Book Review: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong toddler with epilepsy.  Lia was born in 1982 to parents who had recently immigrated from Laos and settled in northern California.  She was the youngest of 14 children (two of whom died in Laos) and the first to be born in the US.  Lia’s mother, Foua Lee, and her father, Nao Kao Lee, only spoke Hmong although their children spoke English.  Due to a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings between Lia’s family and her doctors, Lia had a massive seizure in 1986.  After the seizure, the only part of Lia’s brain still functioning is her brainstem.

I’m not going to lie to you, Marge: when I first read this book, it drove me crazy.  I was – and still am – biased in favor of Western medicine, and it infuriated me that the Lees just would not listen to Lia’s doctors.  Why go to the doctor if you won’t take his/her advice?  That’s a waste of everybody’s time.  Many of the Hmong portrayed in the book – not just Foua and Nao Kao – just didn’t seem to understand that once in awhile, the doctors might be right.  The author falls into this trap too; at one point, someone actually has to remind her that Western medicine saves people’s lives.

Having said that, Fadiman does not fall into the pattern of so many other authors covering medical mistakes and misunderstandings: she portrays Lia’s doctors as human beings.  Fadiman did extensive interviews with all of Lia’s doctors and goes into great detail on why they did things the way they did.  As a result, she avoids the cliche of “doctor with no compassion who’s only in it for money and prestige.”  Lia’s doctors aren’t Dr. House; they’re Dr. J.D. Dorian.

A new edition of the book came out in 2012, fifteen years after it was originally published.  The new edition includes an epilogue with updates on Lia’s family and medical team.  Lia is, amazingly, still alive. Most people in her condition don’t survive more than five years; Lia has been alive for almost five times that long.  Nao Kao died of heart failure in 2003, but Foua is still living and still cares for Lia at home with the help of Lia’s siblings.  Lia’s doctors are all still practicing medicine and still serving the underserved.

The author draws one big conclusion at the epilogue, one that surprises her.  Lia is in her late twenties now and has never gone to high school, had a job, kissed a boy, driven a car, or done any of the other things a “normal” adult would do, but her family loves her beyond measure.  Her parents found great joy in caring for Lia, and her siblings adore her.  Despite the fact that she’s in a vegetative state, Lia’s life matters!  And maybe that’s the best lesson of this book – no matter how damaged a person is, their life matters.

Book Review: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Death Comes for the Archbishop is the story of Father Jean-Marie Latour and his friend Father Joseph Vaillant, two French missionary priests sent to New Mexico in 1851.  (Latour is based on Jean-Marie Lamy, the real-life first Archbishop of Santa Fe.) Latour has recently been named Bishop of the Diocese of Santa Fe.  When he arrives his diocese includes all of New Mexico and during his tenure is expanded to include much of Colorado.    It’s a rugged, thinly populated country with few roads.  Because of the often impassable terrain – which Cather describes so beautifully  that the landscape is like another character – many of the people have never seen a priest before.  Babies are born but not baptized and couples live together but do not marry, not because they reject religion but because they have no alternatives.

Travel within the region may be difficult, but travel to the region is no picnic either.  When Latour is elevated to Bishop, the railroad ends at Cincinnati, Ohio.  To reach New Mexico, he must take a riverboat to the Gulf of Mexico, then travel through Texas to New Mexico.  As the reader might expect, since traveling to New Mexico is so arduous, communication between New Mexico and Rome is irregular.  As a result, many of the local priests have been, shall we say, less than observant of their vows.  Latour, a man “to whom order is necessary – as dear as life” is sent to clean up the mess, and he takes Vaillant, his friend from seminary, along as his vicar.

Over the next thirty-seven years, Latour and Vaillant create order from the chaos.  Slowly, they befriend the natives, weed out the delinquent priests, and with the help of the Sisters of Loreto, establish a school in Santa Fe.  Along the way, they save a woman from a murderous husband, protect a widow from her husband’s greedy family, and take the Gospel to people who otherwise would never hear it.  When death does come for Latour (now an Archbishop), the Church in New Mexico is strong, the cathedral he dreamed of is built, and dozens of new priests have been trained to work in New Mexico.

Some would argue that this book has little or no plot; but it’s the story of one person’s life, and if you look at most individuals’ lives, you could say the same thing.  The real story of this book is that one person’s kindness and faith in God can transform a community.  And that’s a story worth reading.