Genie: A Scientific Tragedy by Russ Rymer
1994
Weight: 7 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library
This book was depressing on so many different levels. This poor girl (now woman) seems to have spent her whole life being used for someone else's greater good. At some point the scientists in this book were no longer able to be in contact with Genie, and the author was not, so maybe things started to improve for her, but it did not sound like it. It seemed like her future would be very bleak indeed.
How this poor child could be pulled from one of the worst abusive situations the world had seen and then end up abused in her foster placements is beyond me. There was so much media attention and, even with the world watching, they could not keep her safe. It is devastating and just shows the world for what it is. Somewhere there is some person who has experienced such little joy in their lives. They have been to hell and back and hell and back and hell again. Their life is unrelenting, and it has nothing to do with who they are or the choices they made. At that same time there are countless other people growing up at the same time with all the opportunities and all the joy and also not always based on their choices--though they have likely been lucky enough to make a ton more decisions and have been faced with many more choices than Genie ever got the chance to.
If you are looking for hope, redemption, someone beating the odds, people doing the right things for the right reasons, then do not look here. This book is not that. This is not to say that there weren't people who loved Genie or helped her. There were but, ultimately, as a whole, it would seem that she was failed terribly.
1994
Weight: 7 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library
This book was depressing on so many different levels. This poor girl (now woman) seems to have spent her whole life being used for someone else's greater good. At some point the scientists in this book were no longer able to be in contact with Genie, and the author was not, so maybe things started to improve for her, but it did not sound like it. It seemed like her future would be very bleak indeed.
How this poor child could be pulled from one of the worst abusive situations the world had seen and then end up abused in her foster placements is beyond me. There was so much media attention and, even with the world watching, they could not keep her safe. It is devastating and just shows the world for what it is. Somewhere there is some person who has experienced such little joy in their lives. They have been to hell and back and hell and back and hell again. Their life is unrelenting, and it has nothing to do with who they are or the choices they made. At that same time there are countless other people growing up at the same time with all the opportunities and all the joy and also not always based on their choices--though they have likely been lucky enough to make a ton more decisions and have been faced with many more choices than Genie ever got the chance to.
If you are looking for hope, redemption, someone beating the odds, people doing the right things for the right reasons, then do not look here. This book is not that. This is not to say that there weren't people who loved Genie or helped her. There were but, ultimately, as a whole, it would seem that she was failed terribly.
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