Response to "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down"

I have greatly enjoyed reading Anne Faiman's "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" and believe it is one of the most compelling, heart-wrentching, interesting, and thought provoking books I have read in a very long time. While the book describes an extremely sad and depressing story, I believe that every chapter contains numerous important lessons. For example, the struggles immigrant cultures experience in a new country (the new government, religions, practices, and social norms that they face), the interactions between differing cultures, western vs. eastern medicine, parenting, and different people's values.

I often find myself agreeing with one side of the story, either the Lee family's position or the doctor's, and then quickly switching to the other. It is so hard to favor one side when both are trying so hard to do the "right" thing for Lia. Fadiman does an excellent job portraying each side's points of view and explaining the whole story. The book would be completely different if Fadiman decided to only interview the Lee family or only Lia's doctors. The chapters regarding Hmong history are also extremely valuable because they let outsiders into the Lee family's culture. Therefore, I am able to understand, at least a little, why or why not the family may have reacted a certain way or made a certain decision.

Fadiman's story reminds me of the numerous stories my father tells me about his family's struggles as new immigrants in America. My father, along with his Argentinian mother and Russian father, immigrated from Israel to America when he was a teenager. They arrived in America with $400, my grandfather had $200 in each pocket, and a birdcage filled with pastries. With absolutely no knowledge of the English language, my grandparents spoke Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew, my father and his parents were thrown into a new world with different customs and norms. In Israel, my grandparents had been bakers and owned a small farm. Because they moved to an urban area of Washington D.C. and were therefore unable to farm, my grandparents established a bakery. My father started school, learned English, and became my grandparents translators. My father worked at the bakery before and after school everyday and was the only person able to communicate with customers.

One specific incident greatly reminds me of the Lee family's struggles in America. My grandmother, who was very superstitious and had only seen a doctor on a few occasions, began to complain about terrible stomach pains. Thinking she had cancer, which she knew nothing about, my grandmother thought there was nothing she could do and refused to go to the doctor. My grandmother was actually pregnant and unfortunately, because she did not see a doctor immediately, loss the child due to complications.

It's very interesting to learn about the cultural differences between ethnic groups and how when forced to coexist, these groups struggle to see eye-to-eye.