I am trying to figure out how to review this book.
Spoiler review
The title of this book is Starlie's Legacy from Tragedy to Triumph.
It starts with a beautiful introduction about Starlie, who she was, and a brief history of her impact on her loved ones' lives. We get a powerful foreword, and I like her instantly, reminding me about many influential people I look up to in my life.
The introduction ends with: Some of the stories in this book may seem unrelated to her, but none of these stories would have been possible if it hadn't been for the most courageous actions taken by Starlie when she was a mere child.
This is her story and legacy.
The story starts with a very captivating first chapter. None of the characters or event mention Starlie, but when I continued to the powerful second chapter, everything became clearer, and I was mesmerized. It has a solid connection to the first chapter. I like the way it intertwines and introduces the book; it's perfect. Together with the subsequent four chapters, they create a poignant story that connects me to the characters, makes me feel for them, and captivates me to no end.
And then comes chapter 6 and the rest. I read through them with great interest thinking about how and what powerful connections they have to Starlie. I read through stories about new and different characters, learned dozens of new names, and as the chapters came and went, I only found some little mentions about Starlie in a few sentences.
Let me be clear here. In the book titled Starlie's Legacy, there are a total of 5 chapters about Starlie, direct and indirect, but they clearly set a strong story about Starlie.
The stories are about everybody else in the whopping subsequent 13 chapters (there are 18 chapters in the book). As mentioned, besides a few sentences thrown here and there, they are not about Starlie anymore.
- There are five chapters of the new characters' love story and Hurricane Katrina, and until now, I am still determining the connection, if any, except the setting. I wonder why these people are taking up the same number of chapters as the titular character. I learned nothing about any possible influence of wisdom connected to Starlie.
- There is one chapter about another character dealing with war PTSD. The author, the son of Starlie, knows this character personally, but that is all.
- Six chapters about the author's family life and people who are close to them but not Starlie. Although there are glitters of Starlie's wisdom, there is only one chapter that explores it (The Help) in deeper meaning about her impact, while the other five chapters are about the author's life that are weirdly put together: a brief vacation story, a concert story, a cruise story, English teacher story, and one chapter about some ghostly experience that doesn't seem to mean anything.
- The last chapter, one maddening chapter about the Romanian Rebel (?). I was suddenly thrown into a political essay about more things than I remember. East and West, the United States and the Soviet Union, Berlin Wall. There is a plethora of names and societies, people that the author met, and their stories are mixed together in this chapter.
A quote: ...because we are celebrating thirty years since the Romanian Revolution of December 1989 these days, considering the fact that the historical truth must be spread, acknowledged, and above all, respected, I will recount the things I lived, and, particularly, felt those days... and afterward.
But why here, in this book?
This 'I' refers to a character who is not the author, telling pages and pages about this historical truth from the first person point of view and, at many points, mentioning this character's mother.
And... the book ends here!
Entering the second hour I write this review, trying as hard as I can to preserve the wonderful feeling I had at the start of this book. I must be honest that the last chapter is my peak of frustration. I would never ever prepare to read about some political and historical essay from a character that has nothing to do with Starlie, what the book is supposed to be about (I think), in the first point of view, and numerously mention 'my mother' but not Starlie. And all this because the author knows this character. I fail to see the significance of this inclusion to this book. I don't have doubt that this other character and his mother are wonderful people, but what I want to read is the wonderful mother to which the book is dedicated.
IMO, it has nothing to do with the essence of the book, am I the only one who don't look forward to reading something politically heavy when I pick up something that is supposed to be a biography, especially when it has nothing to do with the said person? There is a disclaimer upfront, but I think that there should be at least some stronger correlation to Starlie. Imo, it's even a stretch if this book is written as the author's biography because an enormous chunk of it is about other people. The stories are also disconnected from each other.
- I would rate the first five chapters as 5 stars. It touches me the most. It's hard to read because of its sensitive and traumatizing nature, and I am sure it's even harder to recall and write. It is a very powerful and inspiring story, there are many gems of wisdom, and I think it's impactful.
- Middle chapters about other people. Why are they here? What are their connections? The story won't be possible if not for Starlie being as wide as possible, as anyone's account would not be possible from (insert some major world/local event/ancestor existence). The stories are decent and captivating enough. They could and should be stand-alone.
- Middle to end chapters about the author. This would work better if this book is about the author although they are jumpy and feel disconnected at times without an apparent red thread connecting the story to make it smoother. The first five chapters would work great, even if this book is about the author.
- Last chapter. It doesn't belong in this book, because of the vastly different kind of content.
It's hard for me to rate this. Dedicating almost three hours to write this review, I want to ensure everyone reading this that I am trying to be as fair as possible, and this review is based only on my own opinion.
I probably had the wrong expectation, thinking that it's one story (instead of compilation) about the titular character or the family that is closely connected to her.
