Lauren Slater and "Lying"

For the sake of not revealing too much of the presentation Kate, Janice and I have prepared for class, I’ve decided to focus on just my experience reading Lauren Slater’s "Lying," keeping the research and conclusions I’ve found for class discussion. (because there is so much!!!)

From the beginning, I felt extremely engaged in this book and I had a hard time putting it down. I think as a reader, I was influenced by the fact that we would be discussing this book, and so I read through it more meticulously than I would had I just been reading it for pleasure. I think I would have found it more of a “fun” read had it been solely for pleasure. I found myself treating the book like a puzzle, constantly looking for hints and clues that would better help me understand the reality of Slater’s content. I became a little obsessed with trying to figure out if she was “lying” or not. And rightly so, I think that was her goal/intention.

I feel like this book is a sort of coming-of-age book, tracing the adolescence (age 10-19) of a young girl who is trying to cope with the difficulties that come from a narcissistic mother, an indifferent father, and a variety of mental illness symptoms. Like any teenager, she is lost in a constructed society, confused in her sexuality, and desperate for what all humans want: attention and affection. As a writer, Slater decides to use epilepsy as a metaphor to describe all the good and bad senses and emotions she experiences growing up, ones that open a window into the brain of a rather damaged and perplexing mind.

Although Slater fills this book with an incredible amount of fascination information (that in itself makes this an interesting read), she proves herself to be an incredible writer as well. There were many passages I highlighted because of the beautiful language and lyricism she brought to a page. Although these passages would sometimes be right in the middle of a crazy experience, they kept me grounded to her voice and as a writer, pleasantly engaged. Her ability to run in and out of her “adolescent” voice and “adult” voice was very fluid, insightful, and something I find difficult to do.

Slater wanted to blur the boundaries between fiction/non-fiction, memoir/novel, fact/truth, and I think she was extremely adventurous and determined to make that happen. There is a lot of controversy over the genre of this book, and if it does in fact constitute a memoir, which I will talk about in class. But what was important for me, didn’t involve nit picking for the facts or looking for answers. It was the expression of an individual who wanted to tell her story in the best way she knew how; something I found refreshing, ingenious, and bold. To me, that is what memoir is all about.