Reviews tagging 'War'

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

28 reviews

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Racism, Child abuse, Mental illness, and War

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

minor feelings is a reflective, nuanced read that delves into the complex intricacies of asian american identity. how do u explore sth often treated as invisible, neither here nor there, w/ a public existence as wispy as smoke? it's an arduous task but hong captures many things adeptly in her memoir cum history and cultural criticism work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Xenophobia, Murder, Rape, Death, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Minor: War

eve81's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Confinement, Toxic friendship, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Colonisation, Rape, Racism, Xenophobia, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide attempt

liadh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Racism, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Death

addanumlaut's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

i don't read many non-fiction books, but i'm so glad i picked this one up. while i was vaguely aware of the troubles asian-americans had to face, cathy brought so many details and often overlooked experiences to the forefront in such a way that one can't ignore it. will be re-reading and looking for other books by her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Racism, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, War, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and Murder

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

informative tense fast-paced

3.0

“Patiently educating a clueless white person about race is draining. It takes all your powers of persuasion. Because it’s more than a chat about race. It’s ontological. It’s like explaining to a person why you exist, or why you feel pain, or why your reality is distinct from their reality. Except it’s even trickier than that. Because the person has all of Western history, politics, literature, and mass culture on their side, proving that you don’t exist.” 

➽ This is a nonfiction about the Asian American identity! I was interested to learn more about the topic and in Minor Feelings the author offers a collection of essays filled with personal anecdotes. I liked the discussions about the model minority myth, the intersection between race/art and assimilation into American culture. While I liked hearing what Cathy Park had to say, I wish her essays had a bigger connection and that the book felt more cohesive. Some chapters were simply more intriguing to me than others. I struggled the most with the chapters that were focused on her personal life, as it felt a bit invasive and detracted from the points she wanted to make. At one point she talked in-depth about a complicated friendship and her friend's mental health issues. That didn't feel like it had a place in this book and I wonder if her friends consented to having very personal things shared for everyone to read about. The balance between personal anecdotes and her political discussions just felt a bit off at times and made this awkward to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Genocide, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Torture, War, Colonisation, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

charlieeee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Murder, and War

Minor: Eating disorder, Colonisation, Drug use, Torture, and Suicide attempt

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

There's a lot going on in this book, and I'm glad that I at least read a good half of it as a physical copy rather than the audiobook I finished with. The author is a poet, and that is much clearer when I'm reading a physical copy and can mark parts that stand out to me. I read this for a book club, but I missed the last meeting. In the sessions I did go to, we had really rich discussions that elevated my opinion of the book greatly. The first half dealt a lot more with more abstract concepts and literature, but the second half moves more into talking about herself and her background in art and poetry while delving into deeper issues like her "bad English," internment camps, and the brutal rape and murder of a prominent Asian American artist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Body shaming, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide attempt and War

Minor: Toxic relationship

an_library_stan's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

I learned a lot reading this. A mix of very personal individual stories and broader historical and social commentary. 

Some people to look up: 
- Lorraine O'Grady "in the future, white supremacy will no longer need white people"
- Yuri Kochiyama - Japanese American activist who organized with Malcolm X

History behind Asian American as a term (1968, UC Berkeley students coined)

History behind double eyelid surgery (American surgeon tested on Korean sex workers) 

Briefly, history of Korean soldiers in Vietnam

History of Theresa Hak Kyung  Chas art and rape and murder (1980s)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Murder, Xenophobia, Racism, and War

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

reflective

5.0

I chose Minor Feelings as my choice nonfiction book for school, and I am incredibly glad I did. This essay collection mixes memoir, history, anthology, and more into a genre bending work of art about the Asian American experience and the pressure of assimilation. I cannot recommend this book enough!
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The Portrait of an Artist and An Education were my two favorite essays, but every component of this collection brought a unique angle and style, which I appreciated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, War, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship