Your Voice in My Head

Only a few chapters into this book I realized it was not a fit for me. Even though everyone else seems to love Forrest's writing style, I found it lackluster. Although I appreciate the immense effort authors put into their craft, I prefer when this effort is imperceivable. In Your Voice in My Head Forrest seems like she's trying too hard. A lot of the references to music, films, and NYC locales were lost on me as well, which made me skim through them and feel like a rube. All in all, just a poor reader-book fit. ( )

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People love this book, at least according to the back of the book jacket. While I am sure that Emma Forrest is a gifted writer, I could not connect at all with this memoir. Perhaps it is me - I've never really had to spend lots of time with people who were manic-depressive - and her particular brand of mental illness includes such weird (to me) allusions that I just didn't understand much of what was going on in her head. I also found it extremely sad that people actually have to live without hope - but as a person who finds my hope in Jesus Christ and his resurrection - maybe my inability to connect is to be expected. ( )

Emma Forrest’s memoir is a gut-wrenching read. It is an homage to her deceased psychiatrist and an attempt at understanding the failed relationship with her unidentifiable movie-star lover, but most of all it describes her self-mutilation and suicide attempt. However, it is the chapter describing a Shabbat service that is most rewarding as it provides a breakthrough for the author while at the same time uplifts the reader. More than just a confessional, Your Voice in My Head explores the psychological depths of an examined life and that warrants our attention. ( )

Going into this book, I didn't quite know what to expect. I haven't read a feminist depression memoir since grad school and to be honest I wasn't too hopeful about Emma Forrest.
The thing that saved this book for me was her very well crafted sentences and the uncontrived way that she linked her themes together. I could tell that Forrest spent a good deal of time working on individual sentences and it shows. Also, it helped knowing that "GH" was Colin Ferrell from the get go. I didn't really see this as a hindrance to the story telling, but I get why she left him nameless.
I also related to the time period in which this is all going on 2000-2009. Looking at events like the George Bush elections, than the Barrack election through the eyes of a manic depressive/cutter/serial celebrity dater was interesting to me. Near the end I was sort of torn over what this book was really about. In other words, would I have enjoyed this equally if I didn't know GH was Colin Ferrell? Probably not. Why should I care about Emma Forrest's story? What makes her case of manic depression special? In the end, I believe its her writing skill.
The book was a also a bit on the short side with a huge font and the chapter sizes are somewhat short. I certainly finished the book interested in her story though and she gave me a genuine sense of what it was like to be in her shoes. I will seek out other works by her. ( )