It’s not easy being Catholic. Not today, anyway. I don’t agree with everything. Some issues stick my heel like a pebble in my shoe. At times I walk confidently, and at other times I limp along. More than that, it’s not easy being Christian. Religious. One of faith, great or small, who believes in intelligent design and life predetermined. You know what I mean. It’s much easier to take life at face value, to believe in that which can be explained.
My priest said something interesting on Sunday. He encouraged us to attend a series of lectures on the book of Genesis coming up in the fall. He called Genesis the most fascinating book in the Bible, and that the knowledge we would take away from the lectures would help us when our children asked us the inevitable questions on Big Bang Theory, evolution, and creation–both ours, and God’s. He said to remember, as we struggled do figure out if Adam and Eve existed, what the Bible is–and what it isn’t. It’s not a history book or a science book, but a religious text. It’s not as easy as thumbing the index until you see on which page you can find the definition of somatic cell nuclear transfer.
I wish it was. I envy those with the comfort of blind faith, those who never arch an eyebrow in skepticism.
I put off reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks–I’ve owned it for three months and before that eyeballed it for years–until I could avoid it no longer. I’m disappointed I waited as long as I did, because when I finished Sunday afternoon, I felt cheated of an opportunity to digest a book that managed to touch upon issues of race, feminism, politics, science, technology, and religion. Skloot did all of that, and managed to remain even-handed throughout.
My comments on the book won’t be as elegant.
Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion-dollar industry. More than twenty years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same.
Those are certainly the facts, but there’s more to it. Cell acquisition was perfectly legal then and remained so in 2009 (I haven’t checked current case law to see if that’s changed, but I suspect it hasn’t). The equity of these laws, or lack thereof, is an issue of hot debate. The fact is that cells from many patients were taken without consent in 1951. It happened everyday, so much so that technicians in George Guy’s lab approached the collection of Lack’s cells with mild apathy.
The apathy came from the the knowledge that, more likely than not, these cells would die the same quiet death every other cell did in that lab. But, somehow hers survived. Not even survived–they flourished.
This is what gives me pause? Frightens me? Makes me think. We’ll leave it at making me think.
Another synopsis, though not nearly as pithy, could read as such.
A poor, young mother of color marries her promiscuous cousin, who gives her several venereal diseases, one of them known to promote cervical� cancer. She develops cancer, and goes to the hospital nearest to her, where a doctor pioneering cervical cancer treatment has privileges. He is on call when she enters the hospital and excises some cervical tissue. A gentle giant genius obsessed with growing cells runs a lab in the basement of the same hospital. He extracts cells from the tissue in hopes of growing cells–even though every other attempt for years has failed. Although the young woman receives standard medical care for the time, a different venereal disease makes her cancer inexplicably aggressive and resistant to treatment. She dies quickly and painfully. Her cancer cells, on the other hand, refuse to die.
And even that gasping paragraph doesn’t adequately detail the coincidences or aligned stars or Universal nudgings or acts of God that happened for HeLa cells to exist. For decades, the very scientists using HeLa cells couldn’t explain how or why her cells were so powerful. Those powerful cells are responsible for many of the lifesaving vaccines and medical treatments we rely on today.
The Lacks family, certainly Henrietta’s daughter, believed it was the hand of God. One died, so that many would live. Skloot, an agnostic, maintained a more rational position. At times, I wasn’t sure if I was reading scientific nonfiction or religious allegory.
I procrastinated reading this book because it is nonfiction, easily my least favorite type of book to read. I regret that, because I feel there is so much more I can say on this issues Skloot touched, intentionally or not, when she wrote about Henrietta Lacks and her cells. I need time to think, time to consider what I read and what it means.
Does a religious text live? Does it breath, does it move, does it jump around from book to book and wait on shelves where you will look? Maybe it does, because the more I looked at the science, the more I saw God.
