Amazing what you can do with your foot! (My Left Foot - Christy Brown)

Member Name: marymoose

Product:	My Left Foot - Christy Brown
Date:	19/02/09 (452 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inspirational autobiography, written before everyone else wrote their autobiographies

Disadvantages: None really, but could have said a bit at the end about what happened next?

---Introduction---

Before the end of 2008 I vowed that in 2009 I would read no more tragic life stories. Regular readers of my Ciao/DooYoo reviews will know that I have a tendency to buy these books from the charity book list at work, and then review them. My plan was that I would only read books which I'd already read and enjoyed before, therefore I wouldn't be disappointed! Plus I wanted to read positive books rather than those about other people's miserable lives!

However, when I returned to work after Christmas I found a delivery from BookMooch (basically it's a site where you send people books you don't want, and with the points you get you mooch books you want from other people) and despite it being another autobiography I had to read it.

Several months ago I bought the DVD "My Left Foot" for about £2 - it was a film I'd not seen before despite it being made in 1989 and being an award winning film. The film is based on the book which is an autobiographical account of Christy Brown's life. Born with cerebral palsy, Christy was written off by society (but not by his family), and struggled to make a life for himself. Entitled 'My Left Foot' because that was the only part of his body Christy could really do anything with, Christy became an accomplished painter, and writer.

Having seen the film and enjoying it, I knew that I had to read the book - it's always interesting to see how closely these 'true stories' match up between the book and the big screen!

The book was published in 1954, so it can't be accused of being one of these modern sob-stories of an autobiography. So I think I can be forgiven for reading and reviewing this!


---My Book---

My book has a photo of Christy on the front and a typewriter (not the same as DooYoo's picture which is the most recently published version) - he looks very different from how Daniel Day Lewis looked in the film! My copy has just 184 pages in it, and has an rrp of £5.99 (although I got it for nothing).


---The Story---

Born in Ireland in 1932, Christy was the 10th child of his mother. There were 12 after him, and from the total of 22, 13 survived infancy. It was a BIG family (Catholic as you'll probably have guessed) and there wasn't much money or space. Christy's birth wasn't easy, and there were soon signs that all was not as it should have been for instance not being able to hold his head up. When his parents took him to see professionals, the outlook was not good:

"Almost every doctor who saw and examined me, labelled me a very interesting but also a hopeless case. Many told mother very gently that I was mentally defective and would remain so."

Of course, Christy was not in any way mentally defective, he was affected by cerebral palsy which meant that he was unable to walk or control his limbs, and speech was not possible until he was a lot older and had the right speech therapy. Thankfully his mother (in particular) was adamant all along that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Christy's mind.

There isn't much talk of Christy's early years, it wasn't until he was 5 that his life really changed, when he grasped a piece of his sister's chalk between the toes of his left foot, and wrote the letter "A". This wasn't quite as dramatic as what happens in the film (if you've seen that) is actually something which happens later in the book. However, through much time and patience, Christy's mum taught him to read and write. They clearly had a close relationship, and the book is dedicated to her.

Despite his difficulties, there are happy moments from Christy's childhood. His brothers would take him out to play in the streets in an old 'go-car' (not sure why not go-cart) which he called Henry. However, when the go-car broke irreparably, as he says "the bottom had fallen out of my world." Things were never the same again for Christy, however he found a love for painting, which got him through his darkest times.

To say more would be to give away too much of the plot, and the book's only short as it is. However, it's a thoroughly moving tale as Christy goes through the normal emotions of adolescence, but being trapped in his body and being unable to communicate except with his family. There are times of immense despair, but Christy is not self-pitying. It would be patronising (and wrong) to call him 'brave'. Basically he dealt with what life threw at him in the best way he knew how, as most of us do.

Through the years there were a number of people who helped Christy to deal with his cerebral palsy, particularly Dr Warnants and Dr Collis, and there was also the experience of a trip to Lourdes which is somewhat humbling. The treatment Christy received was very different from how it was portrayed in the film, as was his transition from painting to writing (very interesting to learn who his autobiography came about), and his relationships with those around him.




---More of my thoughts---

My initial feelings having read the book were "why did they change this, that and this for the film?" If you've watched the film and read the book then you'll probably understand what I mean, but I can't really elaborate without giving too much away. I can understand when they try and make things in films more exciting, or more dramatic, but I really don't feel there was a need (apart from perhaps the bit with the chalk) as the drama was there as it was.

The book will certainly appeal to those with an interest in cerebral palsy, and I think we can all be pleased that treatment has come on such a long way since then, and there is far more hope today for those born with conditions similar to Christy's.

However, it will also appeal to those who like tales of triumph over adversity. I wouldn't say it's your usual sob story though so won't just appeal to people like me!



---Afterwards---

After reading the book I wanted to know more about what happened next, so I googled Christy (as one does!). And unfortunately I found that the happy ever after that I had hoped for and was very much implied in both the book and (particularly) the film, was not how it really ended. Christy Brown married Mary Carr in 1972. He wrote a number of books and poetry collections. Unfortunately he died in 1981 at the early age of 49 (he choked on a lamb chop). There are questions over his relationship with his wife who has been described as an ex-prostitute alcoholic and it has been suggested that she neglected him, and also that he became an alcoholic.

Obviously only those involved really know what happened. However, it did put a bit of a dampener on it for me, as it was otherwise a truly inspirational story. Of course though life doesn't always end happily even when we most want it to.



---Other---

"My Left Foot" can be found new on Amazon for £5.99, but as it's quite a quick read you might want to look around for a cheaper copy. This is certainly worth a read, so perhaps get it out of your local library. If you've seen and enjoyed the film you'll probably find it interesting to see the differences between the two.

Summary: Worth a read, especially if you've seen the film!