Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

5 reviews

sarahb919's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

2nd time reading this book. Still really good and interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Sexism, and Drug use

Minor: Classism, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Violence

jazhandz's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

I tend to find most narrative nonfiction dry, but this was intensely readable. The passion was vivid, clear, and lovely to read throughout the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Classism

To elaborate on classism: I found the way the writer describes homeless library patrons to be intensely uncomfortable to read, and it came up repeatedly.

mondovertigo's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism and Classism

bookworm_leilani's review

informative mysterious slow-paced

3.0

This book felt to me like it really could have used an editor: it was a bird's eye view of libraries in the US, with a particular emphasis on how they've adjusted to the internet, and a history of the LA library,  a summery of the LA Library fire and the accused arsonist Harry Peak, and bordered on being a profile of the modern LA library, all interspersed with personal anecdotes and memoir like passages. None of these are bad things, and they mostly go together, but the way they're mushed up feels less ambling and more disjointed. It doesn't quite do what it says on the tin, so to speak, either in terms of the title of the thing or it's cover copy.

Still, Orlean is an engaging and accessible writer, and humanizes her subjects both living and deceased without making it feel like people are under a microscope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny and Classism

Minor: Terminal illness and Emotional abuse

caseythereader's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

 - THE LIBRARY BOOK is more than just an investigation of whether L.A. Central Library was a victim of arson. It's also a history of the branch, of libraries generally, and a look at what libraries have evolved into today and the challenges librarians tackle every day.
- This book is a love letter to libraries and a message of gratitude to librarians. The descriptions of people and places read like fiction, and I just couldn't put it down.
- I really appreciated the repeated emphasis on how libraries are expected to fill every social need and gap in our safety nets, in particular in regards to supporting unhoused people but also in dozens of other ways. It shows us how far beyond their limits (financial, educational, etc.) we have forced them to stretch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Classism, Racism, Suicide, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Addiction