I like non fiction, so I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed it. I did expect to have a clearer idea of my feelings at the end of it; I’m still not sure what it was about.
I do think that if Henrietta had been from a wealthier, white and/or better educated background the story wouldn’t have been so interesting.
I don’t have time to write more now- I’ll look back later to see what more eloquent commenters thought of it.
For some reason, I think Skloot would have made it interesting. I think even Henrietta’s story would have been boring told by someone else. She is definitely has a talent for nonfiction narrative. She reminds me of that show on 60 Minutes or Dateline or something “Everyone Has a Story” where the guy traveled around the world and would pick a name at random from the phone book and interview them/make a story out of their life. There’s almost a duplicity about it, like the book I had to read in law school, “How to Make Statistics Say Whatever You Want.” (Not sure if that was the exact title, but it’s pretty close.)
I haven’t been reading along with your online book club, but I happened to have read this book just a couple of months ago, and had a similar reaction to it.
And that last paragraph? Just about PERFECT. I want to paint “the more I looked at the science, the more I saw God” on a mug, or cross-stitch it on a pillow, or something.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. :)
I was surprised how much I “enjoyed” reading this book – “enjoyed” not being the right word at all – I read it in a weekend, engrossed in the two stories – the story of Henrietta and her HeLa cells, and the story of Skloot discovering and writing the story and coming to care about the people involved. I think it took a journalist to write this book in a way that people would be able to read it – almost like a series of magazine articles. I would like to read this book again, especially after reading comments like yours, to digest it again in light of the religious and ethical issues it raises. I was so taken by the story/ies that I didn’t stop to think that much.
I do not understand the legal issues at all – I am familiar with Meridian Lab, as my daughter and I went through BRCA testing a few years ago. They don’t charge quite as much anymore but the test is still expensive. My knowledge of patent law is slim, but I can’t wrap my mind around being able to patent a gene. They did not create it, although they created a way to find it. Seems to me the dividing line with genes and cells should be a patent can be issued only for something the researcher added to the “thing”. I don’t think simply growing cells should be an obscenely profitable business in and of itself.
As to the book itself, I only wanted to know more about the daughter-in-law (I forget her name and have lent the book out) who was such a pillar of strength and independence.
And this – “the more I looked at the science, the more I saw God” – yes yes yes. I am not a highly religious person (not sure what that means, but that’s what I would say about myself) and I actually do “believe in” the science of life and earth, but there is no doubt in my mind that they amazing things that happen around us have some spark of the divine in them.
I like that phrase, “spark of the divine.”
Bobette?
Yes – didn’t she keep Deborah in school even when she (Deborah) got pregnant? I may have generations hopelessly confused, but the fact that a woman in that time would push a pregnant teen to stay in school, to leave an abusive husband/boyfriend, was so impressive to me.
Yes, that’s exactly what she did, and I was also very impressed!
Yes! I would have loved to have learned more about Bobette. She was fascinating, from her resistance to speaking with Skloot to the way she told Deborah she didn’t need to continue the family trend of marrying cousins. I definitely wanted to know more of her story.
I can’t wait to read this! It’s been on my wish list but I always wait for your review before I pick -up a one of your books (bad book club member, right?) Now, I am eager to delve into it!
Hah! You’re supposed to read along with me, Tristan. Clearly you have no faith in my book selections. ;)
I think eyebrows arched in skepticism are vital to our world, and those who live by blind faith tend to frighten me. I’m glad you’re not one of them. I think any book that we need time to digest before responding to is likely a good one to read. Thanks for sharing your reaction to this one.
Thanks, Rita. Still digesting on this one, that’s for sure.
i too have been eyeballing this book…I am very tempted now! I really enjoy your selections and reviews, I’ve read some great books through it!
As for your first paragraph, Amen! I have a great deal of respect for anyone in this day-and-age who believes and tires to live the tenets of their faith, regardless of denomination. Kudos to you!
