The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
by: Anne Fadiman
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Amazon.com Review:
Lia Lee was born in 1981 to a family of recent Hmongimmigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she wasliving at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle ofmisunderstanding, overmedication, and culture clash: "What thedoctors viewed as clinical efficiency the Hmong viewed as frostyarrogance." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is atragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, written with the deepest of humanfeeling. Sherwin Nulandsaid of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale,just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, intheir humility and their frailty--and their nobility."
Product Description:
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
When three-month-old Lia Lee Arrived at the countyhospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-run "Quiet War" in Laos. The Hmong, traditionally a close-knit and fiercely people, have been less amenable to assimilation than most immigrants, adhering steadfastly to the rituals and beliefs of their ancestors. Lia's pediatricians, Neil Ernst and his wife, Peggy Philip, cleaved just as strongly to another tradition: that of Western medicine. When Lia Lee Entered the American medical system, diagnosed as an epileptic, her story became a tragic case history of cultural miscommunication.
Parents and doctors both wanted the best for Lia, but their ideas about the causes of her illness and its treatment could hardly have been more different. The Hmong see illness aand healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe, while medical community marks a division between body and soul, and concerns itself almost exclusively with the former. Lia's doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices.
Lia Lee was born in 1981 to a family of recent Hmongimmigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she wasliving at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle ofmisunderstanding, overmedication, and culture clash: "What thedoctors viewed as clinical efficiency the Hmong viewed as frostyarrogance." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is atragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, written with the deepest of humanfeeling. Sherwin Nulandsaid of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale,just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, intheir humility and their frailty--and their nobility."
Product Description:
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
When three-month-old Lia Lee Arrived at the countyhospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-run "Quiet War" in Laos. The Hmong, traditionally a close-knit and fiercely people, have been less amenable to assimilation than most immigrants, adhering steadfastly to the rituals and beliefs of their ancestors. Lia's pediatricians, Neil Ernst and his wife, Peggy Philip, cleaved just as strongly to another tradition: that of Western medicine. When Lia Lee Entered the American medical system, diagnosed as an epileptic, her story became a tragic case history of cultural miscommunication.
Parents and doctors both wanted the best for Lia, but their ideas about the causes of her illness and its treatment could hardly have been more different. The Hmong see illness aand healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe, while medical community marks a division between body and soul, and concerns itself almost exclusively with the former. Lia's doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Good book
I would not have chosen to get or read this book if not required by the a course I am taking.I have read about 80 pages so far, and it is an interesting book.It's good to learn more about other cultures.
Rating: - Good reading with great historical and cultural info!
Become informed while you enjoy good writing.This book is uplifting in its literary style as it presents invaluable historical and cultural information about the Hmong who settled in the United States.The reader will be rewarded by gaining understanding and compassion toward the Hmong families and community.
Rating: 
- A must read!
I recently stayed at two Hmong villages, first by chance at a village in Laos located by the Mekong river off of Luang Prabang and the second time a pre-planned stay at Sapa, Vietnam.Reading this book after my return brought a new appreciation for their identity and culture.I wish I had read this book prior to my travels!
This book is definitely a must read, for anyone who is even remotely interested in other cultures.It has the right mix of historical background of the Hmong ... Read More
Rating: - Very Sympathetic
Where did this lady learn how to write?!She makes excellent observations throughout.The story is well-balanced between the Hmong and the meds.
A good background is included as to cultural information.And you'll come away with several important points.
Rating: - ...
This book is an eye-opener in the sense that it really makes you see the issue from both sides: one minute it inspires the reader to be empathetic with the Lee family and angry at the doctors and the next minute be empathetic with the hospital staff and angry with the Lees.
As someone going into the medical profession it really made me aware of an aspect of medicine - the collision of cultures - that I had naively not even considered an issue. It also made me question if I could handle ... Read More
- Good bookI would not have chosen to get or read this book if not required by the a course I am taking.I have read about 80 pages so far, and it is an interesting book.It's good to learn more about other cultures.
- Good reading with great historical and cultural info!Become informed while you enjoy good writing.This book is uplifting in its literary style as it presents invaluable historical and cultural information about the Hmong who settled in the United States.The reader will be rewarded by gaining understanding and compassion toward the Hmong families and community.
- A must read!I recently stayed at two Hmong villages, first by chance at a village in Laos located by the Mekong river off of Luang Prabang and the second time a pre-planned stay at Sapa, Vietnam.Reading this book after my return brought a new appreciation for their identity and culture.I wish I had read this book prior to my travels!
This book is definitely a must read, for anyone who is even remotely interested in other cultures.It has the right mix of historical background of the Hmong ... Read More
- Very SympatheticWhere did this lady learn how to write?!She makes excellent observations throughout.The story is well-balanced between the Hmong and the meds.
A good background is included as to cultural information.And you'll come away with several important points.
- ...This book is an eye-opener in the sense that it really makes you see the issue from both sides: one minute it inspires the reader to be empathetic with the Lee family and angry at the doctors and the next minute be empathetic with the hospital staff and angry with the Lees.
As someone going into the medical profession it really made me aware of an aspect of medicine - the collision of cultures - that I had naively not even considered an issue. It also made me question if I could handle ... Read More
