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El anzuelo del diablo. Sobre la empatía y el dolor de los otros (Argumentos) by Leslie Jamison
jwilding's review against another edition
3.0
As other reviews have pointed out, this feels very self-centered, as good as the writing is. Not that that's necessarily a bad or good thing, but it did make for distracted reading and a little detachment, because I don't know her, and she's not telling me about her, really, so why should I care about her experiences? Not much of a connection for me between what she had to say and whoever she is, as if she's a friend I know but don't trust because I don't know her well. I did love bits and pieces of each essay.
"What I'll call "post-wounded" isn't a shift in deep feeling (we understand these women still hurt) but a shift away from wounded affect—these women are aware that "woundedness" is overdone and overrated. They are wary of melodrama so they stay numb or clever instead. Post-wounded women make jokes about being wounded or get impatient with women who hurt too much. The post-wounded woman conducts herself as if preempting certain accusations: don't cry too loud, don't play victim, don't act the old role all over again. Don't ask for pain meds you don't need; don't give those doctors another reason to doubt the other women on their examination tables. Post-wounded women fuck men who don't love them and then they feel mildly sad about it, or just blase about it, more than anything else they refuse to care about it, refuse to hurt about it—or else they are endlessly self-aware about the posture they have adopted if they allow themselves this hurting...Pain is everywhere and nowhere. Post-wounded women know that postures of pain play into limited and outmoded conceptions of womanhood. Their hurt has a new native language spoken in several dialects: sarcastic, apathetic, opaque; cool and clever. They guard against those moments when melodrama or self-pity might split their careful seams of intellect. I should rather call it a seam. We have sewn ourselves up. We bring everything to the grindstone."
"What I'll call "post-wounded" isn't a shift in deep feeling (we understand these women still hurt) but a shift away from wounded affect—these women are aware that "woundedness" is overdone and overrated. They are wary of melodrama so they stay numb or clever instead. Post-wounded women make jokes about being wounded or get impatient with women who hurt too much. The post-wounded woman conducts herself as if preempting certain accusations: don't cry too loud, don't play victim, don't act the old role all over again. Don't ask for pain meds you don't need; don't give those doctors another reason to doubt the other women on their examination tables. Post-wounded women fuck men who don't love them and then they feel mildly sad about it, or just blase about it, more than anything else they refuse to care about it, refuse to hurt about it—or else they are endlessly self-aware about the posture they have adopted if they allow themselves this hurting...Pain is everywhere and nowhere. Post-wounded women know that postures of pain play into limited and outmoded conceptions of womanhood. Their hurt has a new native language spoken in several dialects: sarcastic, apathetic, opaque; cool and clever. They guard against those moments when melodrama or self-pity might split their careful seams of intellect. I should rather call it a seam. We have sewn ourselves up. We bring everything to the grindstone."
kpdoessomereading's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
greyemk's review against another edition
4.5
Technically, these essays are extremely good. The research, the prose (casual, pacy, like your friend with an interesting new obsession you could listen to forever), the formal and structural innovation (that is matched to the content). This is the type of writing that makes me think, wow, mortals could never.
And that’s really my primary criticism of the book. Even though the topics and references are broad, the author extremely reflective, thoughtful, precise, diligent, the world of the essays feels closed. Jamison is smart and curious and very aware of how smart and curious and privileged she is, and the writing knows it, and that awareness is both necessary and somehow limiting.
Still, I found most of these interesting, and some absolutely excellent (Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain), and this is a thousand percent worth reading.
And that’s really my primary criticism of the book. Even though the topics and references are broad, the author extremely reflective, thoughtful, precise, diligent, the world of the essays feels closed. Jamison is smart and curious and very aware of how smart and curious and privileged she is, and the writing knows it, and that awareness is both necessary and somehow limiting.