Thanks, Heather! I try to pick something really different each month. This was definitely outside my comfort zone being nonfiction, but it paid off for me. I really enjoyed it!
I don’t always follow along with your book club either, but my IRL book club is reading this book to discuss at our September meeting (which will be tomorrow night), so the timing was perfect! I also loved this book. I was a little concerned that scientific nonfiction would be a bit of a slog, but it wasn’t at all – I could hardly put it down. I agree with Susan G above – I think it’s ridiculous for anyone to be able to patent a gene. They may be able to patent the test they discovered that identifies the gene in a person, but the gene itself? That’s crazy! I found myself really torn, too, about the ethical issues. I tried to put myself in the place of Henrietta and her family. On the one hand, if taking my cells could do so much good, improve so many lives and contribute so much to research, I would give them freely. But on the other hand, if biotech CEOs then started making millions as a result of the work they did with my cells, I’d be pretty pissed to find that out. I mean, no one would ever take stuff from a hardware store without asking or paying for it and then build a structure that made them billions of dollars without ever paying for the materials! Either way, I certainly feel like I should be asked for my consent to have my blood or tissue used for research – I should have a right to say “No” to that, being that it’s *my* DNA in those cells. I don’t know if that’s an American impulse or just a human one. I’m very eager to discuss this book with my IRL book club tomorrow night – I’ll come back and let you know if we discuss anything new and interesting that’s relevant!
That building example can also be used by the person in the book…can’t remember who…who said that if anything, there should have been a one-time fee, not royalties for life. You buy the materials once, not every time you make something with them, right?
I would be torn, too. I know it it was my mom, I would want money or recognition. But, I’m human. I think it’s in our nature to be self preserving and a little bit selfish.
I ran out of time to finish the book, but what I did get to read (56% according to my Kindle) was fascinating. I’m back on the wait list at the library so I can hopefully finish it next time around.
I’m not going to lie. I laid this book down numerous times so I could move on to something else and ended picking it back up until my loan ran out. What I did read, I liked, but not loved. BUT because I didn’t get to finish I also don’t have the sense of completion and want to know how the book wraps up. Jules promises that it’s worth it.
I liked it, but I didn’t love it and to be honest I quit after reading about 75% of it. It was due back at the library and I figured I’d read enough. I found the first half to be interesting, but after that I had to make myself continue..I wanted more about the people and less about the cells and the science.
Oh no! The last 25% was mainly about the family, and what happened to them. Deborah and Rebecca went on a road trip to figure out what happened to the sister who was placed in an institution.
“…the more I looked at science, the more I saw God.” -That sentence gave me chills! Here’s what I thought:
I was also one of those bought it (exactly a year ago today – the receipt was stuffed inside the pages) but never read it people but after reading it I don’t know why I let it sit on my shelf for so long! After the Lacks family found out about HeLa and attempted to learn about the cells and what happened, I was infuriated that not a single person actually stopped to ask whether or not they understood. As a former teacher and now a librarian – I know how important it is to stop along the way and ask if I am understanding questions correctly and if they are understanding answers correctly. (Proves the whole you can be a rocket scientist but that doesn’t mean you should teach what you study point, I guess.) For that alone I was so happy Skloot came into their lives – it really seemed like she took the time to explain things over and over again until a little bit stuck.
In the afterword Skloot mentions that anything we’ve had removed on our bodies is probably being studied somewhere. It did give me pause as I have had a few moles removed checking for melanoma – and while I don’t necessarily need to know if they have been studied, I’d like to think someone along the way would mention if my particular ones led to a discovery of some kind. In a way I totally understand the scientists not telling Henrietta they were researching using her cells. As you said, they fully expected them to behave like every other cell they had ever harvested. I think what really bothered me was nobody thought to tell them when they had found a discovery. Perhaps it wasn’t written in an ethics or moral code, but as a human wouldn’t the instinct to be to let them know? Maybe not at that time in history but it’s just not something I find easy to forgive in the scientists.
