Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

13 reviews

emelynreads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

4.5

Incredible writing that is lyrical and illustrious. I could so easily picture myself in the Jamaican setting. Which comes with warning as the author delves into darker topics, because it is very tense to read at times and all the emotion/ reality is laid bare. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Adult/minor relationship

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

not_another_ana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

After more than nineteen years, my father still could not see me. To him, nothing I wrote would ever matter. Poetry was the voice I had forged because for so long I had been voiceless; I had written every word because I wanted him to hear me. Now I knew he never would.

I find it tricky to cast judgement on a memoir. How can I sit here and judge what happens when it's not just plot but someone's actual life and experience, it feels voyeuristic. At the same time the author is handing me their life on a platter, is asking me to come and see and experience. In How to Say Babylon Safiya Sinclair presents us the story of her life growing up in Jamaica under the control of a domineering abusive father who used Rastafarianism to control and terrorize the family. We're taken on this journey to her childhood, her struggles and how she persevered and became an award winning poet. She also explains what Rastafarianism is, how it got started, what are the practices and beliefs, and how that affected her.

I could not put this down, I read it in four days. The prose is beautiful and fluid, you could probably infer her background as a poet. If you don't enjoy purple prose, this might not be a good fit for you, for me it worked because I felt like I was right there in her head with her as the events happened. And boy did things happen to her, this is a book that deals with such complex and heart wrenching abuse. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, at times it felt so heavy and anxiety inducing. I was at a roller coaster right before the drop, or a balloon inflating with no sign of stopping and then... Well the drop didn't happen, the balloon never popped.

That was my only real issue with the book. The pacing brught us to this dazzling height only to gently let us down. To me it felt like perhaps she could have waited to write this memoir, there were a lot of painful memories she had to face and put to paper and the more recent ones just didn't come across as robust as the past. By this I mean I felt like she's too close to the point in time where her book ends to have been able to pull it apart and analyze it, process it. There's a lot of silence at the end, like the story was cherry-picked in some spots.

I'm obviously talking about her father. In a horribly distressing scene she depicts a night where he almost killed her, a night that traumatized her youngest sister and put her at odds with her older brother. And yet the book skips any meaningful conversation about this event, jumps right into her life in the USA and then into a reconciliation with her abuser. She spent the whole book painting this boogeyman, this dangerous figure that mistreated her and then did nothing to show the painful path towards forgiveness and personal growth. I don't want to speculate, but I do wonder if she has actually processed everything that happened, if she's been to therapy. It felt like she bent the knee after a full book of standing up for her younger self.

As I said at the beginning, it's hard to judge people's personal choices from my outside point of view but after being so in her head and life the ending felt empty of the same fire.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Cursing

mnboyer's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

At its core, this memoir is Safiya Sinclair (Jamaican poet) reliving the trauma of her past -- her father was a serious, meticulous Rastafarian and was absolutely *horrible* to his family. Women and young girls were seen as 'impure' and couldn't make any of their own choices. Sinclair finds her passion, poetry, but her father doesn't support her. Now, her mother does -- she's a strong woman who, like many, has issues getting out from under the control of her husband. But, the entire book, you're rooting for these women to free themselves.

Wonderful prose, a really interesting memoir where you do learn a ton about Rastafarian culture and belief systems (I had no idea!), and a great ending where there is closure... you get to learn about Safiya Sinclair's background, which helps you to understand her poetry on a deeper level.

Now, I do wish she'd leave ASU and come down to UA, but I suppose I can just keep hoping for that! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

lizzyreadz's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Wow! I had no idea of Rastafarian religion and it was incredible to learn from the powerful voice & journey of the narrator Safiya Sinclair.

Her words painted a thick picture of family, struggle, strength, fear, and forgiveness. She writes so beautifully it makes your heart cry.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Classism

ireanirean's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Infertility, Death of parent, Drug use, Colonisation, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual harassment, War, Slavery, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Miscarriage

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark inspiring slow-paced

4.5

Context: I chose How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair as an add-on to my Book of the Month box in October 2023. 

 

Review:

 

Safiya Sinclair delivers a beautifully written and powerful memoir of her life growing up under the tyranny of her abusive father, who uses his interpretation of the Rastafari faith to control Safiya, her siblings, and her mother. Although Sinclair got her start as a poet and frequently uses metaphor and figurative language in How to Say Babylon, her memoir is immensely readable and pulls the reader in with its literary quality. Sinclair is a master of language, but her memoir also reveals her mastery of storytelling structure, as each chapter feels like a cohesive whole that seamlessly builds upon the story of her life, her family, and her roots. Her retrospective on her upbringing demonstrates a keen awareness of the forces and personalities that shaped her life—nurturing and destructive, fleeting and abiding. She reminds us that above all else, courage and empathy are necessary to free ourselves from people and situations that work to keep us silent. 

 

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Colonisation

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Cancer, and Deportation

bookmarkie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

sillyduckie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Drug use, Confinement, and Blood

znvisser's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Beautiful memoir that taught me a lot while drawing a picture of the authors life: Safiya Sinclair manages to interweave personal memories seamlessly with Jamaican and Rastafarian history, making her story a whole. Her childhood memories are detailed and lively, drawn poetically with childlike wonder, shamelessness and parental worship, after which you feel complexity grow and doubts creeping in as she gets older. Sinclair is so proficient with language and I loved taking this in through audio as well, because her voice is gorgeous and she had great melody to her storytelling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Drug use, Racial slurs, Body shaming, and Cancer