Still, I found most of these interesting, and some absolutely excellent (Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain), and this is a thousand percent worth reading.
rosepoints's review against another edition
5.0
although this book is titled, “the empathy exams,” i feel like it is more about pain rather than empathy. how do people experience pain? how do narratives centered around pain unfold? how do people translate their pain into something that others can understand? although the author terms that as empathy and sentimentality, i personally felt like this was a series of essays about pain and the way it transforms people rather than about true empathy. in addition to that, i usually approach collections of short stories or essays with the understanding that i won’t love all of them equally, but this book felt especially difficult in that the good ones were outstanding and merited a full 5 stars, but the bad ones were....honestly 1 star at best.
she always finds a way to bring the essay back to her own personal experiences, and although that can reveal new layers and meaning to a story, it doesn’t work for every story. for example, she wrote an essay about patients with morgellons disease, which is often termed as “delusional infestation” where people believe that their skin lesions are from fibers and parasites. it could have been an interesting narrative about belief, illness narratives, and patient / provider trust, but then she sorta fixates on how she might have it and about the time she got a parasite in bolivia. it detracted from the overall message. a similar thing happens when she talks about a prisoner in west virginia, and instead of centralizing on the prison narrative, she talks about how guilty she feels about being free while he's not, and it made the whole essay seem rather shallow. i also just didn't love her story about getting punched in the face in nicaragua, but i feel like she's aware of that because she self-references that in another essay about how she loves to dwell in her own pain and find meaning in it. however, her essays on things like the empathy exams, the female experience of pain, etc were powerful and moving.
i also just love her prose in general. i understand that this writing style isn't for everyone but to me, i think there is a certain gift in being able to translate a mundane experience into a beautiful narrative and finding new symbols and meaning in previously ordinary things. i read a library copy of this book but i would love to purchase my own and thoroughly annotate it. because the stand-out essays were so so good, i finally settled on a 5 star rating for this book, but if you do choose to read, just be aware of the self-centralization of the narratives and read with a grain of salt.
she always finds a way to bring the essay back to her own personal experiences, and although that can reveal new layers and meaning to a story, it doesn’t work for every story. for example, she wrote an essay about patients with morgellons disease, which is often termed as “delusional infestation” where people believe that their skin lesions are from fibers and parasites. it could have been an interesting narrative about belief, illness narratives, and patient / provider trust, but then she sorta fixates on how she might have it and about the time she got a parasite in bolivia. it detracted from the overall message. a similar thing happens when she talks about a prisoner in west virginia, and instead of centralizing on the prison narrative, she talks about how guilty she feels about being free while he's not, and it made the whole essay seem rather shallow. i also just didn't love her story about getting punched in the face in nicaragua, but i feel like she's aware of that because she self-references that in another essay about how she loves to dwell in her own pain and find meaning in it. however, her essays on things like the empathy exams, the female experience of pain, etc were powerful and moving.
i also just love her prose in general. i understand that this writing style isn't for everyone but to me, i think there is a certain gift in being able to translate a mundane experience into a beautiful narrative and finding new symbols and meaning in previously ordinary things. i read a library copy of this book but i would love to purchase my own and thoroughly annotate it. because the stand-out essays were so so good, i finally settled on a 5 star rating for this book, but if you do choose to read, just be aware of the self-centralization of the narratives and read with a grain of salt.
sabrinaliterary's review against another edition
5.0
Last essay ("Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain") alone is worth the price of admission.
kimberlyf's review against another edition
5.0
An incredibly stimulating collection of essays exploring the breadth and complexity of empathy and the depths of humanity. The first essay—the title essay—consumed my attention and I read with rapture all the way through to the end where Jamison closes with a bang in the final essay, Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain, about the representation of female pain. I want to re-read it immediately.
lybarron's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
lbarsk's review against another edition
3.0
Jamison is clearly a gifted writer, and there were times throughout the book when I was totally engrossed and compelled! There were just also times when I felt myself re-reading passages to truly parse what Jamison was arguing. Which I think is a “me” issue, not an authorial one!
I will also say, in part it took me a while to finish this book about suffering, pain, and empathy when I am dealing with multiple chronic illnesses, one of which is flaring up especially strongly (and painfully) at the moment.
BUT! I would love for friends and others to read this because I’d be curious for their thoughts! A book club on on this would be fascinating, I think.
I will also say, in part it took me a while to finish this book about suffering, pain, and empathy when I am dealing with multiple chronic illnesses, one of which is flaring up especially strongly (and painfully) at the moment.
BUT! I would love for friends and others to read this because I’d be curious for their thoughts! A book club on on this would be fascinating, I think.
tenderedge's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing, cerebral, confessional, essential reading. I want to reread the essay on Sacharin again and maybe again. Got a lot of Diet Pepsi in my past and she illuminates the need, aesthetic and visceral, for sweetness.