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Praise of Motherhood
Praise of Motherhood
Praise of Motherhood
Ebook156 pages2 hours

Praise of Motherhood

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this ebook

When Phil Jourdan's mother died suddenly in 2009, she left behind a legacy of kindness and charity — but she also left unanswered some troubling questions. Was she, as she once claimed, a spy? Had she suffered more profoundly as a woman and parent than she'd let on? Jourdan's recollections of his struggles with psychosis, and his reconstructions of conversations with his enigmatic mother, form the core of this memoir. Psychoanalysis, poetry and confession all merge to tell the story of an ordinary woman whose death turned her into a symbol for extraordinary motherhood.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 25, 2012
ISBN9781780992631
Praise of Motherhood
Author

Phil Jourdan

Phil Jourdan is an author, musician and Zen Buddhist priest, originally from Portugal and now living in the UK. He is editor of Sci-Fi and fantasy at Angry Robot, and managing editor at Repeater Books. He is one of the co-founders of the online writing workshop and lit magazine, LitReactor. Phil lives in London, UK.

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Rating: 3.2857142857142856 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I own this book, and simply could not finish it. I don't know exactly why. I wanted to like it, that's why I applied for the giveaway, but once the book arrived and I started reading, I just had to put it down.

    Part of it is that it felt very "dry" in a manner of speaking. It was supposed to be a tribute, it appeared to his mother, but it felt rather emotionless.

    I enjoy reading memoirs and wish this had been something I could like.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Christ, I wish the world knew what it was missing."What a poignantly written memoir and remembrance of a loved one. I laughed, I cried, I yelled. Some of this is horrific and remarkable and lovable. Phil Jourdan must be a remarkable person and very brave to write so much about not only his fabulous mother, but also himself. To admit that we have our demons to ourselves is difficult but this man opens up his life with his mother and what they put each other through. It’s lighthearted for the most part but also so very deep as he expresses his joys and pains of knowing his mother and growing up with her. "She let us sulk after our tantrums, work through the misunderstandings. She sighed a great deal and cleaned up a good deal more and every day told us she loved us."We all hope that our loved ones, but especially our mothers, will stand by us in our trials. But even mothers do not know everything. Phil Jourdan expresses his torment and disappointment when he found out that his mother did not have all of the answers to so many of his questions. That she even had unanswered questions of her own! We all go through this little stumble in life when we find out our parents are not superheroes. That they even have the very same issues we do! But then we have to learn to lean on ourselves, something that is difficult for most of us. Phil Jourdan finds his way of protecting his mother much like she protects him, by keeping the truth to themselves. He forever worries that she will see the real demon inside of him and that then she will lose all of her love. But that’s the fabulous thing about his mother, she loved him through thick and thin and wanted to help him as much as she possibly could. "Of course she was flawed: my mother made extremely human mistakes, performed all the rituals of the mortal, engaged in the pleasures of hte earth and was occasionally too cowardly to do the right thing. But in spite of every imperfection she may have possessed, I cannot fault her for a single thing."If only when all of our mothers pass away we could feel this kind of love, this special ingredient that makes us whole. Much more importantly, prior to! We all have our ups and downs, each of us but to express them to each other is so hard but that is what makes life difficult. I hope that he has found some peace with writing this. The peace that we all need to find, hopefully not at the end of our roads. "It’s not all a ride that someone is going to take you on; you gotta take yourself on a path, even if it’s an effed up path."Oh now, the hard part. How do I rate a book that delves deep into my own world? My mother and I have had our issues, some quite large, some small, some we don’t even talk about anymore. But I’ve learned, much like Phil Jourdan has that you have to continue loving, it is called unconditional love. And that love that our mothers give us will surpass time itself. So, I rate this as a tremendous five. The most fascinating and touching memoir I’ve read to date. Absolutely loved it and will pass it on to those that need a little, or maybe a lot, of love in their lives.

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Praise of Motherhood - Phil Jourdan

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