Scan barcode
evelyngjackson's review against another edition
I had to read it for a class. It’s good but just didn’t interest me as much.
dorothygrace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
kublakat's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful blending of genre, time, and history. This is a great intro to ecocritism as it’s written for mass audiences and it’s a personal and interdisciplinary project.
abbyschafer's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.5
Did not expect this book to be such a memoir from the description. Trace follows the author’s narrative through different American landscapes in a similar fashion as South to America by Imani Perry. However, Trace focuses more on the personal lineage of the author through the overarching history and culture of the land. Her family lineage has been erased, like so many Black Americans, by racism. It is not a particularly unique or outstanding story, which may be the reason it was important for the author to write; however, as a reader it left me wanting a stronger overarching narrative or journey through the landscape.
A less important aspect of my review- The writing style had a hard time holding my attention, but I switched to the audiobook about 70% through and that helped me get through a mid-book slump.
Read for CPC work bookclub
aveincobalt's review against another edition
3.0
This books feels like a dream. It keeps transitioning back and forth between American landscape and history as a whole and the author’s family history. It does not dwell on a single topic for long. It is fluid. Transitioning over and over again and expecting you to keep up. As soon as something grasps your interest the book has moved on never to return.
Reading this was difficult for me. It has sections I found very confusing. I assume it would make more sense if I was familiar with the landscape or history being described. There are moments when it discusses new, terrible laws without going into detail. I look at the publishing date, see Obama was still in office, and wonder what these laws were. It leaves me with more questions than answers.
Reading this was difficult for me. It has sections I found very confusing. I assume it would make more sense if I was familiar with the landscape or history being described. There are moments when it discusses new, terrible laws without going into detail. I look at the publishing date, see Obama was still in office, and wonder what these laws were. It leaves me with more questions than answers.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
”Decades have passed, nearly my entire life, since a seven-year-old stood with her family at a remote point on the North Rim (Grand Canyon). I hadn’t known what to expect at road’s end. The memory of what we found shapes me still.”
“To inhabit this country is to be marked by residues of its still unfolding history, a history weighted by tangled ideas of “race” and of the land itself.
This book should have been right up my alley. I should have loved it. Savoy’s writing reminded me of Terry Tempest Williams, Annie Dillard and Ellen Meloy – writers whose nature essays have been highlights for me. When she wrote about her mother’s work during World War II and the base where she was stationed, I wanted Savoy to write more.
However, I never really emotionally connected with this book. I am sure this is my problem, not Savoy’s or the memoir itself. I am guessing it was the right book, but not the right time for me to read it.
I hope that I will encounter Savoy again at a time when I am up for the challenge. Her world about our country, the land and our people are powerful and should be read by more people.
“To inhabit this country is to be marked by residues of its still unfolding history, a history weighted by tangled ideas of “race” and of the land itself.
This book should have been right up my alley. I should have loved it. Savoy’s writing reminded me of Terry Tempest Williams, Annie Dillard and Ellen Meloy – writers whose nature essays have been highlights for me. When she wrote about her mother’s work during World War II and the base where she was stationed, I wanted Savoy to write more.
However, I never really emotionally connected with this book. I am sure this is my problem, not Savoy’s or the memoir itself. I am guessing it was the right book, but not the right time for me to read it.
I hope that I will encounter Savoy again at a time when I am up for the challenge. Her world about our country, the land and our people are powerful and should be read by more people.
noahbw's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really important book: mostly about place and race, but equally about history and memory and how and why we consider what's important. Although I found the form a bit difficult to initially get into, Savoy combines personal narrative, history and knowledge (as we commonly understand them), and insights about our country and how we've gotten to where we are. I ended the book feeling unfinished -- as she intended, I think.