Implosion

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, August 2018; written by Lisa Pearson.

This Wednesday at 6:30 pm we will be hosting a presentation by Maine author and poet Elizabeth Garber. She has brought together different layers of her childhood into a beautifully-written, very moving book, titled “Implosion: a memoir of an architect’s daughter”.

The central theme of “Implosion” is that of a family dealing with mental illness. Garber’s father Woodie was a celebrated Modernist architect whose work can still be seen in various buildings in and around Cincinnati. He was also a controlling, abusive father and husband whose deteriorating mental state led to the breakup of his family.

By slowly revealing the symptoms of Woodie’s mental illness as the book progresses, Garber mirrors her own slowly dawning understanding that her dad’s behavior is not usual or eccentric, but harmful. At the beginning of “Implosion”, she and her dad have a special connection. He is proud of her cleverness and her eager willingness to learn about the principles of Modernism, architecture, and art. She regards him as a hero, trying hard to earn his praise. As a young girl she doesn’t recognize his rigid rules, belittling comments towards his sons, or prolonged periods shut away in his bedroom as anything worrying.

As she enters her teen years, however, and develops a friendship with a neighbor girl, she becomes aware that Woodie does not act the way other people’s fathers do and that the differences between her family and others in their small Ohio town run deeper than their modern glass house, Woodie’s imported cars, and the New York City fashions Woodie insists her mother wear. His behavior towards his children - and his daughter in particular - becomes unsettling, as she realizes that even their bodies are subject to his absolute control.

It is at this point in Garber’s book that a parallel narrative comes to the forefront. As Garber is coming of age, the rigid society of the post-war era is being confronted with the revolutionary ideas of the late 1960’s. These conflicts - feminism, interracial relations, economic inequality, and demonstrations - are mirrored in the Garber family. Woodie, who is 18 years older than his wife, represents the older generation, and his anger at his changing family is magnified by his mental illness. Even setting aside the issue of Woodie’s abusive behavior, “Implosion” is a gripping account of an individual family going through the upheaval that American society as a whole was encountering at that time.

The really impressive aspect of Garber’s book - and life - is that throughout all the uncertainty and pain of dealing with her father, Garber still loves him. She worked hard in her adult life to maintain contact with him, and tried to remember the happy times when she was young, to weather his anger and emotional abuse. The writing of “Implosion” was an act of healing, and helped her mother and youngest brother to come to terms with their pain as well. She manages to humanize her father; you don’t like Woodie, but you can empathize with some of his struggles. The end of the book feels hopeful, as though Garber has recovered from a long illness and is looking forward to life. To hear more about Garber’s experiences, and the healing process of her writing, please join us this Wednesday evening.

As a reminder, this Saturday, August 18th, the Friends of the Library will be hosting a book sale in the large room at the Ketchikan Public Library. All items are $1.00, and the proceeds benefit library programs such as Summer Reading Club, the Teen Advisory Group, the Fellowship of the Pens writers’ guild, and special building projects. The sale will run from 10 am to 5 pm.