For whatever reason, my library’s algorithm recommended that I read Hillbilly Elegy after placing a reserve for I’ll Be Gone In the Dark. I suspect that the algorithm gave a little shrug and said: “Well, they’re both American memoirs … Might as well.”
Points of similarity:
- Both take places in the States
- Both have dead people in them
Points of difference:
- Gone in the Dark is a true crime
- Hillbilly Elegy is a story about family and community; and a thought-piece on politics, poverty, and culture
You tried, algorithm. You tried.
I wound up liking Hillbilly Elegy a lot more than I thought. It offered an interesting encounter with a culture that’s very different from — but also very similar to — my own.
But first: A point of clarification. “Hillbilly”? — If nothing else, this book is a prime example of how words can mean different things to different people in different parts of the world. (i.e., I spent most of the book going – “Huh? Hillbilly?”) Fundamentally, what Vance is writing about is the white working poor.
Not-quite-so-PC: White trash.
… or, that’s what we’d call it in my part of the world.
English subdialects, regional variations, and slang are hard.
(For the record, Ontario: It’s called a bus loop – not a stupid transfer point. Get it right.)
Moving on …
Hillbilly Elegy is one part personal memoir and one part essay on poverty and culture. The book is framed around Vance’s early life in the midwest? United States. He recounts rather-horrific stories of poverty, addiction, violence, and instability that has the psychologist(-in-training) in me cringing. The journey from poverty to law school is inspiring … but, more than anything, I love his humility. Rather than preaching individualism, Vance openly admits that his success was made possible by the people around him.
I didn’t grow up in poverty: my family wasn’t rich, but there was always enough money for healthy dinners and dance classes. Home was stable and loving, and I never felt like I was burdening my parents. But, I know someone who grew up in an environment that paralleled Vance’s — I’ve witnessed many of the strange character traits and sociocultural slip-ups that Vance described. The book helped me gain perspective and better insight, and, for that fact alone, it was worth reading.
The book is effectively written, combining a candid personal narrative with a healthy dose research/philosophy. It also presents a unique – and, sometimes brutally honest (not very PC) – perspective on poverty and addiction. It’s not an angle you typically see in the media or mainstream social narratives. A few reviewers over on GoodReads have called Vance’s approach “heartless” and “victim blaming” — but, I disagree. It adds an extra layer of complexity to an already-complex issue. I don’t want to get into an argument on cultural/moral relativism … so I’ll just leave it at this: culture can be a wonderful thing, but culture can also be infinitely damaging. As adults, we can consciously decide which aspects of our culture we want to carry forward and which aspects can be left behind.
The Details:
- The Book: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture and Crisis by JD Vance
- Published: 2016, Harper
- My Copy: KFPL
- Read date: April 7-10, 2019
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- You should read this if you like … alternative political perspectives
- Avoid this if you dislike … sociological narratives
The Geeky Jock 