***Spoiler Alert***
I cried at the end hearing about Deborah. I know she lived a hard life and had a hard time with HeLa, but I did not expect how emotionally attached I was to her. I felt so sad that she didn’t get to see that Skloot really did listen to her concerns about using certain words and giving out too much extra information that wasn’t needed yet telling the real, true story of the Lacks family.
PS: I just have to say I love that the pictures were inserted between chapters. Nothing gets me more than when a book has inserted pictures that completely interrupt a chapter! Okay I’m done now. :-)
I think in that day and age, it was assumed that if you were a minority–or anyone beside a physician, for that matter, such discussions were beyond the scope of your comprehension. There was one part in the book where it says Gey may have gone to Henrietta’s bedside and thanked her for her contribution to science, and that Henrietta was happy to hear she would somehow contribute to the cure for cancer, but I’m not convinced that really happened. I got the impression Skloot wasn’t convinced, either.
Oh, and I loved, loved, loved those pictures in the book.
***Spoiler***
I so agree! Deborah’s ending devastated me. I so wanted her to read the book, see what it became of it. I was also attached to Joseph/Zakkaryia. There is one quote from him in the book that broke my heart:
“I think them cells is why I’m so mean,” he said. “I had to start fightin before I was even a person. That’s the only way I figure I kept them cancer cells from gorwin all over me while I was inside my mother. I started fightin when I was just a baby in her womb, and I never known nothin different.”
I loved that quote too! I also remember reading they would choose to smile and nod instead of ask questions so as to not be looked down upon. In the end, I feel it’s probably no one particular persons fault the Lacks family misunderstood everything but it also wasn’t right.
I worked in healthcare for 10 years, and it’s rare for a patient who doesn’t understand (regardless of race, gender, or age) to ask for clarification on something they don’t understand.
***Spoiler***
I positively sobbed over Deborah. I was surprised by how attached I felt to her by the end. But I was so glad to hear about the grandchildren doing well in school and going to college, etc. I definitely intend to make a donation to the scholarship fund.
Yes, it was nice to hear her grandkids were in college, and that one was even going into a graduate program!
Rebe, I may not need to write another comment because you’ve laid out most of what I wanted to say. I, too, was flabbergasted no one bothered to explain anything to the Lacks family and then to make sure they understood what was going on. When that lady drew blood from Henrietta’s children, I was horrified Deborah believed it was to find out if she had cancer or not and was just waiting all those months and years to find out the results. I loved how Skloot was able to address so many of their concerns and misunderstandings. And even how some of that led to Deborah wanting to go to college. Skloot definitely positively impacted their lives!
I had no idea there were tissue banks, nor had I ever considered what happens to samples that are biopsied. I understand scientists need samples for research but I would like to give the OK on such things. It weirds me out knowing some researcher could be working on my cells and I’ll never know about it. It seems like such an invasion of privacy, especially given what our DNA can reveal about us.
I, too, cried about Deborah. That broke my heart. She really grew on me and I hate that she didn’t get to see the outcome of the book. And especially to see how well it’s done. So many people know her mom’s name and story now!
Thank you so much for choosing this book, Jules. I doubt I would have read it otherwise. Your review is helpful, too.That last paragraph you quoted is particularily helpful in seeing how the religious perspective of some of the members of Henrietta’s family could be taken credibly. Personally, I had a wee problem with it–but I hadn’t put together all the strange coincidences that brought the HELA cells about. Thanks for that.
The book was overhelming. Sloot did an excellent job with an almost impossible story to tell. It wasn’t just one kind of book (I read a lot of non-fiction). It could have been just the story of Henrietta’s family and their pain and exploitation, it could have been a book about just the science, the history of cell cultures and what all has been done with her cells–and yet, it was all of these at once. It reminds me of one of those medieval tapestries where multiple stories are told and all figures are present by size, according to their importance to each of the many stories told.
