Chicks On Lit discussion

Renee and Irene are starting a discussion of "Lab Girl"
Lab Girl

Anyone is welcome to join us.

Renee, I started this thread for our discussion. I know we began it in the nominating thread, but we can continue it here.
As I said in that old thread, I enjoyed chapter 1. I could feel that small MN town, the coldness in the home and on the streets, her father's college lab being the one place she felt free and happy.

I agree, I was not thrilled with the prologue. I thought she talked down to the reader. I felt the same way about chapter 2 and 3, the scientific chapters. I am on chapter 4 and we are back to her memoir. I am enjoying the chapters about her life much more than the science chapters. I expected it to be the other way around.

I think your right the I did feel that she was talking down to me in the prolog. You are a little ahead of me. I am just finishing chapter 2. I am glad to hear the science finally give way to memoir. Reading is going slow because I have not been caught up in the book. I know this will change once i get past all the science.

I am liking the book better as I go on, I hope it keeps getting better,

I found her discussion of her families communication style interesting. I come from a large Italian family. Their is never silence. I used to take long baths when I needed a break from all the chatter. I wonder what is harder to live with? A quiet family or one that never stops talking.

Renee, I don't think the science stops. It appears that the science chapters and the memoir chapters alternate. My undergrad degree is in biology. That was many, many years ago, so I am far from literate in science. that said, these science chapters feel as if she is talking to a 6th grader. And, the anthrapamorphising she is doing seems a bit heavy handed. I am up to chapter 8, so I won't say anything about the later chapters. As for chapter 2, I wanted more about her mother. She was obviously a brilliant woman who should have had a career in science herself. Yet, because of her age, she was prevented as a woman. She really is not all that old. I am not sure when her mother was born, but I am thinking that she was going to college in the 1950s. It is amazing that a brilliant woman living in middle class America was prevented from getting that college degree in mid-century. I can only imagine her frustration and disappointment. Meanwhile, her father seems even tempered and very content.

I have to admit I am not enjoying this book. I am not a fan of the writing. It is too descriptive. I also feel like her ecological agenda is being rammed down my throat. I did like when she was talking about her mother.

I was a chemistry major but switched to nursing because I needed a more social career. I always thought I would head to med school but had family instead.

I hate gardening. I had to stop reading when she started talking about everyone has a special tree. Really? Does anyone have a special tree they grieve when its cut down?

I was fascinated by the hospital. It was interesting to see they let people who were not lab trained do testing. It was a picture into the past.

I remember a time when we were allowed to use test strips in urine. We then read them and recorded the results Now they all must be sent to the lab where someone specially trained does the same thing. I

I will keep going but i do confess to be struggling to read this.

I am up to chapter 12. I was shocked to read how she prepared IV bags with no training. What a catastrophy waiting to happen.
If you are not enjoying this book, don't feel obligated to finish. I am going to finish it, but I won't be upset if you drop out. Life is short and there are many books to read. We can look for one that might appeal to you better.

I am up to chapter 5 of part 2. The lack of real safety precautions in the lab, driving with her feet on the dashboard, all of this seems like it comes from an era far earlier than the 1990s. I am really surprised that Bill follows her to Georgia. Their bond seems extremely strong, yet it is not explored. I keep waiting to find out there is a romance, but not so far. They don't socialize outside the lab, they are not sleeping together, yet he moves across the country to take a dead-end job with a poor salary to continue to be her assistant?

I am giving the book one more day. It has moments I like. I just am frustrated with so many words saying so little about the story.

It certainly is not a taxing read. I read it late at night and don't find any need to reread. Nothing deep here.

I am going to finish it. I will not sure how much I will be able to post or read the next two days. My niece had a fall on the fourth. She has a badly sprained knee and 3 year old twins. I will be staying with her to help out.

It depends on the kids how much reading and comp time I will have. But I will be back.

O, I hope your niece is OK. She is lucky to have you there to help.
I finished part 2 last night. There are moments of insight that I wish she would explore more. I don't want to give anything away. I also want to know more of the story of her assistant. He is an enigma for me.

Thank you so much. She is doing well. She is just no mobile enough to take care of the twins. The keep you running. I was able to get a lot of reading done.

I will confess to skimming some parts

The description of her friend in the hospital lab brought back memories for me. I remember the days when people smoked. It reminded me of some of my aunts and uncles. They always smelled of smoke.

I think she treated the woman badly. She trained her, She defended her. She gave her rides. Yet she gave that speech. I was glad when Lydia drove past her.

