Ali Cobby Eckermann

Too Afraid to Cry by Ali Cobby Eckermann is a memoir from an Aboriginal woman in Australia as she battles drugs and alcohol, reunites with her own and her extended kin family after growing up with white farmers as part of the Stolen Generation of adoptees. She finds her creative side in art and writing and works in various jobs, including an art centre as she realizes her creative gifts. The blunt prose tell a captivating story in chapters alternating with verse,and highlight her deep attachment to the natural world and ancestral relationships as she learns their indigenous ways. It was completely absorbing.… (mehr)

Ugh. I really hate to be giving this a low rating. But I was really disappointed by this, honestly. The writing is completely unemotional --Ali simply tells all the events that happened in chronological order. Very rarely did she offer an opinion or some larger context. Very rarely did she mention her emotions--and with a title like that, I needed the emotions.

And, I am trying to think about this carefully because I don't want to be a white person exoticising another culture, but I really wanted to know more about the Aboriginal people. I wanted to hear about how it was to find her family and what culture she was learning from them, what was different, what made it special, etcetera. It was really disappointing that I got simply the overlying plot arc.

Aaaand at the end it turns out that her family hadn't put her up for adoption, which is completely glossed over. Was she angry? Did she ask questions? Did she look to find out more? Am I missing some greater context, having lived in the States for ten years? This shocking piece was just glossed over.

The poetry was the strongest point.… (mehr)