The Chronology of Water

By Lidia Yuknavitch

#Memoir 

I've read various biographies through the years. But this is the first memoir I've read. There is a difference. Memoirs are not historical timelines. They are recollections of memories. Something the author acknowledges is prone to change, to become something easier to accept, to polish over pain. But in this case Ms. Yuknavitch flows along with most of the difficulties in her life. 

First I need to express why I haven't read memoirs in the past. Because I think they're going to be winnie stories designed to get sympathy. This book doesn't do that. 

Ms. Yuknavitch looks back on her life and freely admits her love of drugs, sex, and explores her own short comings of realization. As an example, late in the book she goes back to the moment when her father was teaching her to ride a bike. She by her own decision lets go of the handle bars and crashes. 

This book has a non-critical review by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club: A NovelMr. Palahniuk praises the book. Most of the reviews are by women, so it's possible that only a few men have read this book. And that is something I like to comment on further. 

I was able to bond with this book for two reasons. First we both had fathers who served in Korea, both were angry men. Second, a shared love of water.  These two reasons transcende gender, race and political lines, they are simple ways to connect, personally. So it's possible to draw emotions in similar circles even with people that you would normally walk away from. That bond made me like this book. I also like her thoughts on reading and writing. So there were other smaller connections that formed with the memories that bond throughout the book. 

Although I rate this book as five full sails, it doesn't mean I didn't have an issue with this memoir. I felt in talking about her father, she at times eludes to possible sexual abuse either towards her older sister or herself. But she never goes into a full accusation. If your thinking, details like that are to painful, you're right. But it's a memoir, a book that is designed to heal. If it happened, there should be away to walk through that kind of pain, reveal it openly, then walk, or swim towards a moment of healing. By the time I was done, I felt she omitted something. But only on the subject of abuse with her father. By omission, the reader brings their own thoughts and every reader will inject a different interpretation. 

Overall The Chronology of Water: A Memoir is well written (Lidia has her own unique style) and well conveyed through honesty, acceptance, and personal realization of one's self.