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In the comments to my original post on Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl, Chartroose from Bloody Hell, It's A Book Barrage had a couple of great questions that made me think a little harder about my feelings while I was reading that book. I'd like to share those questions and my answers with all of you here. Chartroose asked:
Why were you detached while reading this? Were the characters lacking in some way?
That's a great question! I had to think about it for a minute. I believe my feelings of detachment stemmed from the success of the author in reflecting Cot's emotional state in her nearly dispassionate manner of telling her painful story. You could feel the numbness of a woman who had seen the worst life has to offer and knows there is nothing else it can do to her.
The characters were not lacking at all. They all had very distinct personalities, their own coping mechanisms. They were all discussed by Cot so matter-of-factly and pretty much simply noted and dismissed by the doctor taking the deposition, which drove home the "less than human" view people had of the slaves.
Answering your questions has really made me think about what it is that makes us like or dislike a book. I think even only a few years ago this book would have bored me, but I've grown in my reading. I can see it now in a different light than I would have previously and appreciate the writing style used to make this book more deeply affecting than it initially seems. Thanks for the questions!!
Going forward, if any of you have any questions about books I've reviewed or books I'm reading (listed at the beginning of the "Read in 2008" list at the bottom of my blog), please feel free to ask! I really enjoyed the opportunity to share other thoughts beyond the review format I've chosen for this site. I like the short but (hopefully) helpful regular reviews, but if you're wanting a little more information on a particular book or books, just let me know!
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