I appreciate you razor sharp ability to hone in on one of the most important themes of the book. Thanks again.
Thank you so much, Alana! :) And thanks for that medieval tapestry analogy. I’ll have to research tapestries now. I had no idea size had such an important role in the story telling.
Tracy Chevalier wrote a novel centered on tapestries – so maybe look for an additional surprise in the mail. :)
You’re too good to me, Susan. :)
Aw shucks! ;)
I read this book about a year ago and it sat with me for quite a long while after finishing. I just didn’t know what to feel after being slapped with a barrage of hot button issues that are certainly not resolved in our society over 50yrs later. I was intrigued with the science, with the ethical, racial & femininst issues throughout the story and far less interested in the actual family as the ‘second’ story line. I found myself skimming along only mildly interested and wanting to get back to the HeLa cell lines and the other goings on in the scientific community. I am of the opinion that Gey and Henrietta’s primary doctor were of their time and taking the cells wasn’t even an ‘ethical’ issue in their mind. The taking of her cells didn’t affect Henrietta’s treatments or outcome.
What is far more inflammatory in my mind were the later trials on people that had no understanding of what was being done to them and there was no effort to help them understand. It immediately made me question modern drug trials/ treatments and the fact that as a reasonably educated & literate middle class white woman, how much medical jumbo would I understand if I were presented with something similar to sign off on in hopes of being ‘cured’or treated? Would I truly understand or just smile & nod, thinking ‘get on with it already’?
With all the wonderful knowledge that has come from these HeLa scientific studies and trials, knowledge that we now in 2012 take for granted in our medical treatments, where does humanity draw the line and say that’s far enough into God’s territory? I just don’t know. This book didn’t make anything crystal clear in my mind, but it sure did make me think!
as a reasonably educated & literate middle class white woman, how much medical jumbo would I understand if I were presented with something similar to sign off on in hopes of being �cured�or treated? Would I truly understand or just smile & nod, thinking �get on with it already�?
Oh, I loved this and completely agree. Don’t we do that for everything? How often do you read the fine print/Terms of Service for applications and websites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.? I didn’t (even as an attorney!) but now I do. You can bet I will pay more attention the next time I have a medical procedure, too. Like someone mentioned above, I have tissue all over the place if I am to believe the afterword. Two births, a lumpectomy, my surgery this past spring, all the bloodwork I have had over the years. It’s enough to give me chills.
EXACTLY! I actually DO make a point to try and read fine print, but many times I’m trying to make an ‘informed decision’ at the same time so I am not taking time to sit back and consider all the implications of what the fine print is indicating. Your example of lab and medical work is perfect and I personally thought about it when it was time for my daughter’s vaccinations last year. They weren’t taking cell samples from her, but we have to sign a consent form with all the risks there in medical jargon….. I just read through and hoped for the best! After reading this book I am far more wary I can tell you!
I work in banking and feel that many people have a hard time grasping the internal workings even when I try to explain it to them, and banking is a far cry from the medical and scientific world, which I feel can be overwhelming with new information.
This book opened my eyes and although to say I ‘enjoyed’ it is odd because nothing about these interwoven stories of the family and science is particularly enjoyable, it was an undertaking that Rebecca Skloot handled very well considering the scope of topics.
*Generally, I am not a non-fiction reading kind of gal. However, the past couple years I’ve been ‘forcing’ some on myself and have been pleasantly surprised 9 times out of 10. I started with the Best American Nature & Science writing recently, and if you want to read some things that make you go hmmmm there are plenty of short pieces to choose from. Best American 2011 had an excellent essay called ‘Letting Go’ about terminal illness and when enough is enough when it comes to treating it. I cried through a lot of it knowing so many people personally that have continued with experimental treatments long after their quality of life has passed.
I’m less than 50% through, but enjoying it very much. Unlike you, I’m a big fan on non-fiction — though I’m not sure I’d have picked this one up if not for the PIBC. So thanks for that!
