As Dave said, Anderson's talk yesterday was wonderful. The most striking feature of Speak, for me anyway, was its dark humor. Having learned this past summer that my mother was raped at the age of 16 (many of you already know this based on my memoir for Kennedy's class) I read this book due to a personal need to attempt to understand what my mother went through. While of course rape is a heavily serious topic, I like the way that it is treated in the novel; kids can relate to the character without being too depressed about the topic. Anyhow, this is the only book by Anderson that I have read, but after hearing her speak, I plan to read others this summer.
I'd also like to add a troubling though here. What sticks out in my mind the most is the fact that Anderson has heard kids ask her why the rape was such a big deal. It seems as though most kids think that because Melinda's rapist is a guy from school and that the experience only lasted a few minutes, that it was no big deal. This is indeed troubling and points to a fact I've long recongnized to be true: that rape is all too often not taken very seriously.
On another note, Dave does a good job of pointing out the three main topics of her talk yesterday. Well, I've lost my train of thought and Dave covers everything else quite well, so I feel I have no more to add....For those of you who couln't make it, we missed you!
Nat
Yup, that's me... amazing.
Very interesting take on the book, re:your mother. You didn't tell me that yesterday when we were talking about it. I could definitely see how having an experience like that in your family would affect your read of the novel.
Posted by: Dave E. | May 13, 2006 at 05:44 PM
Hope everyone is enjoying seeing Natalie on our blog!! Yea Nat! KES
Posted by: Karen | May 13, 2006 at 06:30 PM
Now Dave, if you see this, I didn't actually say you were amazing! I believe I used the word "good" :)
Nat
Posted by: natalie | May 14, 2006 at 11:18 AM
Hmm, so I don't have creative license to alter the opinion others have of me? That sucks.
Posted by: Dave E. | May 14, 2006 at 04:40 PM