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Miranda Reads's Reviews > Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
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This books had so much more depth than I expected and honestly, I am more than a little overwhelmed.
Audiobook Comments
Read by the author! I always love it when that happens. And J.D. Vance was a superb reader - an absolute delight to listen to!
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What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives.J.D. Vance, an ex-marine, a Yale law school graduate and self-proclaimed hillbilly, provides an absolutely unique, heart-wrenching and poignant analysis of his culture - the poor white working class.
If you believe that hard work pays off, then you work hard; if you think it’s hard to get ahead even when you try, then why try at all?J.D. Vance's family originated from the Appalachia region in Kentucky but he spent most of his childhood in Ohio. And while he felt the all-consuming love from his grandparents, he also suffered through a tumultuous childhood, unstable mother and unending poverty.
Psychologists call it “learned helplessness” when a person believes, as I did during my youth, that the choices I made had no effect on the outcomes in my life.And yet, he managed to pull himself out of the dregs and live a relatively normal life. So, what made him unique? What events occurred to ensure that his life was different? What kept him from being a statistic?
I don't know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.This book was enthralling - I was thoroughly hooked from start to finish. Definitely one to check out!
Audiobook Comments
Read by the author! I always love it when that happens. And J.D. Vance was a superb reader - an absolute delight to listen to!
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Reading Progress
April 25, 2018
–
Started Reading
April 25, 2018
– Shelved
April 26, 2018
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-25 of 25 (25 new)
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Diane
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Jun 04, 2018 02:22PM
Great review, Miranda!
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I've got this one sitting in my Audible library -- I'm gonna hafta bump it up the list after reading this great review!
||Swaroop|| wrote: "Nice review, Miranda!"Thanks!
Jane wrote: "I've got this one sitting in my Audible library -- I'm gonna hafta bump it up the list after reading this great review!"definitely check it out - it was so interesting!
Great review! I've had this on my to-read list for awhile, may have to bump it up the list.
Tanya wrote: "I enjoyed this also."Thank you :) This definitely was a riveting read!
Teresa wrote: "Great review! I've had this on my to-read list for awhile, may have to bump it up the list."Thanks :) Check it out - it was so interesting :)
Sounds interesting. Have added to Want to Read
added to want to read books .........
I also enjoyed this book. Very inspiring the way he did not give up on what he wanted to do. There was a special on the Appalachian people on 60 minutes several years ago, and this book gives much more insight to the struggles and way of life of these people.
Manveen kaur wrote: "nice review"Thank you!!
Ricky wrote: "I also enjoyed this book. Very inspiring the way he did not give up on what he wanted to do. There was a special on the Appalachian people on 60 minutes several years ago, and this book gives much ..."I didn't know about that special. Very cool! Thanks for sharing
Excellent review, Miranda! I have this one on my wishlist! :)
Great review, Miranda! Definitely an overwhelming one, opened my eyes a lot
Jaline wrote: "Excellent review, Miranda! I have this one on my wishlist! :)"I hope you like it!!
Whitney wrote: "Great review, Miranda! Definitely an overwhelming one, opened my eyes a lot"Overwhelming is the perfect word for it
You say that you found this book "enthralling" and that you were hooked from start to finish, but you only gave it three stars. May I ask what critiques you have for this book? What kept you from giving it a stronger rating?
Jenje wrote: "You say that you found this book "enthralling" and that you were hooked from start to finish, but you only gave it three stars. May I ask what critiques you have for this book? What kept you from g..."hmmm...perhaps it was more of a 4-star book. I certainly liked it but...it's just...the tone of the book was off-putting. He very much had this...attitude? perhaps just inherent belief? That a major reason he was able to pull himself out was because he changed his mindset and a lot of the reasoning behind others being in their various awful situations is just because they didn't believe they could make a change. If they believed it, they could change.
It was off-putting and a little bit frustrating that he was bragging so much about how he pulled himself out of a situation and it almost felt like the was blaming the rest of them for staying where they are.
Thank you for the answer and I absolutely agree. It was enlightening but also a little grating. Perhaps in that way it's true to the spirit of the book and the author's hillbilly roots.
I tend to disagree with Miranda here. I felt like he discovered that he did not pull himself up by his bootstraps. He instead looks back and realizes that he had key people in his life whose efforts and presence helped him keep p going in the direction of success and he freely admits that without them, he would have failed. His viewpoint in the story tends to objective, and maybe that makes him seem like he has an attitude, but I think it was his way of showing the reader that he was trying to take an honest look at the events, people and places that form his life without getting bogged down in the sentimentality and emotionalism that would easily overwhelm his attempt to truly understand how he got where he is.
If it was so enthralling why did you give it only 3 stars? I'm confused by your review.