I am just at the part where she meets Bill at the dig. I can see the start of a friendship. He is definably an enigma. I am looking forward to learn his story.

Hope seems to keep people at an arm's length. Maybe it is her upbringing. She describes her family as cold and distant. Maybe it is her personality. The relationship between Lydia an d Hope is odd. Lydia has been working in that department for a long time, but she does not seem to have any friends. Instead she takes her breaks with a teenager. And the training is not exactly what I would expect. She just tells Hope to watch her. Other than defending her when she fails to cap the Interferon bottle, she does not seem to really guide and teach Hope. Although Lydia gives her rides home, it felt as if Lydia was using Hope for her own emotional needs. It just felt so strange.
Bill seems more and more strange the longer the book goes on. I want his memoir next.

I wonder what makes a person decide to write a memoir. I keep reading this book and wondering what in Hope's personal story is of universal interest. I understand when celebrities write memoirs. They either have a fan base or some level of fame. Maybe they are in a profession that sparks general curiosity; people want to know what it is like to sit on the Supreme Court or play professional ball. But I don't know too many people who want to know about the life of a botanist. Nor does she speak of overcoming some grand obstacle in life that might make her story inspiring. What made Hope think that her personal life would be interesting to strangers? I am nearly finished with the book and am a bit disappointed. It is not that it is hard to read or that I am not enjoying it. It is simply that I am wondering why I should care about this life.

I had no time to read yesterday. The twins were terrors. I had forgotten Lydia and Hopes age difference. I still think hope treated her badly with her leaving speech. I felt she was belittling Lydia's work, Not everyone has Hopes advantages. Lydia was very good a what she did. Hope did not need to make it seem so small.

Bill is defiantly the stand out in this book. I want to learn more about him.

I understand why someone would think hope should write a memoir. She has achieved a lot. But I agree she is not memoir worthy. A book about her achievements would be better. I would have picked it up expecting all the science. I expected this to be about her and how she got where she is today. It is not the book I expected.

I agree, this is not exactly what I expected either. I expected it to be more about the sexism in science. She mentions it, but does not really show it to any great degree. I have more of a sense of how difficult it is to get funding if you are not already established. I did not realize that science professors at research universities have to set up their own labs and pay for all their own equipment.

I saw some maturing in Hope as I went through this book. I wonder if she is on the spectrum or just socially underdeveloped because of the emotionally austere family. I think it took a great deal of self awareness and humility to depict her arrogant youthful self in that hospital pharmacy.

I finished last night.

I also wonder if she is on the spectrum. I will finish this tonight. it is an okay read. But i am disappointed. I expected memoir about the difficulties of women in science. I have done some research work at a university level. I was involved in research r/t post mortem caesarean sections. I was involved in data collection and analysis. It was a long time ago. I preferred to work the floors. I only did it as a favor to a friend.

But getting the money for research is mercenary.

I agree that Hope matured I will write tomorrow.

Your time in research sounds really interesting. I had thought about a career in science, but was turned off by how competitive research was. I also would love a psychological profile on Bill. He is one unique character.

I finished the book. Bill was the star. I would have liked to learn more about him.

I wanted to like Here. But i found her too cold and too preachy. I understand her views. I even agree with them. I just found the presentation to be too something.

I honestly cant say what it is that turned me so off. I think it may be the book was not the read I was expecting. I was looking for the story of a woman succeeding through struggle.

I felt that story was lost in her politics. I just looked back in the thread of my other group. The consensus was the book was a disappointment.

I did enjoy our discussion. Thank you for your thoughts.

There was so much more personal stuff she could have developed. I wanted to hear about her struggle with and recovery from mania. I wanted more about the sexism she encounters as a female scientist. I wanted more about any work/life balance, especially as she marries and has a child. It all seemed too easy. And, of course, I want to know more about what is behind Bill's willingness to put up with virtual homelessness just to serve Hope. I could have done without the plant chapters. The correlation between Hope's life and the plant factoids came across as a bit forced and unnecessary. I would have been more interested in her science than these popular science bits. Thanks for reading this with me. It has been on my tbr list for years and I kept putting it off.

Your welcome. I think i got more out of this because we read it together. Too bad no one else joined.This group used to have such good discussions,

I agree. I will try to put out another post to see if there is interest in an August discussion. I don't want to step on Tera's toes. I know that I am not the moderator. And, I have other active GR groups that I am a part of. But this group has such a great history and was one of my first experiences on GR that I would love to see it revive.

I feel the same. It was one of my first groups here. I am in other groups but this one has a special place in my heart