I could not put this book down. “The Events of October”
transported me to Kalamazoo College circa 1999, and I was completely engrossed
in the story surrounding the murder of Maggie and the Neenef’s suicide. I live
in DeWaters, and I read most of the book in my room.... I cannot explain how
eerie it was to read the book and imagine the events unfolding in my own
building. It was bizarre because I felt like the campus Gail described was
exactly like how it is now, but somehow placed in an alternate universe. I also
wonder, how come I had never heard this story before? Is “The Events of
October” the only way Maggie and Neenef’s story is shared? Or maybe as a transfer student I missed some commemorative
event in the Fall.
In one of the appendices, there is a list of all the people
Gail interviewed. There are easily at least twenty people on that list. Gail’s
approach to writing this book reflects everything we have read and what Marin
has told us about narrative journalism. Gail incorporated details, such as
Maggie’s favorite type of vodka that really made me feel like I knew Maggie and
Neenef. Yet, not only did I know Maggie and Neenef, but I also knew Maggie and
Neenef’s family and friends. I could easily understand the frustrations and
hesitations felt by Maggie’s friends in expressing their views on the
relationship, as well as Neenef’s friends’ conflicted feelings about Neenef
after the event occurred.
I thought the IM conversations between Neenef and Maggie
most intensely highlighted the abusive nature of their relationship. Having
that explicit documentation showed the power dynamics underlying their
communication, and it also showed emotions Maggie could not have expressed to
her family or friends about Neenef. Furthermore, it showed how trapped Neenef
made Maggie feel, and how separating from him was nearly impossible.
I thought Gail did a phenomenal job in including educational
statistics on femicide and domestic abuse. I was shocked by the facts and the
ensuing analyses, and I want all of my friends and family to read this book. I
thought the most disturbing piece of data was that it is during the immediate
months after leaving an abusive relationship where women are most unsafe.
I’m really excited to hear from Gail how she pieced this
book together and the process that went into it—I also wonder how difficult it
was for her to separate herself from the story.
I really agree with you when you talk about feeling a sense of eeriness upon reading this book. Although nearly 14 years have past, Gail's descriptions made me feel like I was seeing everything right before my eyes. As a person who walks this campus every day, I cannot even begin to wrap my head around a tragedy like this occurring here at, as Gail says, my "safe haven."
ReplyDeleteI don't think that feelings you and I feel are limited to us as Kalamazoo College students. I think that Gail does such a good job expressing emotion that nearly anyone who picks up this book would have a reaction to what they are reading. In the end, it is not just an awful tragedy, or a story about relationships on a small campus, or feminist theory-- it is all of those things, and I think Gail pieces everything together perfectly. I can't wait to ask her so many questions in class so I can better my own writing. I really loved your post and I couldn't agree more.
Wow, so interesting to hear about how you read this book in deWaters, I first read it before I had even been in the building, and since always feel some kind of presence of the "events" when I go there.
ReplyDeleteWondering how she separated herself from the story is a common question I have been reading on blogs that I am also interested in.
The IM question were so important in illustrating the abusiveness of their relationship, and they are the closest thing she gets to actual conversation between them, which is so REAL! The different mechanisms she uses such as those conversations, and occurrences recalled my Maggie and Nennef's family and friends really pull everything together in such an artful way so that, as you point out, we really know everyone involved in the story. Thanks for your thoughts.