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Taking A Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature and Feminism in Our Time by Vivian Gornick
courtneymminor's review against another edition
4.0
As a new reader of Gornick from the start of the year—one of her books was my first read of 2021 and I’ve been working my way through her writings since—I’ve been looking forward to reading her latest collection of essays for a while. This book gathers, as the title suggests, Gornick’s essays on culture, literature, and feminism through the decades.
The first section, Literature, focuses on various authors and their work (Mary McCarthy and Herman Melville, for two). These essays are what I had hoped ‘Unfinished Business’ would be. And if you enjoy literary criticism, you’ll find it all throughout this collection, even outside of the literature section. It seems to be her touchpoint—she never strays far from books, no matter what she’s writing about.
My favorite essays from the collection are: ‘Mary McCarthy’, ‘The Reading Group’, and ‘On Trial for Acting Like a Man’.
I just enjoy Gornick’s writing so much. I’ll certainly be picking up ‘The Situation and the Story’ to learn a thing or two about writing from her. If you’ve never read Gornick, this collection makes a great introduction.
The first section, Literature, focuses on various authors and their work (Mary McCarthy and Herman Melville, for two). These essays are what I had hoped ‘Unfinished Business’ would be. And if you enjoy literary criticism, you’ll find it all throughout this collection, even outside of the literature section. It seems to be her touchpoint—she never strays far from books, no matter what she’s writing about.
My favorite essays from the collection are: ‘Mary McCarthy’, ‘The Reading Group’, and ‘On Trial for Acting Like a Man’.
I just enjoy Gornick’s writing so much. I’ll certainly be picking up ‘The Situation and the Story’ to learn a thing or two about writing from her. If you’ve never read Gornick, this collection makes a great introduction.
wrightfi's review against another edition
4.0
Taking a long Look - Vivian Gornick
Vivian Gornick has mastered the art of reflection and rediscovering new things in the familiar.
In her new book (due out in March next year) Gornick treads familiar territory with rereading and re-experiencing books and content she has previously read. The essays are gentle and flow so smoothly.
The real skill in Gornick is making the reader either want to reread or read the works she’s discussing. Reading this was vaguely annoying as I had to keep jumping up and grabbing copies of things that she discusses. Her essay on De Beauvoir reflecting on 50 years of second sex in particular made me want to jump back in to that book and search for things she mentions.
Her essay on Mary McCarthy is about a book I haven’t even read, but I still had to grab the only McCarthy in my house to flick through and consider!
Whilst I find Miller, Roth et al a real struggle due to their misogyny, her essay and analysis brought new perspectives for me to consider. Her books are always a breath of fresh air and each sentence is worth pausing over. The sum of the parts really does make the whole to me.
One thing I need to mention is that Gornick refers to herself as a Radical Feminist throughout the book. I haven’t been able to find this out to confirm, but there is an absence of Trans discussions in this book. That’s not surprising as the texts are classic first and second wave feminist discussion pieces. However, when a second wave feminist describes themselves as a RadFem I am concerned that I may be promoting the work of a trans exclusionary author. I wished to include that to make sure that I am not potentially misleading anyone. The absence concerns me and if I receive more info about Gornick I will update my review accordingly.
Thanks to Verso Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review
Vivian Gornick has mastered the art of reflection and rediscovering new things in the familiar.
In her new book (due out in March next year) Gornick treads familiar territory with rereading and re-experiencing books and content she has previously read. The essays are gentle and flow so smoothly.
The real skill in Gornick is making the reader either want to reread or read the works she’s discussing. Reading this was vaguely annoying as I had to keep jumping up and grabbing copies of things that she discusses. Her essay on De Beauvoir reflecting on 50 years of second sex in particular made me want to jump back in to that book and search for things she mentions.
Her essay on Mary McCarthy is about a book I haven’t even read, but I still had to grab the only McCarthy in my house to flick through and consider!
Whilst I find Miller, Roth et al a real struggle due to their misogyny, her essay and analysis brought new perspectives for me to consider. Her books are always a breath of fresh air and each sentence is worth pausing over. The sum of the parts really does make the whole to me.
One thing I need to mention is that Gornick refers to herself as a Radical Feminist throughout the book. I haven’t been able to find this out to confirm, but there is an absence of Trans discussions in this book. That’s not surprising as the texts are classic first and second wave feminist discussion pieces. However, when a second wave feminist describes themselves as a RadFem I am concerned that I may be promoting the work of a trans exclusionary author. I wished to include that to make sure that I am not potentially misleading anyone. The absence concerns me and if I receive more info about Gornick I will update my review accordingly.
Thanks to Verso Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my review
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