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caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Slavery, Violence, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Bullying, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racism
abbydee's review
I’m just gonna say it–Christina Sharpe is doing the theory-and-personal writing better than anyone else. Or at least anyone else I’ve read. My friend observed this book on my shelf and I recommended it as beautiful–gorgeous layout, illustration, writing. “It’s just a good book,” I said, which sounds weirdly dismissive considering what Ordinary Notes entails. For the record, it’s not just a good book. It’s a book that said things I hadn’t heard before, ideas I had never considered (an outcome both of my original ignorance and Sharpe’s original mind). But it’s true that every part of this book is done well, from the sentences to the visuals to the overarching structure. The elements at work here are working together. Having read so many books where the personal aspects and the theorizing sit awkwardly together, Ordinary Notes made me want to cheer and wave it around in the air. This is how it’s done.
Sharpe’s critical mind is so sensitive to the multiple valences of every performance and interaction, every piece of art and literature. And yes, this kind of super-sensitivity does make your life hell. It is a liability in everything except art. But we depend on perfect pitch like hers. This criticism is constructive in every sense of the word. Sharpe–along with Hartman and Brand and all their friends who get brought in here–is aiming to build something.
Not to say there aren’t moments when I’m like, oh jeez, an invented word. Theorists are like poets who come up with a nice piece of language and spend the rest of their careers convincing everyone else to use it, too. But her description of connections with books and art is so perfectly expressive of my own experience, of the experience she’s creating with her own work. The books I love the most have never made their authors enough to live on. But they wrote them anyway, and I got to have the art moments that built my life. I will always be grateful.
marehayy's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Such an insightful glimpse into what it means to be Black in America. Sharpe’s notes are extraordinary in the way they weave personal history with broader themes.
betsytomszak's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
It’s the marker of a great book if I actually read the footnotes and how many pictures of the text I take to send to my hubs - this one had at least 8. And I would recommend it to everyone.
cammyvee's review
5.0
This is a masterpiece. It needs to be read and re-read. I’m not going to talk about what’s in the book because it’s obviously more apt at it than me. But I will say that the beauty and rawness and vulnerability of the prose is something I’ve never seen before. It’s a must read. It’s must chew on, a let marinate, a sit with that.
This is going to stay with for a long, long time as a companion, as something that saw me truly. Thanks to the author for this.
This is going to stay with for a long, long time as a companion, as something that saw me truly. Thanks to the author for this.