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Summary: the spirit is epilepsy
Review: 700 word essay by Alexandria"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" is a good book. It is an educational reader. I like this book because it is a true story, The history told in the book is very interesting and new to me, if I were a teacher I would definitely read this book, It explores the history of important cultures that is not told in our history books. What is even more wonderful about the book is that it explains history through facts and not by over riding the truth through empty paragraphs.
The book is about a baby girl named Lia who is born with epilepsy. Her parents are Hmong people who immigrated to America. When Lia has a seizure her family takes her to an American doctor. When the doctors prescribed a medicine for Lia, her parents didn't follow the prescription. Seeing that Lia's parents are from a different culture, it is difficult for them to understand the traditions of Americans. The doctors interpreted this as child abuse and sent Lia to foster care for six months. After six months the parents of Lia are given another chance, if they screw it up Lia is gone forever.
Lia was returned to her parents, she was happy again. After Lia was returned to her parents she had one big seizure that was said to kill her (the book didn't say how long Lia was with her parents before she had this seizure). The doctors said that Lias was going to die, the parents accepted this and decided to take her home were she could die with her family. Lia is still alive and is around eighteen years old.
One thing I don't like about this book is the way that it is written. The author starts off talking about Lia and then she drifts off using chapter after chapter talking about things that are irrelevant to Lia, and her struggle for life. If you are looking for a book that concentrates on one topic then " The Spirit catches you and You Fall Down" is not the book that I think you should read. Books like "So Far from the Bamboo Groove" is a good reader that concentrates on one family without tying it to two hundred different stories that are similar to it, which is what the "Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" did.
If I were a teacher I would not assign this book to my cflass to read as a group. Although I might recommend it for a student to read for extra credit. The reason I wouldn't recommend this book to a whole class to read is because there isn't much to talk about in class. The book is like a mini textbook that is focused on one culture I learned a lot from this book. For example, did you know that a lot of Hmong people died in the Vietnam War? And if it weren't for them the war would have been lost. Not only that but the Hmong were only paid three dollars for their services. After the was finished northern Vietnam hunted down the Hmong killing them and exploiting them in labor camps.
The CIA took notice to this and migrated 10,000 Hmong to America leaving thousands out to die in camps.
If you read the book you'll also learn about the drastic differences between cultural practices. For example, if a Hmong got sick she or he would call on a tix neeb which is a spiritual person that could heel in kind of sickness with his or her power. In the American culture if you get sick you go to a doctor where they prescribe you with a medicine. In the Hmong culture if a warrior were going to war that they were losing they would kill their wives and children to make them fight more fiercely. If this were done in America it would be against all our morals
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece of medical anthropology
Review: What makes this rather eclectic work so utterly fascinating? Is it the exceptionally good writing? The universal appeal of an encounter with an a completely alien culture? The meticulous research that continually informs the reader? Fadiman's book catches you and forces you to question your preconceptions, prejudicies, and complacency. The author makes you care, deeply, about what it means to be Hmong -- not an easy feat given the polarity between the Hmong world view and our rationality-based, Western civilized frame of mind. The Spirit Catches You is a must read for anyone whose work involves contact with people from a very different little understood culture. This is a tale of what happened to a beautiful Hmong child when fear and misunderstanding between her parents and the medical community of Merced resulted in a tragic, and very likely avoidable, outcome.
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Summary: Hmong American reader here
Review: People who are not familiar with Hmong Americans may read this book and assume that all/most Hmong Americans are like the Lee family and other Hmong families presented in the book. The events that took place with the Lee family occured when Hmong first arrived here in the late 70s/early 80s. These days, the majority of Hmong Americans are a lot more Americanized compared to the early 1980s. Although the assimilation has been slow compared to other first generation Americans, things have changed a lot since then. For example, many Hmong no longer practice the traditional Hmong religion and have converted to Christianity. The Lee family was a lot more traditional than most Hmong American families in the early 80s. I just wanted to clear this up. Having said that, I enjoyed this book because it does the impossible. Fadiman is able to make the reader better understand the traditional Hmong culture, a culture that seems irrational and is opposite of western culture. It doesn't mean that you will agree with the Hmong culture but you will better understand it, including why the family did/did not do certain things to help their daughter who had epilepsy. I also believe that this book is important for those who work with the public because it promotes sensitivity towards other cultures. The doctors and the family had the very best intentions for the daughter who had epilepsy but the cultural barriers were just too much.
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Summary: Medical Communications Professional
Review: This was one of the best books I've read in years. In writing this book, Fadiman beautifully portrays the story of a Hmong family who, like so many of their people, were suddenly transported from their rustic lives in mountains of Laos into a a confusedly modern society that rejected or disclaimed all that they had ever known or believe in. She also reveals some major flaws in our healthcare system, which is governed by rigid treatment protocols that were not designed adapt to individual needs or cross cultural barriers. Not that she characterizes the healthcare system or the professionals who cared for Lia as villians... Fadiman makes it clear that Lia's physicians worked feverishly and devotedly, often against a tide of tremendous resistance and lack of cooperation from her family, to control her disorder. Yet, as much as the practices and behavior of the Hmong hampered the doctor's efforts to manage Lia's disease, the refusal of Lia's treaters to acknowledge and address the motives and reasons for these behaviors undermined her treatment as well. As you read the book, it becomes obviously that Fadamin came to love the Hmong family and the culture she wrote about, and so made me slowly fall in love with them too. Descriptions of their behavior and practices early in the book first struck me as primative and somewhat repugnant, yet as layer after layer of the history, belief systems, and values of the Hmong were revealed, I came to appreciate them as beautiful, intricately complex, and deeply spiritual. From beginning to end, the story of Lia, her family, and the medical staff her cared for her is emotionally riviting... the final pages left me in tears and haunted me for days afterword. I also found myself missing Lia and her family as though I had known them personally... I was reluctant to leave them and their cultural ways behind.
