It's a week of sharing the books that we have read in preparation of writing our academic book reviews. In wanting to start this project, I am looking at how the two books discussed today connect with the book I presented last Thursday--Lucky by Alice Sebold.
The first book that was shared was Surviving the Silence: Black women's stories of rape by Charlotte Pierce-Baker. The ways that this book connects with Lucky begin with the random act of violence. That is, both books address rape from a non-acquaintance perspective. Both of the targets did not the perpetrator(s) prior to when the rape occurred. In addition, the year in which both of these rapes occurred were in 1981. There may some historical significance to this similarity (lack of discussion during this time period on rape, the number of charges vs. prosecution vs. convictions, etc). Also, both cases went to trial and had convictions.
Differences included the age and race of the targets. In Lucky, the target was a white, single college student, while the target in Surviving the Silence was a Black, married professor. In this way, their families responses differed. In Surviving the Silence, the targets family was more supportive and didn't blame her. Her husband even tried to help his wife process and move forward from the experience. In contrast, the family in Lucky had difficulty acknowledging what had happened to the target.
The second book that was presented was Denial by Jessica Stern. Again, the similarity lies within the perpetrator--it was a non-acquaintance. Also, in the same way that the target in Lucky had difficulty dealing with what had happened to her, the target in Denial was unwilling to acknowledge what had happened to her. Of course, the target's difficulty in dealing with her rape could be seeded in the fact that she was 9 years old when her rape occurred (and her sister was raped at the same time as well).
Differences between the two books include the ways in which the targets tried to process their experiences. In Lucky, the target dove into drugs, including heroine and alcohol. While the target in Denial put herself in other risky situations in an attempt to gain control over a situation that they are unable to control (she was a reporter that interviewed terrorists in Afghanistan during tumultuous times).
Knowing that these books connect with Lucky in some manner, I think, will be beneficial in beginning to write my book review. I'm looking forward to how the remaining books connect with Lucky.
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