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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
My dear friend Jerry has been recommending this to me for months, if not a full year now. While she's a wonderful writer (and speaker as I listened to the audiobook), it didn't feel much like a memoir - it felt very impersonal. Lots of observations that were circular and meandering. Very beautiful prose, however I wasn't quite pulled in. Maybe because they're topics I'm all too familiar with and am tired of?
Jerry will be disappointed of my take on this book, as he claimed I reminded him so much of her. I'll give her another chance.
Jerry will be disappointed of my take on this book, as he claimed I reminded him so much of her. I'll give her another chance.
What do you need to have a voice in the world? How do you have a voice in politics, your personal life, professionally, when you talk about what you experience in the world? This book articulates it well:
Audibility - people listen when you speak or write.
Credibility - people believe your experiences happened. people believe your expertise.
Consequence - your words don't disappear into a void. you have efficacy.
"In some parts of the world, a wife is still property under the law, and others choose her husband. To be a person of no consequence, to speak without power, is a bewilderingly awful condition, as though you were a ghost, a beast, as though words died in your mouth, as though sound no longer traveled. It is almost worst to say something and have it not matter than to be silenced."
Audibility - people listen when you speak or write.
Credibility - people believe your experiences happened. people believe your expertise.
Consequence - your words don't disappear into a void. you have efficacy.
"In some parts of the world, a wife is still property under the law, and others choose her husband. To be a person of no consequence, to speak without power, is a bewilderingly awful condition, as though you were a ghost, a beast, as though words died in your mouth, as though sound no longer traveled. It is almost worst to say something and have it not matter than to be silenced."
Synopsis- In 1981, Rebecca Solnit rented a studio apartment in San Francisco that would be her home for the next twenty-five years. There, she began to come to terms with the epidemic of violence against women around her, the street harassment that unsettled her, and the authority figures that routinely disbelieved her. That violence weighed on her as she faced the task of having a voice in a society that preferred women to shut up or go away.
Set in the era of punk, of growing gay pride, of counter culture and West Coast activism, during the latter years of second wave feminism, Recollections of My Non-Existence is the foundational story of an emerging artist struggling against patriarchal violence and scorn. Recalling the experience of living with fear, which Solnit contends is the normal state of women, she considers how oppression impacts on creativity and recounts the struggle to find a voice and have it be heard.
Place and the growing culture of activism liberated her, as did the magical world of literature and books. And over time, the clamour of voices against violence to women coalesced in the current feminist upheaval, a movement in which Solnit was a widely audible participant. Here is an electric account of the pauses and gains of feminism in the past forty years; and an extraordinary portrait of an artist, by a seminal American writer.
Review- I've never read a book by Rebecca Solnit. I think I've read a few articles in newspapers, though I'm not really sure about that, but I will definitely be reading more. I found this to be a beautifully written, insightful and incisive analysis of the modern feminist movement and its recent history. Though the story is incredibly personal, there is still much that is applicable to nearly all women. There were several passages where I wanted to get a a little 70s and say "Right on, Sister." Though feminism has come along way, many of us in the West can thank our forebears for moving us out of the position of property to one of autonomy, we still have a long way to go to claim equality. We still have to fight for what men take for granted- ownership of one's self. The anti-abortion laws springing up all over the South of the US prove that a woman's body is still not her own jurisdiction, that a man can still decide what it best for her. It's therefore paramount that we stay vigilant about asserting our rights and to not shrink back into non-existence but continue to demand equal treatment, equal access, equal respect and equal autonomy.
I have ordered two copies of this for two young women. Though I believe both young ladies realise the fight isn't over, I think it essential that they understand where feminism came from, what their predecessors overcame so that they don't ever go back.
Rating - Five "Right on, Sister" stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Devoured the book, couldn't put it down.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked it, consumed within days
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyed a fair bit, better than average
⭐⭐ - Meh
⭐ - Absolute drivel
Set in the era of punk, of growing gay pride, of counter culture and West Coast activism, during the latter years of second wave feminism, Recollections of My Non-Existence is the foundational story of an emerging artist struggling against patriarchal violence and scorn. Recalling the experience of living with fear, which Solnit contends is the normal state of women, she considers how oppression impacts on creativity and recounts the struggle to find a voice and have it be heard.