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Summary: Fantastic, Amazing Book
Review: I was assigned to read this book 3 years ago while attending School for my Bachelors in Nursing. I really wanted to side with the Medical side - that is my education. But how my attitudes have changed. I have since read this book 6 times and each time I ask myself new questions and analyze my own feelings over and over again. I have recommended it to many of my nursing students, having found recently that the other nursing instructors have assigned it for them to read. Bravo! How desperatly we as healthcare providers could use some education on dealing with such different practices as the Hmong and using those techniques to interact with other cultural practices as well. I will not go into a description of the book - read other reviews for that - but I will say that the author did an amazing amount of research and really knows her stuff when it comes to history and culture. I love the way she intertwines the story of Lia Lee with history both recent and ancient. This brings the story alive and allows the reader an ever deepening understanding of the Hmong and why they are the way they are. Should be assigned reading for EVERY healthcare provider!
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Summary: Sometimes Prejudice Isn't Evil, Only Ignorant
Review: I may be too optimistic, but I've grown to believe that bigotry isn't always practiced by bad people, but often by good people ignorant of cultures other than their own. This was certainly the situation in the case that Anne Fadiman writes about. People from two cultures, each believing they are correct, clash and a small child gets caught in the middle. Prejudice begins to break down in the light of true communication. Unfortunately for this child, true communcation was too big of a hurdle to cross. Fortunately for the reader, we can learn from reading about this experience. This book will touch your heart and open your mind. The lessons learned within its pages will stay with you. This book is worth purchasing.
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Summary: What a roller coaster ride....
Review: While reading this book I had many mixed feelings. I was frustrated, sad, and happy, and then frustrated all over again. This book placed my heart and mind on a roller coaster ride. I must say though reading it made me get a better picture of the many struggles the Hmong people went through. I think the author Anne Fadiman portrays the hardships and emotions of the Lee family well. This is a perfect example of what I see as a culture collision. What a tough situation for both sides to be put in. I mean here you have a Hmong family with a strong background of the eastern culture trying to fit into the diverse American ways. They couldn't read or even speak anything of the English language. To make matters worse, their daughter Lia is diagnosed with epilepsy. Major language barriers make it hard for these two cultures to communicate with one another. Frustration leads to blame and a bunch of misunderstandings cause a lack of trust between these two communities as this story goes into depth. Who is right? What is right? These are two questions that I constantly asked myself throughout this book. I tried to put myself in both people's shoes and realized that the bottom line is that both sides wanted the best for Lia. Both sides cared very much for her and only wanted her to get better. Throughout the book, you have the American doctors constantly trying everything they can possible do to help her out, yet on the other hand you have a Hmong family who doesn't really believe in what they're doing. But what are you to do? Well I hope when you read this book you'll find yourself in total awe. I found myself admiring the efforts of both sides in this everlasting battle. Lia has touched many lives and definitely for the people involved, will not be forgotten. I commend the Lee's, Anne Fadiman, and everyone else for allowing people like us into their lives.
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Summary: Important and intelligent--a must read!
Review: I can honestly say that this book is one of the best I have ever read. It is thoroughly researched, painfully objective, sublimely beautiful, and an important cultual study of the Hmong (Hmoob is the traditional spelling)in Merced County. As a life-long resident of Merced, California and an English instructor at Merced Community College, I have lived next to and worked directly with the Hmoob people my entire life. I thought that I knew this culture due to my life experience--was I ever wrong! Anne Fadiman illuminated the Hmoob people and their history in a way that made me truly understand how little I actually knew about them and how confusing their transition into American culture was (and still is). As I look at the Hmoob faces in my classrooms, I am filled with respect, admiration, and curiosity for these students. When I walk across our small campus or enter the local Wal-Mart and hear the Hmoob language being spoken, I am overcome with pride that the Hmoob people choose to live in Merced County. As Fadiman points out, our little town does indeed face cultural problems which arise due to the clash of belief systems. However, this book has done much in our community to bridge the cultural gap that exists between our two worlds--American and Hmoob. Thanks Fadiman for letting us know who we are!
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Summary: The need for empathy
Review: As a student looking to go to medical school, I found this book to be an eye opening experience. It really points out the need for empathy for other cultures, languages and religions in the medical establishment. Although I know I am more open minded than most pre-med students, I think that anyone who reads this book can develop an appreciation for culture and religion as it relates to health and healing. It is a great read and I recommend it for all pre-med students.
Rating:
Summary: eye-opening
Review: This is such a beautifully-written, captivating, eye-opening book about a clash of two cultures: American and Hmong. It opens the reader's mind to be tolerant and understanding of other cultures, of other peoples. It is quite simply one of the most important books you can read.
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