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nvillanuevadrv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
A juxtaposition of astute reflections on the tide of racism and white supremacy that permeates every nook and cranny of the U.S. and beyond. Rankine wields deft and evocative poetic lyricism that captures vignettes from the cultural landscape.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Police brutality, Violence, and Racism
avisreadsandreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Slavery, Child death, Death, Police brutality, Violence, Hate crime, and Grief
lydiajines's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Police brutality
studeronomy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
This is a self-consciously “Very. Important. Book.” Claudia Rankine is aiming for a Whitman-level scope here, and mostly she achieves it, I think. This poem deserves its reputation. But I think because Rankine's aim was to write a “Very. Important. Book” about “Very. Important. Issues” that are both “Topical” and “Transhistorical,” “Particular” and “Universal,” so overwhelmed me that I sometimes missed the subtlety of much of this American epic poem. And the subtlety is there, to be sure.
Let me explain...
As virtually everyone knows at this point, “Citizen” is a much-lauded poem written in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death (I’d call it a murder, but a jury in Florida disagreed) and the subsequent BLM movement, which called attention to fact that, for Black people everywhere (Rankine writes about America), encounters with the police carry an added threat of physical assault and murder. “Citizen” was published in the year that police officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking a backlash that would evolve into the nationwide movement, culminating in the massive 2020 BLM protests.
This is all heavy stuff, and this is what Rankine is tackling.
At one point, as she reflects on the Black experience—from microaggressions to institutional racism and state-sponsored murder—Rankine sarcastically writes: "No one should adhere to the facts that contribute to narrative, the facts that create lives. To your mind, feelings are what create a person, something unwilling, something wild vandalizing whatever the skull holds. Those sensations form a someone. The headaches begin then."
It's a beautiful passage. It’s an unclear passage. It surely describes Rankine’s experience with the socially and institutionally induced migraines—the torturous headaches—that Black people endure throughout their lives in the United States. But this passage also describes experiences that white people can understand, in other ways. I certainly related to it. The degree to which I related to this passage is, however, complicated by the fact that, as a white man, my American citizenship (and the accompanying rights and prestige that come with my American citizenship) are rarely if ever called into question. I am, in almost every space I inhabit, safe. That safety is not afforded to Black Americans, no matter their class or status.
Regarding safety, Rankine writes:
"And where is the safest place when that place
must be someplace other than the body?"
Who can answer this question when a Black American asks it? Seriously, who? Rankine, at another point, quotes James Baldwin: "The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions hidden by the answers." Rankine definitely lays bare those questions in “Citizen.”
I can’t say enough about the visual artwork that is integrated into Rankine’s poem. It…packs a punch. Every single image. I can’t say enough about it, so I won’t say much of anything, except that it moves and disgusts and inspires and nauseates the reader, that it adds so much beauty and power to this poem.
But the ambition and the confusion…I don’t know, after a while, I got very tired reading this poem. Which is the point, I know, especially because I’m a white reader. I admire Rankine’s ambition so much, but…there’s just something here that I can’t articulate, something that doesn’t quite satisfy me. Something about “Citizen” seemed very incomplete to me. Disjointed. Confusing. Maybe it’s because I want a winner, I want answers, I want justice and atonement and forgiveness and all that. But that’s not possible, not yet, for the readers of “Citizen.” As Rankine says in the last line…well, I won’t spoil that for you.
I want to give “Citizen” five stars and three stars. I’m giving it three stars because I think enough readers have given it five. But this is clearly a five-star poem, no question. I had a three-star experience reading it, but a very unusual and confusing sort of three-star experience. Maybe its awareness of the scope and enormity of its themes, of its stories, bothered me a bit. I don’t know. But that doesn’t make it less impressive or powerful.
Let me explain...
As virtually everyone knows at this point, “Citizen” is a much-lauded poem written in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death (I’d call it a murder, but a jury in Florida disagreed) and the subsequent BLM movement, which called attention to fact that, for Black people everywhere (Rankine writes about America), encounters with the police carry an added threat of physical assault and murder. “Citizen” was published in the year that police officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking a backlash that would evolve into the nationwide movement, culminating in the massive 2020 BLM protests.
This is all heavy stuff, and this is what Rankine is tackling.
At one point, as she reflects on the Black experience—from microaggressions to institutional racism and state-sponsored murder—Rankine sarcastically writes: "No one should adhere to the facts that contribute to narrative, the facts that create lives. To your mind, feelings are what create a person, something unwilling, something wild vandalizing whatever the skull holds. Those sensations form a someone. The headaches begin then."
