Demon Copperhead: what can we do?



Last night, I finished Barbara Kingsolver's Pulitzer-prize winning book, Demon Copperhead. It has to be one of the most depressing and well-crafted books I've ever read. Patterned after Dickens' David Copperfield, it explores the ideas of a  "disposable" and manipulated demographic, set in a deeply-impoverished and struggling South. The people are the victims of the Big Pharma oxycontin scheme, and things just head into misery from the very start.

It is heartbreaking and deeply upsetting to read about the characters, to come to care about them, and know that they are doomed because of situations far beyond their control. The novel was suggested to me at the APSI conference; there is no way I could give this book to high school kids as a whole group. We'd all be in therapy. But yet, isn't this the real-life literature that might save them from a stultified life of ignorance-- one that would be exactly the kind of life that is so easily manipulated? I don't know. It's a lot to think about. Our government on the federal level (and in many cases, state and local)--and the medical establishment-- are just as complicit in the patterns of harm that hurt those who need the most help. I have no answers. It's a problem that runs so deep I'm not sure I will be able to form a serious solution, even if it were in my power to enact change. I can only help those who I know, and kids are my priority.

So, I've read two very depressing books that involve extreme poverty and drug use in a row. Time for a shift. I think I'll read an Agatha Christie.

I hope you have a good day. Hug your loved ones.

C


Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by!

Popular posts from this blog

Judy Collins in concert-- a real gift

Image
Hearing Judy Collins sing, tell jokes, and reminisce about the years she spent surrounded by other iconic folk singers was just wonderful. It felt like we were all in her living room, just listening, laughing, and sighing along-- the audience sang with her at times, talked with her at times, and in general, we felt held. Held by the music, by her kindness, by her humor-- very much needed in these turbulent times. It's easy to forget our common humanity in the face of so much ugliness, but Judy brought us back to our Selves, back to what makes us funny and fragile beings.  At 86 years of age, she is not really slowing down much, although it is clear that she knows her energy well. Instead of trying to impress, she just wanted to engage with the audience. It was lovely, and the venue, The Colonial Theatre in Bethlehem, was the perfect size. The entire concert felt personal. And I, for one, am in awe of how she handled that Martin 12-string. Her piano playing was beautiful as well, an...
Read more

My book is featured today on Finishing Line Press-- please share the info and the fun!

Image
NEW FROM FINISHING LINE PRESS:  What to Keep   by Carlene M. Gadapee On SALE :     https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/what-to-keep-by-carlene-m-gadapee/   What to Keep  is a collection of keen #observations: choices made, minor regrets, small successes, and questions asked. There aren’t always answers to the questions, but the #poems in this collection explore the particular things and #experiences that lead us to them. Readers are invited into the poet-speaker’s musings about #childhood, of #family, of #companionship, and of #loss. We follow the speaker as she walks through time: capturing minnows, high school crushes and college mistakes, #marriage, the deaths of parents, and finally, a note of hope for the future, whatever it may have in store. In the end, “what to keep” becomes what remains, what is precious, and what forms the foundation of a #life filled with joy, sorrow, and finally, of contentment.   A poet-teacher both by vocation...
Read more

My visit yesterday to The Frost Place, and a few thoughts about community and place

Image
Sunny and crisp morning-- the day promises to be a lot more pleasant than yesterday's weather. I sure hope so. And I hope the pool water retained some of the accrued warmth. We'll see. First, though, I have to get groceries and so on. Ah, Saturday. My journeys yesterday landed me at The Frost Place, and while there are changes up there from my many years of being a docent, much is the same. Some landscaping has occurred, pruning of shrubs and removal (sad) of the rose bush by the porch. I didn't go inside the house; that can wait. I was there to talk to the director who is also serving as a docent (arts budgets are tight all over), and I put five copies of my chapbook up in the Barn for sale. It's neat and tidy, and the video is the same... but clearly, it's not set up for in-person readings or conferences. Those are not on the schedule yet again this year, with the exception of Frost Day, and in September, there's a poet running a workshop on a weekend.  I miss...
Read more