Thanks so much for the support you ladies have shown me after I went AWOL for a few months; every single comment on the last post absolutely brightened my day.
Question:
Can anyone think of a novel that features a character that has/had an eating disorder, but sort of as a subplot (ie, not a traditional "sickness and then recovery" narrative a la Hunger Point, The Best Little Girl in the World, etc)? I guess the caveat here is that I have in mind books that treat the issue as a serious but not ridiculed component of someone's life (not the "oh that flakey skinny chick must anorexic, ick" approach that seems to provide some sick comic relief in occasional books and movies).
Not sure if I explained that quite right, but let me know if you can think of any titles? I much appreciate your input.
Flying home tomorrow...love y'all.
4 comments:
Hi Cammy (said in a shy voice as I'm a very irregular commenter.)
Glad you're back and that your trip went well.
I've been reading your blog and others for a few years now, feeling that I was firmly in recovery and yet learning a lot from other people's journeys and also feeling like I had never properly dealt with my ED. I'd never gotten any help, except for a little counselling while in college. I recently relapsed after leaving a really stressful job and got some treatment, which I probably should have done years ago, but I feel so lucky to have had the chance to do it at all. I so admire you for your struggle and all the progress you have made. Sorry, I know this is very rambly but I just wanted to express my best wishes and solidarity.
Have you read 'The Edible Woman' by Margaret Atwood? It's about a woman who stops eating, but it isn't framed as an ED, but as an inability to eat for her personal, but more for social reasons. I thought it was a lovely and thought-provoking novel.
Best wishes,
Sarah-J. xx
I am a huge Atwood fan but haven't read that one, thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the comment, by the way, please don't be shy! I'm sorry to hear that you had a rough patch recently and really hope that things are on the upswing for you; hang in there and remember that you're worth it.
<3,
Cammy
Thanks Cammy. :)
Ooh, I thought of another good one actually where one of the main characters has an ED but it's very much just a dimension of her character. It's called 'Lies of Silence' by Brian Moore. It's about 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. (I'm Irish.) It's a sad book and thankfully not a representation of how Ireland is today, but it's really good.
Best wishes,
Sarah-J
xx
Hi there Cammy,
I can think about "Model Behavior" by Jay McInerney, The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano and my favorite, Together, we are less alone by Anna Gavalda. The later two are Movies as well.
I am sure I have read more (had a phase when I was obsessed by books dealing with it - I do not consider it healthy, but the women in these books are less schematic and less trigering as in "classical" ED books.)
I hope You are well!! (and I am sorry I have not followed your posts, have had quite a hard winter/spring with my bipolar thing, medicaments causing weight gain, poor concentration and sedation meaning I only make it to bed with couple of research papers to sleep after 2 minutes..sorry).
Have a good week!
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