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A review by liralen
Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher
4.0
A similarity to and a difference from [b:Wasted|46815|Wasted A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia|Marya Hornbacher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388181134s/46815.jpg|1256238]: In both Wasted and Madness one is left with the impression that no, she's not really better. Managing, maybe. But one suspects that it will not be long before things go to hell again. (Indeed, both in Madness and elsewhere Hornbacher has said that writing Wasted made her relapse, and that she did get very sick again.)
But in Madness it's clear that she knows she's not 'cured', and that's a pretty big difference from where I'm sitting. Many of the events, and episodes, Hornbacher writes about here are not too far in the past, and she's aware that similar ones probably loom not too far in the future. (She's also a lot more reflective on the impact her fluctuating mental health has, and has had, on those around her -- and perhaps more cautious about the impact words might have on a reader.)
This ends up being very raw and intense and immediate. It took me a little while to get into it (perhaps because I have limited interest in reading about bipolar...my interest was mostly curiosity, having read Wasted, which I suppose is obvious considering that this review is basically one long comparison of one book to another), but, well, I succumbed to the book's grip. I'd call it a better book than her first memoir, frankly, with more, oh, depth and growth (though perhaps it's less relatable? Or at least less sensational).
I really must get around to reading some of her fiction.
But in Madness it's clear that she knows she's not 'cured', and that's a pretty big difference from where I'm sitting. Many of the events, and episodes, Hornbacher writes about here are not too far in the past, and she's aware that similar ones probably loom not too far in the future. (She's also a lot more reflective on the impact her fluctuating mental health has, and has had, on those around her -- and perhaps more cautious about the impact words might have on a reader.)
This ends up being very raw and intense and immediate. It took me a little while to get into it (perhaps because I have limited interest in reading about bipolar...my interest was mostly curiosity, having read Wasted, which I suppose is obvious considering that this review is basically one long comparison of one book to another), but, well, I succumbed to the book's grip. I'd call it a better book than her first memoir, frankly, with more, oh, depth and growth (though perhaps it's less relatable? Or at least less sensational).
I really must get around to reading some of her fiction.