The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997)

recommended for: anyone who has interest in understanding people different from them

I knew a little about this case, and before I read the book, I was certain I’d feel infuriated with the Hmong family and feel nothing but disrespect for them, and would side with the American side, even though I have my issues with the western medical establishment as well. Not that I didn’t feel angry (and amused) at times with both sides, but I also ended up empathizing with the people in both sides of this culture clash, which is a testament to Anne Fadiman’s account of the events. My culture is definitely that of an American (well, a subculture anyway, as there are obviously many cultures within America!) and I am fairly wedded to it, but I really appreciated this look into a culture so different from my own.

Anne Fadiman does a remarkable job of communicating both sides of this story; it’s probably one of the best examples of cross-cultural understanding that I’ve ever read. It’s ostensibly about a young Hmong girl with epilepsy and her family’s conflict with the American medical establishment, and there is much about them here.

But it’s also a wonderful history book. There’s much background about the Hmong people going back centuries and recent history also. It also made me sympathize with the difficulties of the immigrant experience, especially for those who settle in a place so different from their homeland.

I learned so much about the Hmong people; I knew very little before reading this book, and what I knew contained some inaccuracies or at least a lack of context. And, as I was reading, I was really struck by how cultural differences (and the cultural differences between the Hmong and American cultures is about as far apart as it gets) can completely hinder communication if they’re not acknowledged and attempts are made to bridge the gap. This is a great book to read if you want to try to understand any people who are different from you in any way.

Beautifully written and an enjoyable read. ( )

Read for Anthropology. Fascinating story of the conflict between a Hmong family and the doctors treating their daughter for severe epilepsy. ( )

Anne Fadiman is, quite simply, one of the best writers I have ever read. In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, she zeroes in on a little-known minority, the Hmong, many who fled Southeast Asia and settled in the U.S., where cultural misunderstandings - especially in the medical sphere - have had drastic results. Fadiman focuses on the specific case of Lia Lee, weaving it in with general Hmong history, culture, and mythology. She has done extensive research and interviews, getting to know her subjects well and building a bond of trust, which is reflected in her writing - clear, sympathetic, piercing, and, at times, dryly humorous.


...that the world is full of things that may not seem to be connected but actually are; that no event occurs in isolation; that you can miss a lot by sticking to the point... (13)

The Hmong never had any interest in ruling over the Chinese or anyone else; they wanted merely to be left alone, which, as their later history was also to illustrate, may be the most difficult request any minority can make of a majority culture. (14)

...in one of those unconscious processes of selection that are as mysterious as any other form of falling in love, it was obvious that Lia was her parents' favorite... (22-23)

...gallows-humor slang wielded in times of extreme stress on the theory that if you laugh at something it can't break your heart. (173)

"I am the chameleon animal. You can place me anywhere, and I will survive, but I will not belong. I must tell you that I do not really belong anywhere." (249)

Among the resources suggested by the guidelines' authors was...a simulation game in which the participants are divided into two mythical cultures, each assigned a different set of manners, conventions, and taboos. Each group inevitably misperceives the other by applying its own cultural standards; each inevitably offends the other; and each, until the groups meet at the end of the game to discuss the pitfalls of ethnocentrism, is inevitably certain that its culture is superior. (271) ( )

This is what all non-fiction should aspire to be. Fadiman does an amazing job of introducing the reader to the intricacies of the Hmong culture, as well as taking a third-person look at the "clash of cultures" between the Lee/Yang family and the Merced medical community. I couldn't put this book down. It's a must read for anyone working with immigrant cultures or in cross-cultural settings. It really puts a magnifying glass on the importance of cross-cultural competency and communication and emphasizes the need to think outside of a Westernized worldview. ( )

A story about both sides of a little girl's illness. Lia Lee started having epileptic attacks at 3mos old. Anne Fadiman examines both the Western Medicine and the Hmong Culture that that failed her.

And really neither failed. But neither succeeded. I learned alot about how Western Medicine views a patient. And if that patient is a child, how it views the family. I also learned about how the Hmong have survived thru the centuries, never assimilating into the culture of any country they have lived in. They have been nomadic and have no homeland. The Hmong have chosen to live in remote mountains, far removed from the rest of the world. No country has wanted them to stay b'c of this non-assimilation. But they have used the Hmong to fight their wars.

Anne Fadiman does an amazing job of showing both sides of Lia's illness. She shows great care in trying to understand the culture of both and find the reason they failed together. She enters their worlds on their terms and has great understanding on how they both tried their best to help Lia.

Really interesting book. ( )