BOOK REVIEW: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Did you know that the cure and medications for many diseases - including polio, cancer, and STDs, were all developed by scientists studying cells from only one person? Back in the 60's, Henrietta Lacks was a young black mother, and after claiming to have "a knot in my womb," had a cancer sample taken from her cervix and it forever changed medical history.

Henreitta's cells were so special that they were able to continue growing and multiplying after they were removed from her body. Before Henrietta's special cells were discovered, every other tissue sample taken from other people usually died after a few days living in culture.



(Photograph: goodreads.com)

For decades, no one ever knew who Henrietta Lacks was, and neither did they know the affect her cancer cells had on medical research. The author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot, wrote a three-part memoir about this woman's life and the affect she had on people around them.

The most interesting thing in the book for me was the way Skloot arranged the plot. She does an intense amount of research - interviewing family, looking up history, searching for medical records, and visiting the places Henrietta lived - and all of this is recorded in the book.

A recurring theme of this story is the idea of ethical research. Henrietta lived in a time where people of color were treated unethically in many ways when it came to medical research. In the story, Henrietta's cells were taken without her permission and she had no idea of what her cancer treatment would do to her. Skloot also brought up the Tuskegee Syphilis Studies, where many black men were experimented on and not informed of certain aspects of the study - aspects that left them dead or dying. This part of the story made me more aware of how far our medical practice has become in this day and age. I am glad Skloot did not shy away from this important topic.

Here is Skloot's website where you are able to learn about the impact of Henrietta Lacks. A movie will be out soon!

Also, check out The Henrietta Lacks Foundation. This website does a lot of charity work for victims of unethical medical research.

My rating: 6/10

The Importance of Poetry

A friend of mine once said that poetry is the most pure form of truth.


I agree with him, in a way. As someone who reads and writes poetry on a daily basis, I can appreciate the importance of poetry. But some of you (even you who are avid readers) may have an aversion to reading or analyzing poetry.


Why is this? I suspect you may not enjoy poetry because you read for plot instead of style. I often fall prey to this too, that reading is for enjoyment and we shouldn't expect any deeper meanings to affect us. But what really is the point of reading?


Since I began critically reading stories as an English major, I have found that the plot of the story shouldn't be the only interesting part. As readers, we should be looking for something of deeper meaning. Just imagine how many new doors we could open if we decided to judge a book by something other than plot!


And that's where poetry comes in.


Imagine coming back to a small block of text, like a haiku. Read one of my favorites by Jack Kerouac:


Missing a kick
At the icebox door
It closed anyway.


It is pretty easy to imaging the scene of Kerouac kicking his icebox door. You may move on from it as if nothing had happened. But if you read it and continue to ask yourself questions to increase the details of the scene, what could the poem become?


What was in the icebox? Was it alcohol? Nothing?
Why was he kicking the icebox in the first place? What happened before and after the act of kicking?
How could the door have closed on his own?


This poem is a story. Imagine reading this poem one year and then again the next year. What would have changed in your perspective about the poem? How has your reading been enhanced by a poem?


If you are a reader, I strongly encourage you to experiment with different types of poetry. I really do believe there's a poem for everyone, but it takes a bit of searching. Good luck discovering new poetry. Keep asking questions.


Happy reading!