another read.
Currently, thanks to the darling Emma, I am reading Smashed by Koren Zalickas. I don't know what kept me from picking this up before. After all, we know how much I enjoy a good memoir or personal story. Maybe I assumed it was some sort of "I was drunk through all four years of college sorority binge" thing which I don't connect with because I don't believe those stories really exist. Pledged never did it for me. Greek life is too different "up here" than in the south, and I don't believe you can really explain all that it is. But... before I go down "that road" (and by that I mean the Greek life "real" information road) here are my thoughts on this book:
First off, it is written in a style I was not sure I liked, or could follow well enough. Koren does a good job of throwing you into stressful, detail rich situations that are almost overwhelming. You need to focus, and it's not a glaze your eyes over one line and still be with the story line kind of book.
It is a difficult read, not because it is traumetizing, because unless you are living under a rock, you probably know worse people and more horrific stories than I have come across yet on page 94. It's not about shock value, which I am learning is the author's best tactic. She's really matter-of-fact about the whole thing.
Koren's relationship with alcohol is interesting. I am not a heavy drinker, never have been, and my vice of choice is shopping (lol) and pointless flirtations with cute men. She takes you through how her childhood became spotted with early and very influential experiences with drinking. She remembers her first drink. While I, like a lot of people, cannot. It was not memorable, but for her it was- almost like a spell I think.
When I read things like this, and I truthfully felt this way when Jana would tell me crazy stories about her adolescence, I kept thinking back on how my high school years were much more dull than I assumed. Maybe I just imagined I was "edgy" for skipping cross country practice, or hosting the prom party. Whatever the case, I am thankful for that mundane experience where I was kept from trauma-
So- all in all. Good book. I am enjoying it, and I cannot help but think of how much the character reminds me of some people I know. The girls who get too crazy, who are attention starved, or a sad combination of both. We probably all know someone like the author who has really had to struggled with something that is very addictive- if out of control. I am thankful for the "female perspective" and I am glad that her book has shed so much light on out of control drinking among women.