It's a beautiful passage. It’s an unclear passage. It surely describes Rankine’s experience with the socially and institutionally induced migraines—the torturous headaches—that Black people endure throughout their lives in the United States. But this passage also describes experiences that white people can understand, in other ways. I certainly related to it. The degree to which I related to this passage is, however, complicated by the fact that, as a white man, my American citizenship (and the accompanying rights and prestige that come with my American citizenship) are rarely if ever called into question. I am, in almost every space I inhabit, safe. That safety is not afforded to Black Americans, no matter their class or status.
Regarding safety, Rankine writes:
"And where is the safest place when that place
must be someplace other than the body?"
Who can answer this question when a Black American asks it? Seriously, who? Rankine, at another point, quotes James Baldwin: "The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions hidden by the answers." Rankine definitely lays bare those questions in “Citizen.”
I can’t say enough about the visual artwork that is integrated into Rankine’s poem. It…packs a punch. Every single image. I can’t say enough about it, so I won’t say much of anything, except that it moves and disgusts and inspires and nauseates the reader, that it adds so much beauty and power to this poem.
But the ambition and the confusion…I don’t know, after a while, I got very tired reading this poem. Which is the point, I know, especially because I’m a white reader. I admire Rankine’s ambition so much, but…there’s just something here that I can’t articulate, something that doesn’t quite satisfy me. Something about “Citizen” seemed very incomplete to me. Disjointed. Confusing. Maybe it’s because I want a winner, I want answers, I want justice and atonement and forgiveness and all that. But that’s not possible, not yet, for the readers of “Citizen.” As Rankine says in the last line…well, I won’t spoil that for you.
I want to give “Citizen” five stars and three stars. I’m giving it three stars because I think enough readers have given it five. But this is clearly a five-star poem, no question. I had a three-star experience reading it, but a very unusual and confusing sort of three-star experience. Maybe its awareness of the scope and enormity of its themes, of its stories, bothered me a bit. I don’t know. But that doesn’t make it less impressive or powerful.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs and Violence
rieviolet's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
2.5
I am sorry but this book was really not for me. I did not get along with the writing style nor the way it was structured, these sort of fragmented and episodic reflections were too difficult for me to follow, I mostly felt confused and clueless about what was going on.
Honestly, I understood maybe a third of what I read and while that is certainly on me, it really hampered my fruition of the book and the general appreciation of the reading experience.
I also struggled with the final section in verse and most of it went over my head. I admit that I am not a devoted poetry reader and, when I actually read it, I am usually drawn to a more prose-like and matter-of-fact type of poetry.
I think a book like this is just too much experimental for my personal taste. However, I did appreciate the section focusing on Serena Williams and the racism she experienced in her career as a tennis player, it might be because it was the part that more closely resembled a traditional and straightforward essay.
Honestly, I understood maybe a third of what I read and while that is certainly on me, it really hampered my fruition of the book and the general appreciation of the reading experience.
I also struggled with the final section in verse and most of it went over my head. I admit that I am not a devoted poetry reader and, when I actually read it, I am usually drawn to a more prose-like and matter-of-fact type of poetry.
I think a book like this is just too much experimental for my personal taste. However, I did appreciate the section focusing on Serena Williams and the racism she experienced in her career as a tennis player, it might be because it was the part that more closely resembled a traditional and straightforward essay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Police brutality
Moderate: Violence and Hate crime
Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Death, Vomit, Murder, Rape, and Cancer
eve81's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Racism, and Misogyny
alliemikennareads's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Classified as lyrical verse / essays but I consider this somewhere in the poetry genre as well because the writing is extremely poetic. One of the best books I’ve ever read, I will most certainly return to this again. Rankine gives you a window into some of the many micro-aggressions and moments of racism that Black people experience in their day to day life. Each verse is a snapshot depicting a full story in rich detail despite the short length. Very thought provoking. I absolutely would recommend to pretty much anyone because the writing is stunning.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Hate crime, and Racism
julianeedscaffeine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Cursing
Moderate: Violence
annasophie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I was floored reading this. It’s beyond me how Rankine manages to pack so much into relatively few, short sentences; so much into such small glimpses of interactions and situations.
I’m puzzled over how I would describe her wording—is it incredibly concise or necessarily vague? I don’t know the answer, but what she achieves here can only be done by someone with a great understanding of and feeling for how language works. Absolutely gorgeous work and of course very important.
I’m puzzled over how I would describe her wording—is it incredibly concise or necessarily vague? I don’t know the answer, but what she achieves here can only be done by someone with a great understanding of and feeling for how language works. Absolutely gorgeous work and of course very important.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Violence
lara_bk's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, and Hate crime
Moderate: Gun violence and Violence
Minor: Death