Wong does not give reason as to why she is airing her family grievances in a book – did she grow from it? Learn? Anything? I am also sad to say that it does not contain a likeable narrator – she jumps into her memory with shocking lucidity… and specificity… it makes you wonder what is concocted and what isn’t in this “memoir.” This book reads like an endless number of user-submitted stories to a February issue of Reader’s Digest. “Between my mother’s hysterics and the uncertainty of my illness, I couldn’t help but believe that I had fallen into madness.” On one hand a witty and touching memoir about the Asian immigrant experience, and on the other a harrowing and honest depiction of the vagaries of mental illness, The Woo-Woo is a gut-wrenching and beguiling manual for surviving family, and oneself. And when Lindsay herself starts to experience symptoms of the woo-woo herself, she wonders whether she will suffer the same fate as her family. The eccentricities take a dark turn, however, when her aunt, suffering from a psychotic breakdown, holds the city of Vancouver hostage for eight hours when she threatens to jump off a bridge. From a young age, she witnessed the woo-woo's sinister effects at the age of six, she found herself living in the food court of her suburban mall, which her mother saw as a safe haven because they could hide there from dead people, and on a camping trip, her mother tried to light Lindsay's foot on fire to rid her of the woo-woo. Lindsay Wong grew up with a paranoid schizophrenic grandmother and a mother who was deeply afraid of the "woo-woo"-Chinese ghosts who come to visit in times of personal turmoil. 9.5/10.In this jaw-dropping, darkly comedic memoir, a young woman comes of age in a dysfunctional Asian family whose members blamed their woes on ghosts and demons when in fact they should have been on anti-psychotic meds. When Little House gets dramatic, it hits you in the gut real hard. You can fool yourself all you want, try to write this off as just a cheesy period drama. I was really not prepared to cry, but I did. And not to spoil, but the biggest reason why this high rating is justified is due to the ending. ![]() The subtle, but sad look on Charles' face as he goes to bed afterwards is perfectly portrayed by Michael Landon, who will only become better and better as the series progresses. The families are heartbroken to separate from each other, but what choice do you have when you can die if you don't? There's a conversation where Charles and his comrades are talking with each other, speaking fondly of their wives and kids. Little House On The Prairie wasn't all laughs and dances, tough s'hit happened and you had to deal with it one way or another. But what makes this episode truly stick out is the dramatic weight. And the friendship the four of them have feels so natural, and makes for nice, compelling viewing. I especially like Jack, who is a happy and crazy but lovable dynamite detonator. is pretty fun to watch, and Jack Peters, Jacob Jacobsen and Williams are all charming and well-written characters. I think the reason I didn't care about it as much is because it wasn't focused on a lot. The women working together (with Caroline organizing the team) is pretty lightweight stuff, although it provides a little bit of humor with one of them being less enthusiastic than the rest. The men head off to find work, Charles and his new friends picking one at a rock quarry. ![]() ![]() The women stay in the village trying to grow some crops, hard as it may be. The thunder destroys all crops and everyone is in harsh economic trouble. But if you ask me what was the first sign of the show's greatness, definitely this one. The first two episodes of the show were pretty good albeit corny.
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