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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Nope, not the book for me. I would have stopped reading it after the first few chapters but persisted because it was for my book club. While I can appreciate the lyrical style and certainly respect the topic, this book did not spark joy for me.
reflective
slow-paced
A breathtaking book. There are times when I doubted the effectiveness of the fragmentary storytelling, but the way it wraps itself up removes all doubts. This book is an experience more than it is a story, and I see the negative reviews here and implore that people try to read/revisit it with the experiential rather than the narrative preference in mind.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I bought this book a few years ago when it first came out and couldn't get into it. One of my best friends read it this summer and convinced me to give it another go. I'm so glad I did. There's no real narrative to the text but once I surrendered to the writing, I was swept away by the beauty and power of the prose.
I find the idea of "speculative biography" fascinating and I thought Schwartz did a great job imagining the lives of these women. It was so fun to see how all these women I've studied were interrelated. The narration coming from a Greek chorus-esque group of sapphics was very well done. I felt myself part of a great (overlooked) history. I'm writing my dissertation about reproduction and writing and this book feels very related to that--a rethinking of the family and lineage without biological relation. Sappho as matriarch, Sappho as potentiality...this book has really got me thinking.
I found it an especially beautiful reframing of fragmentation. Recasting the missing lines not as lack or as something missing but as potential for future descendants--gorgeous. I had been reading Page duBois's "Sappho is Burning" for my studies prior to starting my second go at After Sappho and I think they complement each other beautifully.
I find the idea of "speculative biography" fascinating and I thought Schwartz did a great job imagining the lives of these women. It was so fun to see how all these women I've studied were interrelated. The narration coming from a Greek chorus-esque group of sapphics was very well done. I felt myself part of a great (overlooked) history. I'm writing my dissertation about reproduction and writing and this book feels very related to that--a rethinking of the family and lineage without biological relation. Sappho as matriarch, Sappho as potentiality...this book has really got me thinking.
I found it an especially beautiful reframing of fragmentation. Recasting the missing lines not as lack or as something missing but as potential for future descendants--gorgeous. I had been reading Page duBois's "Sappho is Burning" for my studies prior to starting my second go at After Sappho and I think they complement each other beautifully.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I really want to like this, but the format is not entirely my style, Im also a bit disappointed at the little time frame and choice of activists/writers
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
what a thrillingly delicious adventure this book was !
here, a passionate and fiery chorus tells of bold stories and (often) violent struggles of the women of the past, all in praise of freedom, sex, art and creativity. After Sappho is an entirely original work.
here, a passionate and fiery chorus tells of bold stories and (often) violent struggles of the women of the past, all in praise of freedom, sex, art and creativity. After Sappho is an entirely original work.
so sad that i did not get this at all. the narrative is based on real sapphic women in a fiction style, but it just read like non-fiction. there was no charm or spirit to the style of writing and i agree with another review i read on here comparing it to reading various wikipedia pages on these women. i think i would have preferred this to be non-fiction actually, with there being no sense to the structure or the tying of these characters together, either. i persisted because the audiobook is on storytel, but the narrative could honestly not hold my attention and i don't remember half of the story despite only just finishing it. it was also based exclusively on the stories of rich white women, which was an interesting choice. i just find i can't enjoy stories that are not diverse/intersectional anymore. the concept can only go so far without a strong execution. sappho, you did not deserve this.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced