This item represents something very rare and difficult to accomplish. I don't think I've ever read a book with such bare imagery, and no figurative language at all. It is the very definition of prose: just the facts, with occasional guarded commentary. It presented quite a challenge to teach, in fact. What can one use such a book for? What are the learning objectives, from a purely language arts perspective? It's too easy. Too clear.
This was, no doubt, the point. After a lifetime in the spotlight, under perilous scrutiny and beset by antagonism from every quarter, it is no surprise that Parks chose the most direct, unassailable version of her story for publication. No digression. No axe to grind, and no cry in the wilderness begging for release. Just a desire to set the record straight, and perhaps to leave a definitive record of events.
I wonder what Parks kept within her, unexpressed. What was sacrificed in the service of this style? What deep, philosophical truths or indelible turns of phrase lay in the ground with her? We will never know, and clearly that is the way she wanted it.
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