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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
this book made some good points, and was very digestible in its short length, but did not say anything *new*. i feel like i'm starting to hit a point where most of these feminist-manifesto memoirs and other books are all saying similar stories. perhaps i should give them up for a while, or at least until a groundbreaking new book is released.
challenging
inspiring
reflective
My favorite essay here was "Men Explain Lolita to Me", but all of them were definitely worth a read.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
while some of the essays are good and remain relevant/valid (the first in particular), a couple in the middle (those applauding men for speaking up about violence against women) are woefully out of date (i.e. several of the men mentioned have since been condemned, and the essays are somewhat poorly constructed/argued, besides).
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Another great collection of essays by Rebecca Solnit. Although I enjoyed Men Explain Things to Me a bit more, I still pulled numerable quotes and insightful thoughts from this work. Solnit's wit stood out to me more in this book than the previous, an element that I really enjoyed. My favorite essays were "Men Explain Lolita to Me" and "The Pigeonholes When the Doves Have Flown." The former talks about how the representation of women in art and literature affects how women feel about themselves in reality. The latter discusses how societal discrimination results in the categorization of groups of people, namely women, and how such thinking erases individuality and identity. Overall, Solnit impresses once again with this collection of essays and I will definitely read more of her work in the future.
A vast amount of outstanding, unique, vital, and interesting insights. Solnit has a new major fan, as I can’t wait to read more from her.
An excellent collection of feminist essays around motherhood (and non-motherhood), rape culture, and the recent evolution of women’s rights. Reading Solnit’s books in 2020 is bittersweet when so much has changed, but also a reminder that, good and bad, we don’t know what’s to come.
Some of the sentences and paragraphs in this book stopped me dead in my track, Solnit is as genius with words as she is with societal observations. I shall return to this whenever I become despondent with our world!