Yeah, yeah, yeah. I promised a classic. Well, I didn’t finish reading it. The dog ate my homework. Also, I fell asleep reading in bed around 9:30 last night. Story of my life. So I’ve decided to review a couple of books that I’ve actually read.
Today’s book report is a two-for-one deal. We’re going to talk about My Lobotomy
Such a cheery topic for a Friday, non? I mean, nothing gets me more into the weekend spirit than the thought of shoving ice picks into people’s eye sockets and then scrambling their brains for a bit. As Tom Waits would say, I’d rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.Â
Remember that at happy hour tonight.
“My Lobotomy” is a heart-breaking book. Sadly, the lobotomy is not the worst thing that befell young Mr. Dully. I spent most of my time reading it gasping and saying to Kristian, “How could someone do that to a kid?” The tragedy of “My Lobotomy” is not just that a set of parents would attempt to turn their son’s brain into swiss cheese. The tragedy is that Dully’s parents abandoned him. He spent years in mental institutions, juvenile detention centers and halfway houses. At one point, they found a loving family that was willing to take him in. They were fine with the arrangement, until the family started taking him to church. He ended up in an institution.Â
What I’m saying is, if you’re looking for a feel-good read, I would recommend forgoing this book for something written by Alexander McCall Smith.Â
Yes, this book is a bummer. Yes, it made me angry on the author’s behalf. Yes, it made me want to reach right into the pages and give the protagonist a hug. On the other hand, it’s a no holds barred look at a family in turmoil, a step-mother with major issues (she brought Dully to dozens of doctors, all of whom told her that her step-son was fine and that she was the problem until she got Freeman to say that Dully was schizophrenic and lobotomize him) and what can happen to kids when they realize that they are unwanted by their families. I found it fascinating, in a horrible sort of way.
Rest assured, the book ends on a positive note. Really, are there any memoirs that don’t? Theoretically, the author has overcome their troubles enough to write a book about it. This usually indicates some level of things going well.
If you like memoirs and you’re not driven to homicidal rage by stories of kids who are mistreated, I would highly recommend “My Lobotomy.”
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After finishing this book, I was curious about the man behind the lobotomy, Walter Freeman. I picked up “The Lobotomist” to find out more. It’s an interesting book, to say the least. It’s most interesting aspect is the fact that it doesn’t demonize Freeman. Rather, it tries to explain him in context. I actually found it to be almost apologist in its portrayal. What the author clumsily gets across is that Freeman wasn’t a monster (I don’t think that he was). He was just a very misguided individual who really did try to help the mentally ill. I think that the author gives him more credit for being helpful than he deserves, but it’s pretty clear that he was trying.
Freeman’s failing was not that he was a bad person, rather that he was a bad scientist. I think that he really did want to help mental patients get out of institutions and go back home. He spent the last years of his life driving around the country visiting former patients and checking up on them. He also sent countless christmas cards and letters. Unfortunately, Freeman’s methodology was flawed. He was so eager to show that his operations worked, he ignored all evidence to the contrary. He emphasized his successful cases and downplayed his failures.Â
I’d like to read another book about Freeman (unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any other books), because I felt like I could read between the lines of this book to see where his problems were, but the author seems to have glossed over quite a bit. I think that, in his rush to show that Freeman wasn’t the demon that history has judged him to be, he played a bit loose with the facts. At the very least, he tried very hard to show his audience what Freeman’s reasoning was. I, for one, didn’t buy it.Â
Freeman was an arrogant man whose grandfather was a famous doctor. He saw the respect and admiration that his grandfather garnered and wanted it for himself. He also saw his father (a mediocre doctor with a small practice) languishing in relative obscurity, dying at a comparatively young age. I think that he made lobotomies his crusade partially for the benefit of his country (he thought that all of the men and women languishing in institutions were an utter waste) and partially to make a name for himself. Even though new treatments came out that were just as effective (if not more), he persisted in performing lobotomies. He eventually was censured by the medical community. I think that the punishment for his hubris is the fact that he garnered infamy instead of fame.
I wish that this book had been written differently, but I still enjoyed reading it. It was a fascinating look at the history of mental health.
Maverick! Drink!
Sorry, had to get that out of my system. It’s a habit now. Anyway, that book sounds horrifying and intriguing at the same time. I wanted to hit up Barnes & Noble tonight anyway, maybe I’ll check it out (if they have it). And slurp down my 2nd peppermint mocha of the day. Damn Starbucks and their holiday drinks!