As someone of no particular denomination and shaky faith, I haven’t read it through the lens of God and religion, but then I also haven’t yet reached the part that really deals with Deborah and her life and beliefs. (I’m just skimming the comments here, to avoid true spoilers) I will say though, that so far “hand of fate” seemed to be working overtime in Henrietta’s story. If nothing else, she sounds like such a hoot & a joyous, caring young woman during her brief life. I’m glad her life and her huge contribution are being recognized.
What are some of your favorite nonfiction books? I have to be honest, were it not for book club I might have never finished the book–but I’m so glad I did! It makes me wonder what I’ve been missing with all my other incomplete reads.
Eat, Pray, Love–I hated that book with the fire of 1,000 suns. I was already so-so on nonfiction, but man did that book ruin all others for me.
Oh geez! Of course I draw a blank when asked a direct question. I will say that Annie Dillard is one of my very favorite writers of all time. (Referring to all of her non-fiction, not her 2 fiction works.) And Joan Didion. And I love the travel books of Frances Mayes, although I was initially embarrassed to carry around my copy of “Under the Tuscan Sun,” because it had Diane Lane on the cover (from the very different chick-flick movie adaptation). And I just finished two amazing graphic novel memoirs by Alison Bechdel. Just a handful off the top of my head.
I cringe to say that I DID like (not love) “Eat, Pray, Love,” and I read it long before all the crazy hoopla surrounding it. (Cringing only because I assume you’ll no longer care to be friends with me from here on out. :-) ) I’d like to sit down & discuss your reasons someday.
I’ll go on ahead and applaud your last line literary gold. I felt the same reading this book, although that’s not to say it didn’t raise/foster questions.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your Genesis lecture series, as well.
Thanks, Erin. :) I hope I can go to the series! It would require my mom babysitting one night a week for weeks, so fingers crossed she’s feeling generous!
If you are looking for some interesting non-fiction titles, here are a fe I’ve enjoyed recently:
My Week with Marilyn, by Colin Clarke
Life, by Kieth Richards
The Rational Optimist, How Prosperity Evolves, by Matt Ridley
There’s others, but I didn’t finish them..and there was one on the history of our perception of fat in society which was fascinating but I don’t remember the title of it now, unfortunately.
Thanks, Alana! I will look those up. :)
It sounds like I really need to read this one! My husband and I are physicians, and one of the docs we trained under was mentioned in the book (in passing, and not in a negative way).
Y’all don’t get too nervous about your cells and your biopsies, by the way, they aren’t all getting experimented on somewhere! Most of that stuff is just disposed. Dont sweat it.
And Jules, I have to say– I too find that the more I see of science, the more I see the work of God.
I can’t imagine anyone would want to dispose of my cells and biopsies. I’m pretty sure my mom still has my baby teeth. ;)
Man, I feel like a soggy shoe sharing my opinion because everyone so far has seemed to love this book. I just barely liked it. I did see a comment up above by Kendra that shares my reading process of putting it down often. It took me a solid 12 days to read it – and the looming loan return deadline was all that got me to power through the last quarter of the book. I have a more detailed review on Goodreads but here’s a summary:
The good:
I came away from reading this book with a much better understanding of how science has evolved and its use of human tissue. I took as little science and biology as was necessary to get through school so it�s not surprising to me that I don�t recall ever having heard of HeLa cells. I certainly realized that medical research was done on human cells but I had no idea that so rare for them to live on their own outside of the body. I learned a LOT about cells, culture, tissues, and how they all work (or don�t work) from the layman�s education provided throughout the book. For that, I am grateful.
I loved Deborah�s outlook on the past being the past. �Things was different then.� It was evident that she didn�t easily trust the people of current-day, and with good reason. However she seemed willing and able to set aside that guard when it came to the past. She was rarely upset by what everyone around her saw as wrong-doings that occurred in the 50�s and 60�s, always explaining that it was a different time and there�s so much better in the world now because of it.
