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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book deserves a lot more time than I was able to spend with it
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
Too complex narration for my taste, maybe too poetic for me?
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
first read of the year which i picked up by chance because i had time to spare on my way to makella's and it really hits like a sucker punch. I think i love it, although i can't fully say exactly what's happened in it or what specifically it's about becasue it's about so much, about everything, and it's hard to keep track of all that's going on which is in a way it's beauty - like it's conveying how the main character's mind became so overwhelemed: because there's so much going on and so many people and so much to be doing in the big Political(tm) sphere but also in the personal political sphere of the interpersonal/relationships.
v non-linear
one of the main themes that stood out to me is the need to let things to, to not hold grudges (particularly interpersonal ones) b/c these end up eating away at you, and distorts you/causes you to act out in ways that you otherwise wouldn't, basically something along the lines of grudes being a distraction. also about not isolating yourself, about how part of doing the work is also being in community with others
there's also a lot about balance, and how difficult it is to achieve + the same for prioritisation, and it asks a lot of questions that it doesn't try to answer - in this way kinda giving an answer - that there's no one right approach (or religion/spiritual practice) the important thing is to keep an open mind/ not get too bogged down by the detail or trying to prove which is right but to be open to figuring out what is needed at what time?
also lots on ecology/envionrmentalism and Black/POC political action on this which is interesting and i feel like i haven't read much about this? parts, particulalry with the factory and nuclear waste etc made me think about flint, michgan.
also lots about the place of women in movments, particularly movements run by men which take them and their work (often the fact that they do a lot of the grunt work) foregranted + the need to have separate spaces but also not for these spaces to be isolated, there still needs to be diaologue/joint working between them.
similar on the topic of different groups for different ethnicities (e.g. 'sisters of the yam' ' sisters of the plantain' etc) but they should and can come together
also some really tender moments on romantic relationships - 'get used to me, sophie' (edgers); the whole section of the bus and noticing the bird murmuration
more in balance - about knowingwhen to be still/listen/recieve and knowing when to act, whether to be militant or not
the ending - velma coming back to herself through dancing
- her resurrection coinciding with the big thunderstorm(?)/lightning strike that sparked everyone in different ways?
definitely going to read more about it and try and chat to nikita, the only person i know who has actually finished the book!
NOTES FROM READINGS ABOUT THE BOOK
'There is an aspect of black spirit, of inherent black nature, that we have not addressed: the tension, the power that is still latent, still colonized, still frozen and untapped, in some 27 million people. We do not know how to unleash, we do not even know how to speak of it in a courageous manner yet.' -toni quote in interview at the time she was writing the novel
she was interested when writing it in thinking about how the spiritual and gurilla could be brought together/ connections between the spirit and the material
maybe we are all salt eaters - we need some salt to be healthy (and, maybe then also some saltiness/bitterness, thinking of lorde's 'uses of anger') but too much salt is bad for us (like too much anger/bitterness corrupts us/stops up from being communited minided and makes us too individualistic)
v non-linear
one of the main themes that stood out to me is the need to let things to, to not hold grudges (particularly interpersonal ones) b/c these end up eating away at you, and distorts you/causes you to act out in ways that you otherwise wouldn't, basically something along the lines of grudes being a distraction. also about not isolating yourself, about how part of doing the work is also being in community with others
there's also a lot about balance, and how difficult it is to achieve + the same for prioritisation, and it asks a lot of questions that it doesn't try to answer - in this way kinda giving an answer - that there's no one right approach (or religion/spiritual practice) the important thing is to keep an open mind/ not get too bogged down by the detail or trying to prove which is right but to be open to figuring out what is needed at what time?
also lots on ecology/envionrmentalism and Black/POC political action on this which is interesting and i feel like i haven't read much about this? parts, particulalry with the factory and nuclear waste etc made me think about flint, michgan.
also lots about the place of women in movments, particularly movements run by men which take them and their work (often the fact that they do a lot of the grunt work) foregranted + the need to have separate spaces but also not for these spaces to be isolated, there still needs to be diaologue/joint working between them.
similar on the topic of different groups for different ethnicities (e.g. 'sisters of the yam' ' sisters of the plantain' etc) but they should and can come together
also some really tender moments on romantic relationships - 'get used to me, sophie' (edgers); the whole section of the bus and noticing the bird murmuration
more in balance - about knowingwhen to be still/listen/recieve and knowing when to act, whether to be militant or not
the ending - velma coming back to herself through dancing
- her resurrection coinciding with the big thunderstorm(?)/lightning strike that sparked everyone in different ways?
definitely going to read more about it and try and chat to nikita, the only person i know who has actually finished the book!
NOTES FROM READINGS ABOUT THE BOOK
'There is an aspect of black spirit, of inherent black nature, that we have not addressed: the tension, the power that is still latent, still colonized, still frozen and untapped, in some 27 million people. We do not know how to unleash, we do not even know how to speak of it in a courageous manner yet.' -toni quote in interview at the time she was writing the novel
she was interested when writing it in thinking about how the spiritual and gurilla could be brought together/ connections between the spirit and the material
maybe we are all salt eaters - we need some salt to be healthy (and, maybe then also some saltiness/bitterness, thinking of lorde's 'uses of anger') but too much salt is bad for us (like too much anger/bitterness corrupts us/stops up from being communited minided and makes us too individualistic)
Well, this is certainly a book. I can't say much more, due to the elliptical multi-narrators stream of consciousness style, but it's about Black faith healers somewhere in the South, and um, something happens, I don't know what. Guess my Patriarchy Pants are just on too tight.