The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Anne Fadiman
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release date:	28 September, 1998
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Average rating: Stars

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in the spirit catches you, fadiman does a fine job of presenting an objective story about cultural misunderstanding secondary to culture clash. a family that fled their country due to warfare immigrated (legally and not so much) to the united states in an attempt to save their culture from being torn apart by the war. clans, as goes the culture, were split upon entering the u.s. but during the few years the families and clans spent in the u.s., they would locate other clans and move to the same city. there was not too much of an attempt by these hmong people to understand or inform themselves of the american culture that they adapted when they moved to the u.s. (though there were 2 hmong mentioned in the book that bordered the american/hmong cultures, both originally hmong). most did not work, tended to gardens, reproduced all of the time (as they were expected to lose children due to the war and manual labor, but i knew of know war in the u.s. in the 1980s aside from the black and white thing). one family has a child that is a severe epileptic and the family thinks that the child should be revered due to their culture. health care was finally sought on the child's behalf by the parents. what ensues is a long tale of american science (who needs empirical evidence when i can believe?) pitted against pure superstition from the family's religious beliefs. the author does a great deal of medical chart research, interviews, etc. that help in the presentation of the story. she also does a good job of informing, indirectly, about the power of american doctors and the sad and difficult life the family has been given. objective, yes, but what about the family having fun and the not so fun times for the doctors? this book is not a must read but gives ideas, to americans, as to where tax money goes.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Anne Fadiman

Capitvating, and heart-breaking

I was assigned to read this book for a sociology course dealing with the relationship of minorities to the medical world. Initially, I thought that it sounded boring. However, after reading just a ways into it, I was hooked on the story. In this novel, the author explores the history of the Hmong people, Hmong culture in the United States, the way in which Americans view the Hmong people, and the ways in which these two cultures interact when thrust together in the medical world. As a reader, you will feel anger, sympathy, desperation, and hope when reading this novel. My only complaint is that sometimes the chapters on the history of the Hmong were too long, but overall, it is an excellent novel.

Anne Fadiman - The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Excellently researched, well written, insightful & important

Fadiman writes an engaging case study of a Hmong family with an epileptic daughter, showing the challenges inherent to delivering Western-style medical care to a family deeply rooted in traditional beliefs. Fadiman convincingly makes the case that neither side is inherently at fault (although occasionally I cringe at a word or action on each side) but that the problem stems from "cross-cultural misunderstanding."

She delivers a satisfying mixture of telling the story of Lia Lee (the child with epilepsy) and of giving a broader view of Hmong history and culture. (I had no idea that the Hmong were recruited by the CIA to fight for the USA in Laos during the Vietnam war, for example.)

Another strength of the book is that Fadiman looks within the field of medical anthropology and actually finds suggestions and solutions for this problem. Make sure, even if you decide some of the history isn't for you, that you don't miss chapters 17 (The Eight Questions) and 18 (The Life or the Soul), as they do an excellent job of transforming an interesting narrative into an instructive case study.

As a side note, I read this while in the hospital recovering from malaria and was gratified to find that several doctors and nurses had read the book or at least parts of it. I strongly recommend this book.

Another excellent book by the same author is Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, which is a light collection of essays on the love of books and reading. It's completely different territory, but Fadiman really shows her versatility.

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