The rest:
Most of my dilemma with the book was what seemed like an over-share about Henrietta’s offspring and cousins. “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” That is the title of the book and I expected to learn more about the life of the woman these cells came from. I expected something like a biography of the woman behind the cells.I don’t feel like I have any better of an understanding about Henrietta than I got from the first few chapters.
Luckily, the last section sucked me in. I think I had finally accepted that this book was about the family, not Henrietta, and allowed myself to be invested in Deborah�s story instead of waiting to hear more about Henrietta. I got choked up while reading about Deborah�s experience of seeing her mother�s cells for the first time. Learning about her older sister�s theorized experience in the state hospital was sickening and tortuous.
I feel like I should re-read the book now, with the acceptance that it�s about Henrietta�s family and not Henrietta, but I know I won�t. For starters, I have only re-read 3 books in my entire life. Also, I felt like I had to push myself to keep reading, and I don�t think that a misleading title was all that contributed to that. The science was explained very well for an un-science-y person (me) but it was still science. All wrapped up, it was very interesting and I had a few discussions with Sweetie about what we�d read.
I understand how you expected it to be more about Henrietta. I think that was the limitation of the Lacks family themselves: how little they knew and remembered about her, especially her medical history. It seems like they really didn’t talk much about her after she died. How sad that her children didn’t get to know her. It seemed like they were grateful to learn what they could and perhaps Skloots research inspired the cousins and Henrietta’s sister to reminisce more about her life.
I am not one for non-fiction. At all. Rarely do I make it through a whole book. I just about died reading your opinion of Eat, Pray, Love above in the comments–my thoughts exactly! Which is why I was completely blown away that I loved this book. Bravo, Rebecca Skloot. I love her writing style, and everything just worked. I agree with you, I don’t think another writer could have done the same. I also grew very attached to Deborah, and was so sad that she never got to read the final book. All her life, she just wanted to know her mother, feel an attachment to her, know something about her that seemed so elusive.
I’m so glad this book was chosen for the PIBC! I’ve had it for years since Skloot came to my school to discuss, but never got around to actually reading it until this weekend for the book club!
Even though I majored in biology for a bit, I never heard about HeLa cells until the Skloot talk. The entire story is pretty amazing and Skloot’s treatment of the story was done well too. I appreciated the intro where she explains how there wasn’t a way to write it without including herself in the book. It helped me understand why the chapters played out the way that they did.
I’m surprised to read Shaina’s comments about expecting more about Henrietta’s life. The tragedy was that she died early. Her children were left without a mother. The family’s story really exposes some of the current problems with healthcare, and the laws surrounding science, science education, and science journalism, while still honoring the life and the family of Henrietta Lacks, which is pretty darn cool.
I could not put the book down once I started, mostly because I got into the story about Skloot’s research, and the journey in getting to know the family, and getting to writing the book.
**perhaps because the last book I read right before this one was “The Help”, I was especially shocked at just how much information Skloot obtained about Henrietta’s early life and cancer treatment, and especially surprised as to how much documentation was found and is available from that time, despite whatever other problems we may have today about the standard of care at that time.
As an atheist, I didn’t have to deal with the same challenging thoughts regarding religion, Christianity and the hand of God in the life of Henrietta and the HeLa cells. However, as a person who is a die hard non-fiction reader and someone who is deeply interested in the real life experiences of people who live lives completely unlike my own, I felt the same as Jules. I was a little frightened, and I needed time to think.
I think it’s miraculous that anyone, ever, crossed paths with the Lacks family and knew enough about the history of the HeLa cells to make the connection to the family and trigger the ensuing events. I sometimes wonder if it would have been better for the Lacks family to never have known that their mother was “alive” all over the world and in space, being subjected to atom bombs and such.
