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adeltron's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
This was the book i needed right now. as i struggle with the construct of modern capitalist time, i have needed guidance as i begin to imagine a better life outside of it. this book is a great introduction to those ideas and has sent me down a path to investigate more.
its a weighty subject and a very philosophical discussion, but the author intersperses her narrative to keep the reader engaged and break up the chunks of thought. while the narrative pieces felt unnecessary most of the time and i could have done without them, im not sure i would have finished the book as quickly if they had not been included.
I listened to this as an audiobook. while it was manageable i would highly recommend reading this in text as there are a lot of complex concepts that require time and intention to digest. i was constantly rewinding to get a better understanding.
its a weighty subject and a very philosophical discussion, but the author intersperses her narrative to keep the reader engaged and break up the chunks of thought. while the narrative pieces felt unnecessary most of the time and i could have done without them, im not sure i would have finished the book as quickly if they had not been included.
I listened to this as an audiobook. while it was manageable i would highly recommend reading this in text as there are a lot of complex concepts that require time and intention to digest. i was constantly rewinding to get a better understanding.
kapbanana's review
3.0
I really liked the idea of this book. And I think Odell is a great, thoughtful writer. But Saving Time didn't fully click. I think I wanted more depth in some places. Or more reflection? Or something. I'm not quite sure. My favorite chapter was the first one about time and work. I have a lot of opinions about the self-destructive nature of capitalism, and I'm fascinated by how we think of time as fixed, and yet our view of time is completely dependent on our relation with it and culture.
One thing I really liked about Saving Time was that climate change plays a central role. I didn't anticipate that when I initially picked up the book, but am glad that Odell centers the environment and ties it to time. I also liked that she acknowledged and explored the current feeling (among meaning) that we are at the "end of time" because of the climate crisis. While I still have bucket loads of climate anxiety, Odell offered some thoughtful insights to help re-frame and/or re-contextualize my feelings about the climate and time. At the very least, I think it's important that she acknowledged those feelings. Overall, an interesting book that I would definitely recommend to others; probably would make a fabulous book club read.
One thing I really liked about Saving Time was that climate change plays a central role. I didn't anticipate that when I initially picked up the book, but am glad that Odell centers the environment and ties it to time. I also liked that she acknowledged and explored the current feeling (among meaning) that we are at the "end of time" because of the climate crisis. While I still have bucket loads of climate anxiety, Odell offered some thoughtful insights to help re-frame and/or re-contextualize my feelings about the climate and time. At the very least, I think it's important that she acknowledged those feelings. Overall, an interesting book that I would definitely recommend to others; probably would make a fabulous book club read.
han_reardonsmith's review against another edition
5.0
I lovingly have the feeling I share a “self help” tendency with Odell: I’m having an existential crisis, so I will read 5,000 books on and around and vaguely intersecting with the topic, compile a heap of notes (largely in the margins), and trust that something meaningful will coalesce, emerging from the mess (possibly covered in seaweed like Hairy McClary—a moment that I found so terrifying at age 5 my mum had to come pick me up from preschool).
What emerges is *it*, no less difficult at the end than at the outset to put into words, but at least by the end you have a feeling that you might be able to better appreciate it when it shows up for you.
I took time reading this, time with it and away from it, a lot of gaps. In a strange way this has given me the sense of time suspended into some warped idea of a single day that started late last September. This has something, too, to do with the unfolding genocide in Gaza that is at once not unfolding but happening so fast that it feels dropped from the sky in one single great mega-bomb, one that has also blown open the past, all of modernism, colonialism, Empire, the crimes wrought against those determined by supremacy to be less-than-human, for so many of us to see. As with climate change, many choose to pretend they haven’t noticed, that this does not in fact change everything. Will we be the ones that walk away from Omelas?
A needed meditation.
What emerges is *it*, no less difficult at the end than at the outset to put into words, but at least by the end you have a feeling that you might be able to better appreciate it when it shows up for you.
I took time reading this, time with it and away from it, a lot of gaps. In a strange way this has given me the sense of time suspended into some warped idea of a single day that started late last September. This has something, too, to do with the unfolding genocide in Gaza that is at once not unfolding but happening so fast that it feels dropped from the sky in one single great mega-bomb, one that has also blown open the past, all of modernism, colonialism, Empire, the crimes wrought against those determined by supremacy to be less-than-human, for so many of us to see. As with climate change, many choose to pretend they haven’t noticed, that this does not in fact change everything. Will we be the ones that walk away from Omelas?
A needed meditation.