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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
You've Changed: Fake Accents, Feminism, and Other Comedies from Myanmar by Pyae Moe Thet War
1 review
kindredbooks's review
funny
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I received a gifted from of You've Changed by Pyae Moe Thet War from Catapult in exchange for an honest review.
I don't usually read (or enjoy reading) non-fiction titles but this collection of essays in You've Changed by Pyae Moe Thet War was so enjoyable, relateable, and I absolutely loved it. Which I was obviously hoping I would when I requested this title from Catapult but it was truly so wonderful to read these essays, find myself nodding along, sympathizing with the writer's experiences, and even laughing out loud at some of the anecdotes. I would tell myself, "Okay, I'll just read one more essay and then go to sleep" but then one essay would lead to the next and before I knew it, I was done and found myself wanting more from Pyae Moe Thet War!
While I enjoyed each essay a lot, I've decided to choose and comment on the 2 essays that continue to linger on my mind afterwards.
1. A Me by Any Other Name - as with any other non-White individual in a very Westernized society, we share the experience of having had to teach others our first and/or last names that are not quite common to the English-speaking world. The microaggressions that result from these experiences - the acceptance as a young child that this is our reality - all of this is laid out in Pyae Moe Thet War's very first essay in You've Changed.
2. Htamin sar chin tae - in this essay, Pyae Moe Thet War explains that asking someone if they've eaten in Myanmar is literally asking them "Have you eaten rice?" And this is so relateable for me as this is exactly the same in Chinese. That's just how important rice is in our diet. As Pyae Moe Thet War writes, "It's unthinkable that you would have a meal that wasn't primarily made up of, or at the very least included, rice." While I can have meals without rice, I cannot imagine going for days without eating it at all. My best friend and I went to Italy for almost 2 weeks and a few days in, I was looking for a Chinese restaurant that served fried rice. We found it, it wasn't quite as good as what I'm used to, but honestly it satisfied my need of rice on that trip filled with pasta, pizza, and caprese (as delicious as all that was).
In each essay, Poe Moe Thet War explores themes of identity, family, love, racism, sexism, international borders, and mental illness. In each, I found her voice to be so honest, funny, open, and easy to read. She drew me in from the very first essay and left me wanting more at the end. She is a writer that I am looking forward to reading more from. And with this, I can say that I do enjoy non-fiction essay collections - I guess I just needed to find the right writer writing them.
I don't usually read (or enjoy reading) non-fiction titles but this collection of essays in You've Changed by Pyae Moe Thet War was so enjoyable, relateable, and I absolutely loved it. Which I was obviously hoping I would when I requested this title from Catapult but it was truly so wonderful to read these essays, find myself nodding along, sympathizing with the writer's experiences, and even laughing out loud at some of the anecdotes. I would tell myself, "Okay, I'll just read one more essay and then go to sleep" but then one essay would lead to the next and before I knew it, I was done and found myself wanting more from Pyae Moe Thet War!
While I enjoyed each essay a lot, I've decided to choose and comment on the 2 essays that continue to linger on my mind afterwards.
1. A Me by Any Other Name - as with any other non-White individual in a very Westernized society, we share the experience of having had to teach others our first and/or last names that are not quite common to the English-speaking world. The microaggressions that result from these experiences - the acceptance as a young child that this is our reality - all of this is laid out in Pyae Moe Thet War's very first essay in You've Changed.
2. Htamin sar chin tae - in this essay, Pyae Moe Thet War explains that asking someone if they've eaten in Myanmar is literally asking them "Have you eaten rice?" And this is so relateable for me as this is exactly the same in Chinese. That's just how important rice is in our diet. As Pyae Moe Thet War writes, "It's unthinkable that you would have a meal that wasn't primarily made up of, or at the very least included, rice." While I can have meals without rice, I cannot imagine going for days without eating it at all. My best friend and I went to Italy for almost 2 weeks and a few days in, I was looking for a Chinese restaurant that served fried rice. We found it, it wasn't quite as good as what I'm used to, but honestly it satisfied my need of rice on that trip filled with pasta, pizza, and caprese (as delicious as all that was).
In each essay, Poe Moe Thet War explores themes of identity, family, love, racism, sexism, international borders, and mental illness. In each, I found her voice to be so honest, funny, open, and easy to read. She drew me in from the very first essay and left me wanting more at the end. She is a writer that I am looking forward to reading more from. And with this, I can say that I do enjoy non-fiction essay collections - I guess I just needed to find the right writer writing them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child death, and Mental illness
Minor: Death, Violence, and Suicide attempt
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