Mariko Kikuchi’s had a tough life. Her dad was an alcoholic and physically abusive while her mother was physically and emotionally abusive before she committed suicide when Mariko and her little sister were still kids. Then, in her 20s, she became involved with a man who was also a heavy drinker and who beat her up constantly - for 9 years!
Her misery memoir, with the unwieldy title of A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s An Alcoholic, is occasionally interesting and other times not. I was having a hard time trying to pinpoint why this book didn’t totally work for me and I think it just comes down to not finding the material all that engaging.
Not to take anything away from Kikuchi’s experience - of course all the stuff that happened to her is horrendous and bravo to her for getting through it and still remaining a decent person - but the memoir is a bit thin for my taste. Her dad’s an alcoholic until he isn’t, her boyfriend’s a scumbag while he’s in the picture, until he isn’t, and Mariko just kinda rides out the rough waves until they calm down. It’s straightforward stuff and, though the terrible things she went through are morbidly interesting, a lot of the stuff in between really isn’t, however sympathetic you may feel towards her and her sister for having to grow up too soon to deal with their reckless father.
We don’t really get to know why her dad was an alcoholic, why her mother was so unhappy, why her boyfriend was so horrible - it’s a very surface-level overview of her life. They’re just bad people taking out their nastiness on the author, which only makes the story less distinctive.
Kudos to the author for realising her dream of becoming a mangaka (her sister also became a professional illustrator), but I feel like her cutesy drawing style here makes light of the dark story and doesn’t do it justice, lessening the story’s impact on the reader.
A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s An Alcoholic isn’t the most compelling or memorable read about addiction but it has its moments and you do root for and empathise with the author in her struggle.
Her misery memoir, with the unwieldy title of A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s An Alcoholic, is occasionally interesting and other times not. I was having a hard time trying to pinpoint why this book didn’t totally work for me and I think it just comes down to not finding the material all that engaging.
Not to take anything away from Kikuchi’s experience - of course all the stuff that happened to her is horrendous and bravo to her for getting through it and still remaining a decent person - but the memoir is a bit thin for my taste. Her dad’s an alcoholic until he isn’t, her boyfriend’s a scumbag while he’s in the picture, until he isn’t, and Mariko just kinda rides out the rough waves until they calm down. It’s straightforward stuff and, though the terrible things she went through are morbidly interesting, a lot of the stuff in between really isn’t, however sympathetic you may feel towards her and her sister for having to grow up too soon to deal with their reckless father.
We don’t really get to know why her dad was an alcoholic, why her mother was so unhappy, why her boyfriend was so horrible - it’s a very surface-level overview of her life. They’re just bad people taking out their nastiness on the author, which only makes the story less distinctive.
Kudos to the author for realising her dream of becoming a mangaka (her sister also became a professional illustrator), but I feel like her cutesy drawing style here makes light of the dark story and doesn’t do it justice, lessening the story’s impact on the reader.
A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s An Alcoholic isn’t the most compelling or memorable read about addiction but it has its moments and you do root for and empathise with the author in her struggle.
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