Scan barcode
ehtomb's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
This book was recommended to me while I was writing an essay on the reclamation of motherhood during the women’s movement. Rose has a lot of ideas, and digs into a lot of literature. I think her idea that motherhood is something the world blames it’s problems on is true, but her arguments did not hook me as I had hoped.
dvdpcp's review against another edition
3.0
Intermittently dense then accessible/breezy- there would be entire sections that were engaging and easy to read, followed by whole passages just the opposite. This work didn't seem like it had internal organization, it kind of jumped around with no explanation for the specific aspects of motherhood we were focusing on and when, nor how it was structured with any purpose or goal in mind. Honestly it made me want to read the source material more than I enjoyed reading this text and the author's perspective was not only distracting but an obstacle at times for absorption. Not sure the exact year this was published but surely late enough to know not to use, "blacks" as a noun? Gross. And she clearly loved the word, "carapace" it was used as a metaphor 3 times. Also is this person Elena Ferrante? Or just a huge fan? That section didn't feel warranted or explained, we just took a deep dive. I learned some good stuff but ultimately I found the author unrelatable and unlikable, and someone whose perspective got in the way of her point, a bad combination. Disorganized and half-baked, more opinionated than persuasive. The excerpt pulled for C'mon, C'mon was more satisfying to me than the piece in its entirety.
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Mostly wish there'd been more, this felt like a beginning. I ended up buying a book by Sindiwe Magona whose story story was discussed here as an example of a character who abandons her babies due to socioeconomic reasons. Medea, of course, features but I was hungry for even more perspectives outside the usual Western canon. There are acknowledgements of its limitations but with the one word main title (ignoring the subtitle) I was hoping.
Mostly wish there'd been more, this felt like a beginning. I ended up buying a book by Sindiwe Magona whose story story was discussed here as an example of a character who abandons her babies due to socioeconomic reasons. Medea, of course, features but I was hungry for even more perspectives outside the usual Western canon. There are acknowledgements of its limitations but with the one word main title (ignoring the subtitle) I was hoping.
zoebaillie's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I had read this while I was in the depths of postnatal depression instead of the many mothering manuals I desperately trawled for the cure to mine and my baby's endless tears. I could have done with a decent feminist analysis of why it was ok that I wasn't perfect.
Three stars purely because there were bits of the book that just weren't for me but I'm sure are other people's cup of tea - I am glad I read about mothers in classical literature but I admit I skipped the Elena Ferrante chapter after a while as having no prior knowledge of her work there was just too much to keep up with. I'm sure it's great for Ferrante fans though!
I enjoyed much more the writing on borders, racism, and motherhood outside of western cultures as well as the discussions of Leve and Plath. I would have loved her to explore more around depression, frustrated motherhood and poverty as when she did touch on this it was great. Had been worried about how she may include or exclude transgender experiences but her writing on Susan Stryker was great.
Three stars purely because there were bits of the book that just weren't for me but I'm sure are other people's cup of tea - I am glad I read about mothers in classical literature but I admit I skipped the Elena Ferrante chapter after a while as having no prior knowledge of her work there was just too much to keep up with. I'm sure it's great for Ferrante fans though!
I enjoyed much more the writing on borders, racism, and motherhood outside of western cultures as well as the discussions of Leve and Plath. I would have loved her to explore more around depression, frustrated motherhood and poverty as when she did touch on this it was great. Had been worried about how she may include or exclude transgender experiences but her writing on Susan Stryker was great.
dagdraumar's review against another edition
4.0
En interessant bok om det å være mor. Hvordan vi dømmer, instruerer og ser på mødre. Hva mødre gjør mot sine barn, både med vilje og uten å være klar over det. Hvordan en kvinne nesten slutter å være kvinne etter at hun blir mor - da er hun bare .... mamma, på et vis. Forfatterskapene til Elena Ferrante, Simone de Beauvoir, Sylvia Plath, Ariel Leve, Magona Sindiwe m.fl. diskuteres i lys av det å være mor. Historie og nåværende forhold tas opp. Alt i alt en interessant og godt skrevet bok om et viktig og for mange veldig aktuelt tema.