Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt

17 reviews

paulrichard's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual content, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide

2treads's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

– Memory, it seems, isn't always material out of which to make art. Sometimes remembering refuses us. Sometimes I'm a shoreline the water of memory drags its palm across. –

Belcourt's memoir is riveting, dripping with vulnerability, identity, family, queer desire and experiences; history of land, people, trauma, and ongoing colonial violence.

There is a unique flow to his prose, which melds poetics seamlessly with memory, observations, and interrogations. It is impossible to ignore the resonance of his style.

– To be queer and NDN is paradoxical in that one is born into a past to which he is also unintelligible. I wasn't born to love myself everyday. –

In this short memoir, Belcourt uses language to not only interrogate desire, existence, expression, experiences, racism, love, and suicide; he also interrogates language, its beauty and violence in the ways it is used and constructed.

...to confess to desire in a different direction was to expose oneself to existential risk, among other types.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

callmeamelia's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Grief, and Gaslighting

earthbound_edits's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Homophobia, Racism, and Death

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

2.75

I am hesitant to assign a number value to this book or even to leave a review, because I suspect that my experience is more reflective of my reading level than the actual quality of the book. I found the prose challenging and had to reread some passages several times but still couldn’t grasp the meaning. Nonetheless, the book was beautiful and lovely at times and very painful at others, and, as a Queer, disabled person, I am glad I read it. I found that listening to the audiobook helped me follow a bit better. One of my favourite quotes from the book:

“if I try to compose anything but sad poems, I fear it’ll be akin to a widower trying to convince others that he has found happiness again by wearing a T-shirt that says HAPPINESS” (p. 94)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Racism

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infidelity and Medical trauma

gagne's review

challenging hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

ericaosko's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Homophobia