill. But really this is not her story, rather the story of her three classmates who -- also recognizing that Lisa needs help -- take it upon themselves to do what her parents, her teachers and other adults cannot.
What is that therapy they provide, and what does it accomplish in the final analysis? That is what the uncertain, the tense, melancholy, and sometimes funny moments of this novel try to clarify -- but with no clear answer in the last chapter.
Really, this is a novel written not for the Lisa Shilling's of the world, but for the many children trying to understand mental illness from their own stable, safe vantages. There is a tendency to greet those suffering from psychological disorders either negatively, or passively, but Lisa, bright and dark seeks to describe another possible reaction. With no guarantees, no easy answers or quick fixes, even a child can find the power to help soothe the pain of another mind on the verge of self-destruction.
Posted by Robert Waugh at June 11, 2004 02:27 AMThere's a bookstore at your library? Do they sell coffee, too?
Posted by: Mike Waugh at June 12, 2004 11:15 PMOh yes. Good coffee. And a huge selection of other drinks and food... even a vegetarian sub. Not quite a coffee shop. More a coffee cart. But there are four little tables and stacks of about twenty free papers to read. It's right next to the bookstore -- a little bookstore -- on your way out to the underground parking garage.
The Columbus Metropolitan Main Library is a beauty. My home away from home. The Deaf School Topiary is right in its back yard... you remember that park we went to when you and Chairity came up?
You can check out books, videos, audiobooks, CDs, probably artwork, too... all completely free. You can sit and read in ridiculously comfortable chairs. The coffee is excellent. The books in the bookstore are cheap: I just bought hardback editions of two classic John Updike novels for $1.50 each. There's a parking garage. I simply can't understand why more people don't hang out there.
Posted by: Robert, Waugh the Younger at June 12, 2004 11:42 PMI just happened to run into a copy of this book while in the fiction stacks today. It's was as old as the hills. A bit worn. We have two copies: one in YA and the other in Fiction.
But it has circulated recently. Perhaps someone read your review and picked it up.
Posted by: Mike Waugh at June 16, 2004 11:18 AMSeems like you have a bit of time on your hands, eh? You just happen to run across this book, and then track down its twin? And how did you know it circulated? I mean, Baton Rouge being such a thoroughly modern city, you certainly don't use cards anymore, do you? Wouldn't you need to look it up on the library's network?
Is this part of your work, to know your books so intimately -- their histories, their desires, those with whom they choose to associate? Or were you trying to look busy and well employed in front of your masters?
Or -- and I think this most likely -- has the blog insinuated itself upon your life so much that you did all this in order to comment?
When is your life the blog? When is the blog your life?
Posted by: Robert, Waugh the Younger at June 19, 2004 03:08 AMI have to say that was an excellently written review. I wonder what Ann of Avonly has on Lisa?
I also find society a bit dim when confronting psi. I think psyche has gotten a bad rap from quacks. Then people believe them...
More than psychiatrists, having friends is best.
i think this book is intended for the lisa's out there. i picked up this book when i was a teenager, in a mental state similar to lisa's, and i couldn't finish it. it was too close to understanding me; it scared me.
later, i went on a mad hunt for the book again. i didn't remember the title or author, but only the storyline and cover. at this time, i was again in a place of emotional turmoil and felt like a teenager again even though i was already well into college. i found it and finished reading it.
yes. it certainly can be for the lisa's of the world.
Posted by: alison at February 25, 2005 05:09 PM