Joanna Siwiec Response: David Borkowski, Chapters 9-11

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#699

In Chapter 9 I find David’s humor to not only serve as a writing method, but as a healing method–for him. Describing his near-death experience, the flat lines, and his entire remembrance of the hospital is embedded into this very dark, realistic sense of humor. I thought some of the most beautiful language in the book was in this chapter. He goes off on a tangent of how people see these marvelous things when nearing death, but David says, “I Saw nothing. And I think what others saw is what they wanted to see. They envisioned what already existed in their minds” (160). And then, he toys with the idea of seeing something of a religious nature when near death. This hit me in a realistic tone that I appreciated. He near death wasn’t fluffed, wasn’t an image, but instead it was a internal feeling that came through him. I think that’s beautiful.

The negativity that David’s experiences with his family when it comes to his schooling is very impactful I believe. Just like David, I often get asked “Don’t you think you’ve been in school long enough?” and I quietly back down, and continue on the road that is disapproved by everyone around me (162). Once the academic world is entered, it’s hard to return to the traditional values a family may have. David says he was losing his working class accent, and in doing so, he was leaving that world in search for one that no one approved of. Just recently my mother suggested I take some medical billing classes so I can make lots of money working in a hospital. It was uncomfortable, and I was appalled that someone (and it being my mother) would say this to me after I have been studying English for 6 years. The notion that David’s family had/has about his career is horrid, and uneducated.

I think David’s last chapter in the book is one of a self-reflective nature and a philosophical rambling of some sort. The end doesn’t really surprise us, since we knew the surprise in Chapter 1. But, it does show us the life of a regular human–which is something that isn’t easily publishable or widely read. This memoir makes me question: well, who is David? And why should anyone read this book? And I find that the answer is, all humans have a voice–Whether they are regarded as celebrities, or random people from Staten Island that survived life itself.

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