Peeling the Onion by Wendy Orr (1996)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This must be a mistake; life isn't supposed to be like this. Pain's supposed to be nasty but bearable, like period pain or cracking a rib. Nobody tells you that the real pain is more than something in your body, it's like a black vortex that engulfs your mind leaving you to wondering if there's a border between life and death and which side you're on. It leaves you knowing you're not the person you always thought you were, knowing you're not strong or brave, not even a person, just a speck n the maelstrom.'Always someone worse off than you,' I remember that later. That's the worst of all. Am I supposed to be happy that orphans in Bosnia have had their legs blown off? To not mind my pain because other people can't buy painkillers? I don't want things like this to happen to anyone; the images of torn-apart children, raped women and murdered men pile on top of me in a suffocating mass of grey.
First off, I need to
admit that I have read Peeling the Onion
probably 10 times since I was 14. It was an assigned text for English, but it
spoke to me on a level few books had to that point. So, I knew what was coming,
I already had an affection for some of the characters and I already disliked
some as well. And like so many who’ve read it at the right time in their life, it changed my life, my perspective on so many issues (even to the
point of reaffirming my stance on euthanasia).
So that raises the question;
why after 15 years do I keep coming back?
Peeling the Onion has some of the best
descriptions of pain I’ve ever read. There are multiple times where Anna is
describing how she is feeling using metaphors that are brilliant and useful to
someone in pain, someone who lives with pain. I love that the change in victims’
families are acknowledged and survivors
guilt addressed. The book showcases the side of car accidents not often shown
in fiction, a very human side.
Peeling the Onion follows the story of
17-year-old Anna Duncan karate obsessed
and sporty from the time she has a life-altering
car accident for the next 10 months as she starts recovering and decides what
she wants to do next. It is nearly all in the first
person, as Anna, as she moves through what can be seen as the stages of grief
and as she tries to cope. As the world changes around her, as she finds her new
place in it and as she defines and redefines relationships.
The writing is
spectacular. Befitting the situation passages become longer as the book goes
on, as Anna would be able to concentrate for longer. The descriptive passages
are something to wonder at. Wendy Orr does a brilliant job of creating
characters that a believable and realistic. Everyone is flawed, no one is all
good or all bad. From the driver of the other car to the want-to-be boyfriend
to Anna herself. Everyone is human.
Peeling the Onion is an oft-studied text and is not without controversy
because of that. Anna is dealing with suicidal thoughts, thinking seriously
about the act and the reader is right there with her. There is also teenage sex
and a few other moral concerns that are inevitably raised. To people with those
concerns I say allow people the window, allow them to see someone else's reality. Fiction isn’t going to change people’s
behaviour, but it might allow them to develop empathy for someone in a different
situation.
I won’t say that
everyone should read this book because it isn’t one for everyone. But if you
want to see the impact an accident can have on a group of people, if you want
to read pain, read this.
My reading experience in a gif:
Crossposted from Goodreads
References
Cover for 9781741149333. (n.d.-b). Allen&Unwin. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets.allenandunwin.com/images/small/9781741149333.jpg
McPherson, C. (2018, April 2). Catherine McP's review of Peeling
The Onion: How Many Layers Hide The Person You Really Are? Goodreads. [Goodreads Review]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2344254437
Orr, W. (2006). Peeling the
onion. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
why-d0-i-exist. (n.d.). I think I need a hug. [Image File].
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