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treesofreverie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Ableism
Moderate: Child abuse
curatoriallyyours's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This book is a beautifully written account of one year on a Tasmanian sheep farm in a time of drought but it is so much more than that. Maggie MacKellar is so reflective in her writing and she seems to interrogate everything her life entails - the ethics of farming, her relationship to nature, motherhood, identity, family relationships. It is a genuinely beautiful read.
I found the sections where she talks about growing up with her profoundly disabled older brother quite confronting - in the context of this book it makes sense that she centres herself in that aspect of the narrative but I am still deciding how I feel about it over all - whether or not it is right for him not to be centred in the story of his own life - whether or not this should have been included at all, given that it is not the central focus of the book and, therefore, cannot hope to show all his complexity as a human. I find it hard to read about the negative impact of growing up with a profoundly disabled sibling because so often the tendency for an outsider seems to be to commiserate with the non-disabled sibling about how hard their life must have been and, conversely, not to recognise how hard the disabled sibling’s life has been and will continue to be until they die. I think these narratives can dehumanise a disabled person - reduce them to the ways in which their existence is difficult for other people, which it certainly may be but that is only a fraction of the picture of who they are as a person. I appreciated that the author, in the ‘thank you’ section, alluded to the fact that she had not presented her brother in his complex entirety, but I am undecided as to whether this footnote makes up for what had been said in the rest of the book. If this part hadn’t been there, this book would have been a solid 5-stars for me. Upon reflection at a later point I may decide to change it to a 5 but for now I am rating it 4.5 stars.
I found the sections where she talks about growing up with her profoundly disabled older brother quite confronting - in the context of this book it makes sense that she centres herself in that aspect of the narrative but I am still deciding how I feel about it over all - whether or not it is right for him not to be centred in the story of his own life - whether or not this should have been included at all, given that it is not the central focus of the book and, therefore, cannot hope to show all his complexity as a human. I find it hard to read about the negative impact of growing up with a profoundly disabled sibling because so often the tendency for an outsider seems to be to commiserate with the non-disabled sibling about how hard their life must have been and, conversely, not to recognise how hard the disabled sibling’s life has been and will continue to be until they die. I think these narratives can dehumanise a disabled person - reduce them to the ways in which their existence is difficult for other people, which it certainly may be but that is only a fraction of the picture of who they are as a person. I appreciated that the author, in the ‘thank you’ section, alluded to the fact that she had not presented her brother in his complex entirety, but I am undecided as to whether this footnote makes up for what had been said in the rest of the book. If this part hadn’t been there, this book would have been a solid 5-stars for me. Upon reflection at a later point I may decide to change it to a 5 but for now I am rating it 4.5 stars.
jamesjoyc's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Ableism, and Death
Minor: Child abuse
thebookninja's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
joolsbee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
doubledemin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
2.75
tothebookshelfandback's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
luisaredford's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Beautiful prose and lovely imagery. This book reminds me of the harshness that life can give us and the resilience we acquire along the way.
There is a juxtaposition which Mackellar grapples with; belonging to continuing generations of farmers and knowing the land was stolen. She writes about the complicated feelings of her ‘belonging still [having]the feeling of theft.’
It’s an idea that we should all grapple with. ‘Graft’ has been a balm for my heart and mind with its gentle prose and evocative images.
There is a juxtaposition which Mackellar grapples with; belonging to continuing generations of farmers and knowing the land was stolen. She writes about the complicated feelings of her ‘belonging still [having]the feeling of theft.’
It’s an idea that we should all grapple with. ‘Graft’ has been a balm for my heart and mind with its gentle prose and evocative images.
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