I was profoundly moved by this book and it really fed into my existing knowledge about how racism is deeply imbedded in Western culture. Reading about how the Lacks family was fighting (and losing) against poverty, a lack of education, and a powerful medical establishment that wasn’t interested or mandated to listen to their story, I felt a real sense of urgency. Someone has to listen to their story! Someone has to acknowledge their feelings and their reality. At this point, I don’t believe that the Lacks family can be properly compensated for Henrietta’s unknowing contribution to science, but at the very least, the family deserves to be acknowledged. They believed that Henrietta was still alive in a labratory and even feared that she could still “feel”. Someone, somewhere has to acknowledge that that was their reality, and should acknowledge the pain caused by the situation they were put in.
I realize now, happily, that everyone who reads this book completes that cycle for the family. We have all read the book and born witness to the history and the feelings of the Lacks family. We all understand now what we have all gotten from Henrietta and I believe we all are grateful to her. Thank you, Rebecca Skloot for writing the book so well and to the Lacks family for opening up to Rebecca!
Another sobering thought that I came away with from the book is that there is so much to change. I was tremendously saddened about the torture of Henrietta’s disabled daughter, and I spent a long time thinking about how it was possible that useless medical experiments that serve no purpose and were never going to generate any form of useful result could be done. I wished very hard for a time machine, so I could go back to that time and save her. I also desperately wanted Deborah to live to see Skloot make good on her promise to write the book that would tell the world about Henrietta. That tragedy was very hard to live with: I admit to putting the book down in anger because I desperately wanted to read about the Lacks family rejoicing in the completion of the book and its publication.
Those are my thoughts. :)
By the way, I would argue that all your commenters are non-fiction readers and will laugh when they realize they are. This blog is non-fiction. I am certain that your readers are reading other blogs written by real people in real time as well. TA DA! Y’all are non-fiction readers! I’m magic.
Good point! I did not think of myself being a non-fiction BLOG reader. DOH!
Okay, now I have to read it! Looks incredible.
I couldn’t believe how much this book had me thinking, about life and equality and medical ethics- and about how to treat people right in general! I had so many mixed feelings, gratitude for the results of the research and the impact they have had on my life but sadness at the unintended consequences. I walked away feeling grateful for my life and… cautious? I’ll look at medical forms differently now for sure!
I’ve weighed in with other commenters so this is the only thing left to say:
I really enjoyed the book. It defies normal genres. Is it a biography? Scientific expose? Historical nonfiction? Journalism? A little bit of them all, I suppose. Skloot did a fantastic job. I can only imagine all the material she amassed over the years and did not include. I hope the Lacks family are happy with the resulting work.
Jules, I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on the intersection of faith and doubt. My doubts have only served to strengthen my faith but this is not something generally taught in the Church.
I finished the book a few days ago, and remembered today that I wanted to participate, even if I am a bit late to the discussion.
I unfortunately read a few spoilers in the comments when this post was published (oops), and spent the last few chapters choking up knowing that Deborah didn’t get to read it… I was holding back tears on my commute every day.
This book to me was wonderfully written. I’d love to pick Rebecca’s brain for a few hours, I cannot believe the AMOUNT of research she did for the story. I’m always surprised and inspired by journalists’ dedication to being truthful. I read the acknowledgements (I never do that) and I believe she mentioned at least 10 people who proofread and fact-checked her work, multiple times.
The story itself to me was heartbreaking. From the moment when Henrietta got pregnant at 14 (or was it 13?), everything seemed so unfair to me. I hated Day for neglecting Joseph, for forgetting about Elsie, for not protecting Deborah. I have to echo other readers’ love for Bobette, she was a breath of fresh air in a world where everyone else seemed hopeless.
As a confused atheist, the coincidences unexplainable “miracles” riddled me, but I’m not sure I can make God the explanation.
These are a few of my feeling on the book, I could probably write an essay as long as the book if given the time, but I’ll spare you.
Please join Morehouse School of Medicine”s 20th Annual HeLa Women”s Health Conference