Book #56: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Years ago, I read a few small books about reading and books by Anne Fadiman. I remember when I read those I read that she had written another book called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, and the name stuck with me because it was so different-sounding. For years whenever I'd come across that name I'd remember it, but I only now decided to read it. The book's subtitle really brings out what it's about: "A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures." It follows the story of Lia Lee, born to Hmong refugee immigrants to Merced, California, who had epilepsy, and tells about how her parents and her doctors clashed over how to properly treat her symptoms and her seizures. Her doctors were convinced that her parents were being noncompliant in giving her her medications that she needed and fought with them continuously. She eventually had an extended seizure which deprived her brain of oxygen for so long that she became braindead at the age of four. Both sides were scarred by this experience and the discussions that went along with it. Interspersed with this narrative about Lia and her epilepsy was the history of the Hmong people and how they became refugees, with their involvement helping the CIA during the Vietnam War and how they were forced to escape after the war ended. The story of the Hmong was so sad and hard for me to read. Some of the images that Fadiman used will be hard for me to forget. But the story of Lia and her parents really encapsulated the difficulty that immigrants have in coming to a new country and understanding the different culture and expectations in that new country, and showed how those misunderstandings can have huge effects on their lives and families. It was a very sad but also inspiring story and really was interesting for me to read.