Place and the growing culture of activism liberated her, as did the magical world of literature and books. And over time, the clamour of voices against violence to women coalesced in the current feminist upheaval, a movement in which Solnit was a widely audible participant. Here is an electric account of the pauses and gains of feminism in the past forty years; and an extraordinary portrait of an artist, by a seminal American writer.
Review- I've never read a book by Rebecca Solnit. I think I've read a few articles in newspapers, though I'm not really sure about that, but I will definitely be reading more. I found this to be a beautifully written, insightful and incisive analysis of the modern feminist movement and its recent history. Though the story is incredibly personal, there is still much that is applicable to nearly all women. There were several passages where I wanted to get a a little 70s and say "Right on, Sister." Though feminism has come along way, many of us in the West can thank our forebears for moving us out of the position of property to one of autonomy, we still have a long way to go to claim equality. We still have to fight for what men take for granted- ownership of one's self. The anti-abortion laws springing up all over the South of the US prove that a woman's body is still not her own jurisdiction, that a man can still decide what it best for her. It's therefore paramount that we stay vigilant about asserting our rights and to not shrink back into non-existence but continue to demand equal treatment, equal access, equal respect and equal autonomy.
I have ordered two copies of this for two young women. Though I believe both young ladies realise the fight isn't over, I think it essential that they understand where feminism came from, what their predecessors overcame so that they don't ever go back.
Rating - Five "Right on, Sister" stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Devoured the book, couldn't put it down.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked it, consumed within days
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyed a fair bit, better than average
⭐⭐ - Meh
⭐ - Absolute drivel
“We never get over anything, though it might make more sense as a reminder that though damage is not necessarily permanent, neither is repair.”
I have never heard of this author before, but was intrigued by the cover of the book and the great reviews. When I first began listening to the book I was skeptical if I was going to connect with her style and story, or if it was going to be another tone-deaf feminist bio.
However, very quickly I learned that not only can Rebecca Solnit WRITE, she really has something useful to SHARE. The book revolves around her early adult years of attempting to make herself invisible—to the men who followed her home or her abusive father. It goes into her growth of learning that she does have something to say, and s voice she can use to fight for the rights of other groups without a voice. She discussed the importance of Intersectional feminism and showed an immense understanding and empathy for other groups, and how the same voicelessnees is endured by other groups to a greater extent than white women.
The last few chapters especially hit home for me, as well as her discussion of how she became a writer and found her own writer “voice”. I am really interested in reading more that she has written, especially “Men explain things to me” which was the catalyst for the term mansplaining.
Rebecca Solnit is a refreshing voice in the feminist movement
I have never heard of this author before, but was intrigued by the cover of the book and the great reviews. When I first began listening to the book I was skeptical if I was going to connect with her style and story, or if it was going to be another tone-deaf feminist bio.
However, very quickly I learned that not only can Rebecca Solnit WRITE, she really has something useful to SHARE. The book revolves around her early adult years of attempting to make herself invisible—to the men who followed her home or her abusive father. It goes into her growth of learning that she does have something to say, and s voice she can use to fight for the rights of other groups without a voice. She discussed the importance of Intersectional feminism and showed an immense understanding and empathy for other groups, and how the same voicelessnees is endured by other groups to a greater extent than white women.
The last few chapters especially hit home for me, as well as her discussion of how she became a writer and found her own writer “voice”. I am really interested in reading more that she has written, especially “Men explain things to me” which was the catalyst for the term mansplaining.
Rebecca Solnit is a refreshing voice in the feminist movement
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Racism, Death of parent
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
it clearly took me ages to read this but that’s definitely on me and not rebecca solnit. i read practically everything that she writes and i always enjoy it.
i feel completely incoherent right now but rebecca is so good at telling stories and like,, making you think about life and evaluate your experiences. would recommend!
i feel completely incoherent right now but rebecca is so good at telling stories and like,, making you think about life and evaluate your experiences. would recommend!