Week 6: Personal Connection and Memoirs

I've always had a hard time having any kind of personal connection with things I'm reading beyond a mild one. Usually, I have to pick apart the decisions made by people and try to understand things in a deeper, meaningful way - as someone who adores psychology to the point of majoring in it, I'm always trying to understand such things. Unfortunately for writings and memoirs, that means I am always critical of actions being taken and have trouble slipping into the "story", as it were. Some of that, of course, comes from the fact that the memoir "Cousins" is rather short and I cannot properly get seated as a viewer in the same sense that I might while reading full-length novels, something that is more my problem than the writing itself. The in-depth one though, "Growing up in Therapy", I feel a connection to more because of my own experiences with mental health issues and trying to wrangle with concepts of distant parents and going to therapy while relatively young.

For the "Cousins" memoir I think it uses all the details it needs to, but almost feels more like a story than it does a recounting of one's feelings and events. "Growing up in Therapy", however, I feel has a little too much detail but at the same time carries much more emotional weight in it because it feels like very deep and very personal thoughts.

Once more, the "Cousins" memoir feels more like a disappointment in the "truth telling" category. I always air on the side of caution when I hear a story, especially one so concise and wrapped with a nice bow on top. However, "Growing up in Therapy" feels more raw and less well-edited, there isn't a bow on top, there isn't a finish line to every question a reader might have, instead it is an exploration of someone's beliefs and feelings.

All in all, I think the "Growing up in Therapy" memoir is far more interesting and memorable, as well as emotionally powerful than "Cousins" is, if only by certain margins.