I’ve had to take a little bit of time off as I recently had surgery and it took a little bit longer to recover than was expected. It did however mean lots of time for reading!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was my book club’s pick for July. I’m going to try and stay away from spoilers, but for those of you who haven’t read it, the subtitle to this review, Happy Foot, Sad Foot, is a quote from the book, and also one of the things that really hit home about it: my left foot is happy and my right foot is sad, particularly as as I write this my right foot is currently a mix of purple and blue after recently dislocating my toe washing up (do not ask!).
When I started this book, I actually didn’t like it very much. I’m not a gamer, so some of those references went over my head a little bit (though I did play Zelda and Tomb Raider around the same time as Sam and Sadie), and I didn’t particularly like either Sam or Sadie.
But then I ended up loving the book, and particularly Sam, so much, for a couple of reasons. Sam is disabled (catastrophic foot damage following a car accident) but doesn’t consider himself so. The book is not (exclusively) about his disability, and he’s a complex character i.e. he is not made into some kind of perfect, wonderful, saintly person because he is disabled.
For those of you who don’t notice disabled characters in fiction, don’t look for disabled characters in fiction, and don’t write fiction featuring disabled characters:
THIS. IS. SO. GOD. DAMN. RARE.
I have argued (loudly) with people about the inclusion of disabled characters in fiction. Many writers and readers are of the opinion that if a character is disabled, then all of their page space must be dedicated to their disability and that their disability should affect every element of their role in the story. If their entire role isn’t 100% dedicated to their disability they shouldn’t have it, or, in other words, they shouldn’t have any purpose outside of their disability. This says to me, that I don’t have a story outside of my disability. That disabled people are only disabled when really we are parents, children, writers, poets, artists, coders, actors, husbands, wives, siblings, football fans, tennis players, gamers and all the other wonderful things human beings are.
Now, Sam’s disability takes up a fair amount of his page space. He’s in chronic pain most of the time. He’s self conscious about his injury. But he’s also passionate about games, a good friend, a bad friend, close to his family, intelligent, introverted, obsessive, and so many other things that the novel really made him feel like a real person.
A real person who happens to be disabled and isn’t defined entirely by that disability and, thankfully, is not made into a perfect angel who everyone could look up to as he “does so well” and “puts up with so much” and all of the other (maybe well-meaning but) icky things that are said about disabled people both in fiction and in real life.
So much of Sam’s behaviour was identifiable to me. The guilt and shame around chronic pain, and consequently hiding it from the people around you and apologising for it if they do notice. Last minute cancelling of plans because you just can’t walk. Seeing a part of your body as outside of yourself and wishing it would go away and leave you alone.
Sam’s foot injury is caused by an accident, whereas I was born with my displaced hip. Sam’s disability is (usually) visible, whereas people can’t see mine unless I’m limping. However there was a lot about Sam’s condition and emotional reaction to it that I could relate to. There is one point where Sam has a confrontation with someone who doesn’t know he is disabled, as they cannot see his disability, and his realisation that they didn’t know he was disabled has a profound effect upon him. Disabilities being visible or not can of course be a double-edged sword and I’m always careful not to compare the two experiences, but most people I know with an invisible disability have wished at some point they had something visible to help people understand their situation and most people I know with a visible disability have wished at some point that no one could see it so that they were treat like everybody else.
Then of course, there is how Sam views himself. He sees himself as having a “thing with [his] foot” rather than disabled, in the same way that I used to refer to myself as having “a dodgy hip”. More importantly he doesn’t want his friends to see him as disabled, which of course stems from the stigma around disability and the need to be seen as not succumbing to disability by either not letting it affect you at all or doing incredible things anyway so you can be seen as “an inspiration”.
And this is what I really love about Sam and the representation of disability in this book. Sam is a messy person with feelings who sometimes does things for selfish reasons and gets hurt by things which (he admits) are often his own fault and, while his life is impacted and affected by his disability, it isn’t entirely defined by it.
The other characters in the book are equally complex and the plot progresses along some interesting lines which provokes moments of real emotion. I really felt like I knew the characters in this book; that they were old friends I was visiting and catching up with as they lived their complicated lives. I laughed and cried, learned a lot about gaming and was even inspired by their storytelling, through video games, to tell some new stories of my own.
I highly recommend this book, which would work as well as a cosy autumn read as one for the beach as we move into the last days of summer.
Take care,
Donna
Self-care snippet
The other day I had a very bad health day so made some chocolate porridge and topped with Graze’s Dark Choccy Wonders: Pretzel and Hazelnuts. It was the perfect thing to cheer me up, give me a little bit more energy and warm up on an unseasonably chilly morning!
Things I’ve seen, heard, read and talked about
When is reality TV going to catch up with reality? A piece from Cosmo about disabled representation (or the lack of it!) in reality TV. A lot of this reflects the themes in my review above around disabled people only being present in stories exclusively about disability.
Rovers to introduce disability identifiers on matchdays Tranmere Rovers are introducing identifying wristbands and lanyards for disabled supporters visiting Prenton Park. The items will be available to collect free of charge and are designed to enhance the experience of visiting the club by making it easier to obtain assistance if needed.
Disability campaigner hails Port Railway Station revamp A new accessible bridge has been built at Port Glasgow Station which reduces the need for rail users with mobility issues to make roundabout journeys when travelling to the station.
Disability hate crime: Deaf attack victim can't leave home alone A heartbreaking look at the effects of disability hate crime and how it is responded to by the British justice system.
Yes, Autism Is a Disability A personal piece about the experience of autism and how it, and other conditions, are viewed within the disabled community.