I am not someone who is normally excited by the thought of sitting down and reading a book, but that statement always seems to change when I am handed a memoir. This is because memoirs are more than just- stories- they’re true stories. Those who read memoirs will walk away with an expanded knowledge of what it means to be a human.
Memoirs are great because they are able to connect a reader to the story in a way that no other genre can. Memoirs use real-life stories with first-hand experiences to tell more compelling stories. Because the stories told in memoirs are non-fiction, the emotional experiences recounted in these books are charged with real emotions. It makes for more cathartic reading experiences, as well as convincing morals. The passion and emotions authors of memoirs feel when they are writing is reflected in their writing, and it makes for stronger rhetoric. Rhetoric is used to instill important lessons in readers without them having to have the same experiences. For those who do have similar experiences with the authors, it can make for an even more enriching reading experience, as the stories may resonate with readers more deeply and even be more cathartic.
Of course, this may not mean reading a memoir by someone who has led a very similar life to yours. Readers may find the same emotions and experiences being recalled in a memoir by someone with a very different life from their own. When this is the case, memoirs become all the more powerful because they expand readers’ knowledge of the human experience. When you’re able to find something similar to someone seemingly different, you grow as a person. Being able to find commonality with a complete stranger is the gift that memoirs offer.
Another gift that memoirs offer readers is the value of personal experience. Memoirs can offer readers so many important lessons and observations. They can broaden readers’ understanding of events, and they offer themselves to history in a way that no textbook could compare. Take Elie Wiesel’s Night, for example. Night is Wiesel’s memoir recounting his struggle to survive in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. The book offers many factual details about the camps and the experiences, but it also details the intense emotions and internal battles around faith and self-preservation. This book, like so many memoirs, connects humanity to events.
Above all else, memoirs matter because they spur growth. Any book you read that helps you become a better version of yourself is an important one. I believe memoirs offer many opportunities for this kind of growth. That is why you should read memoirs. That is why memoirs matter.
