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placuszekzmango's review against another edition
4.0
daję 4, bo ciągnęła się dosyć długo i podejmowała tematy z obszarów, z których w ogóle nie posiadam wiedzy. Aczkolwiek, dawno nie identyfikowałam się tak bardzo z kogoś bildungsroman i światopoglądem, wobec czego lektura była podróżą wielu małych zachwytów. Mam już w planach kolejne pozycje Solnit i mam nadzieję, że również otworzą mi oczy na wiele spraw w obrębie aktywizmu, feminizmu i samej sztuki oraz aktu pisania.
lily_snyder's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
the first 2/3ish of this book seemed to be lifted directly from my inner thoughts then i got very bored
carodonahue's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
She is, as always, a revelation. Whenever I read her work I feel inspired to be a better version of myself. What a gift this book is.
justabean_reads's review against another edition
4.5
I started this a couple times over the years, and found the first chapter a little floaty and hard to engage with, but this time I stuck with it, and ended up really enjoying the book as a whole. It's less a memoir in a strictly biographical sense, and more a series of meditations on the forces that shaped Solnit's activism, philosophy, and creative life. I liked how much she talked about community, and support from other artists and thinkers, learning via activism around women's rights, gay rights and environmentalism. The whole it takes a village to build a philosophy view made a lot of sense to me, as did the descriptions of how people's views change and evolve as they themselves do, as the world does.
A lot of the book is about gendered violence and Solnit's growing understanding of feminism, and how the movement has changed since she became involved with it. There are a couple chapters early in I was mentally calling, Dessa's "Fire Drills": The Memoir as they discuss the way the patriarchy chokes out life and shuts down possibilities. It also reminded me of the Marjorie M. Liu comment about how Wonder Woman is difficult to adapt because society cannot contemplate what might be possible or what might be undone if a woman was given the power that men imagine daily for themselves. So much of Solnit's work has been about imagining exactly that, and trying to bring it into the world. And I already don't entirely recognise the society she describes growing up in, even though we're only a generation apart.
A lot of the book is about gendered violence and Solnit's growing understanding of feminism, and how the movement has changed since she became involved with it. There are a couple chapters early in I was mentally calling, Dessa's "Fire Drills": The Memoir as they discuss the way the patriarchy chokes out life and shuts down possibilities. It also reminded me of the Marjorie M. Liu comment about how Wonder Woman is difficult to adapt because society cannot contemplate what might be possible or what might be undone if a woman was given the power that men imagine daily for themselves. So much of Solnit's work has been about imagining exactly that, and trying to bring it into the world. And I already don't entirely recognise the society she describes growing up in, even though we're only a generation apart.
mayenk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
4.5
Vivid. Takes you into that time period. Love the reflection and how it transports you into her headspace.
caropullen's review
5.0
I’ve been wondering why I enjoy reading Rebecca Solnit so much. I’ve never been a sociable ‘people person’ so maybe the only way I can enjoy connections is from a safe distance? She’s this terrier of research with a hunger for finding meaning and connections and hidden histories. Maybe a terrier is the wrong word. It’s something curious, not something aggressive. It’s more a snuffling out that she’s doing. Maybe like one of those truffle-hunting pigs in the woods? I don’t know where I’m going with this.
It’s reassuring reading her.
In her own words “what I wanted to offer is encouragement, a word that, though it carries the stigma of niceness, literally means to instil courage.”
We follow her winding path as she tells us stories and makes connections. The connections were always there but she will show you them and you will see them as if for the first time.
She puts into words what you have always known to be true and in doing so she will elevate you and your everyday experiences.
You will feel the wonder of the everyday and you will feel the commonality of shared experience, you will feel kinship. You will feel less alone.
As someone recovering from bulimia, this was the most astute and well-observed sentence I have ever read about wanting to be thin:
“Thinness is a literal armor against being reproached for being soft, a word that means both yielding, cushiony flesh and the moral weakness that comes from being undisciplined. And from consuming food and taking up space.”
I read it a few times and then I thought, I wonder how long it took her to write that sentence. I wonder if she sat at her dresser desk thing and then stood up, had a coffee, looked out the window for a bit, sat down again, had another go. It’s so perfectly crafted but it’s not minimal. It’s not like it’s edited down to nothing. It’s just that there’s nothing there that didn’t feel absolutely true. It doesn’t feel enough to say ‘I feel seen’ because it goes deeper than that. It’s the kind of truth that might shift something.
Rebecca Solnit describes her writing as her way of creating her identity. I feel like reading is my way of understanding mine. And it might take the rest of my life? It’s a good job she was so prolific.
This review is becoming something else now, I might need to email it to my therapist. I reckon Rebecca would be into that. She’s all about women locating their worth. I think she cares about the misfits and the daydreamers.
It’s reassuring reading her.
In her own words “what I wanted to offer is encouragement, a word that, though it carries the stigma of niceness, literally means to instil courage.”
We follow her winding path as she tells us stories and makes connections. The connections were always there but she will show you them and you will see them as if for the first time.
She puts into words what you have always known to be true and in doing so she will elevate you and your everyday experiences.
You will feel the wonder of the everyday and you will feel the commonality of shared experience, you will feel kinship. You will feel less alone.
As someone recovering from bulimia, this was the most astute and well-observed sentence I have ever read about wanting to be thin:
“Thinness is a literal armor against being reproached for being soft, a word that means both yielding, cushiony flesh and the moral weakness that comes from being undisciplined. And from consuming food and taking up space.”
I read it a few times and then I thought, I wonder how long it took her to write that sentence. I wonder if she sat at her dresser desk thing and then stood up, had a coffee, looked out the window for a bit, sat down again, had another go. It’s so perfectly crafted but it’s not minimal. It’s not like it’s edited down to nothing. It’s just that there’s nothing there that didn’t feel absolutely true. It doesn’t feel enough to say ‘I feel seen’ because it goes deeper than that. It’s the kind of truth that might shift something.
Rebecca Solnit describes her writing as her way of creating her identity. I feel like reading is my way of understanding mine. And it might take the rest of my life? It’s a good job she was so prolific.
This review is becoming something else now, I might need to email it to my therapist. I reckon Rebecca would be into that. She’s all about women locating their worth. I think she cares about the misfits and the daydreamers.