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Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'
Drinking from Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
3 reviews
noahsingh's review
fast-paced
5.0
Loved loved loved this! Highly recommend for any fans of horror, anti-colonial, feminist literature. I hope Yvette Lisa Ndlovu can publish another book soon, very excited to see what she writes in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Colonisation, and Gun violence
Moderate: Classism, Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Addiction, and Death
Minor: Fatphobia
tigger89's review
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
These stories were phenomenal. The only thing I didn't like was that there weren't more of them! While there were some I liked more than others, none of them were bad, which is unusual for a collection. Usually there's at least one stinker! I learned a fair bit about Zimbabwean culture, both from what the stories contained in themselves and from the unfamiliar words and concepts I googled while reading.
Many, though not all, of the stories deal with injustice and rage, particularly that associated with womanhood. My favorite stories were Red Cloth, White Giraffe, Ugly Hamsters: A Triptych, Water Bites Back, Three Deaths and the Ocean of Time, and When Death Comes to Find You. I'd love to be able to sum up that selection with a theme, but I don't think there is one. These were just the stories that made me go, wow, more please!
Don't be fooled by the interior presentation of the book(font choice, margins, spacing, the stark white pages, etc). I believe it's due to being published by an academic press, but the vibe it gives off is very "classroom reading", when really this book is more than accessible to anyone looking for leisure reading. Whoever put the interior of the book together did it a disservice, because the style of these stories clashes so strongly with the spartan aesthetics. This is such a weird quibble, I know, and I'm not docking any points for it. It affected my reading a lot, though!
Many, though not all, of the stories deal with injustice and rage, particularly that associated with womanhood. My favorite stories were Red Cloth, White Giraffe, Ugly Hamsters: A Triptych, Water Bites Back, Three Deaths and the Ocean of Time, and When Death Comes to Find You. I'd love to be able to sum up that selection with a theme, but I don't think there is one. These were just the stories that made me go, wow, more please!
Don't be fooled by the interior presentation of the book(font choice, margins, spacing, the stark white pages, etc). I believe it's due to being published by an academic press, but the vibe it gives off is very "classroom reading", when really this book is more than accessible to anyone looking for leisure reading. Whoever put the interior of the book together did it a disservice, because the style of these stories clashes so strongly with the spartan aesthetics. This is such a weird quibble, I know, and I'm not docking any points for it. It affected my reading a lot, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Death
Moderate: Animal death, War, and Colonisation
spaceagemermaid's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Drinking From Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu is an evocative collection of darkly magical and modern stories unearthed from Zimbabwean lore and pop culture. Some are visceral nightmare-inducing accounts of vengeful spirits, sinister magicks, and spiteful gods. Some are chilling observations on the banality and cruelty of human nature. In these stories, Ndlovu critiques the corrupt political systems, defeatism, and economic impotence that undermine post-colonial cultures. She lays bare the insidious roots of patriarchy bent on stripping women of their basic human rights and agency. She calls out the unfairness and hypocrisy of society’s insistence that certain freedoms, including sexuality, must be taboo for women but not for men, and derides the sheer arrogance of men who dare hold women in their contempt. Ndlovu weaves emblems of popular culture, people, and urban tales into a tapestry of unsettling yet enthralling sense of unreal-realness that epitomizes the best afro-surrealism and afrofantasy have to offer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, and Gore
Moderate: War, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Xenophobia and Alcoholism
Yvette Lisa Ndlovu creates a haunting kaleidoscope of modern life seasoned by the rich history and lore of Zimbabwe. These short stories slip between genres, painting an eloquent, chilling, and sometimes painful picture of the countless unsung African women who have and continue to transport our civilization on their backs through time.
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