Gurba Video Extra Credit

I really enjoyed watching the video of Myriam Gurba and it gave me an entirely new perspective of the book. I was a little surprised at first because I was not expecting her voice or way of speaking to be like that. I didn’t have any distinct preconceived opinions or thoughts, but it was not what I guessed it would be like. I really do enjoy that, and it is one of the reasons why I like listening to writers read aloud. It shows the way they view their work and how it is processed through their mind rather than the multitude of interpretations that readers can come up with on their own. I really like that she read the chapter from Mean of “Googolplex” because that was one of my personal favorites and the way she read it gave it a new passion and take. I also think that was a very relevant and significant chapter of her memoir. I liked how she read a new work that was not released yet, and seeing another one of her writings other than Mean was very nice to see because I enjoy her writing style. I find it significant that Gurba talks a lot about her childhood because it gives us insight into who she is currently as an adult as a result of what happened to her in her youth. Learning how she wrote her memoir was very interesting to me, especially hearing how it started as fragmented pieces that were not intended to be published at all. I can relate to what she said about reading works that you admire but can’t fully resonate with, thus making you want to create your own. I think that it is really important to have something that represents your story and if you can’t find one that does the job, making your own can be a great therapeutic method that can also inspire or heal other readers. I appreciate her thought processes about adding elements of horror, humor, and camp to talk about something deep and how the initial stages of her memoir are completely different than the model we read. It was interesting to hear that editing her manuscript took almost two years and she was not going to make it into a book when she first started writing. Hearing that some topics are still difficult to talk about even through the passage of time stood out for me because even though she can write about the trauma, it does not make the events any less challenging mentally to endure. It was also interesting to hear how she doesn’t like to be tapped on the shoulder or startled from behind because of the lasting trauma of her assault and the PTSD that came from it. Her saying that trauma is not an old mattress was a very intriguing metaphor. I never would’ve thought of it that way but I think it perfectly represents the ways that you can have new, pleasant experiences but the trauma and negative feelings from the event will still linger in the back of your mind forever. Overall, I think that this Zoom recording was an enlightening experience that helped me understand Mean and the thought process of Myriam Gurba much better. I enjoyed hearing her read her work aloud and give insight into her personal life, as well as the writing process of the memoir.