The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman (1997)
This is the story of a doctor in Merced California and her struggles with a Hmong family, refugees from Laos, the Lees. The Lees have a daughter Lia who sufferes from sever epilepsy. The book both narrates what happens with the Lia’s condition, but explores the complications caused by cultural differences. Although both the doctors and the parents want what is best for the girl, but there are a number of miscommunications, both language and cultural. Every other chapter detours into exploring the Hmong culture, customs and history.
A fascinating read which is frustrating at times this book is often assigned to both medical and anthropological students as assigned reading.
No related posts.