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birdsandships's review
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Grief, and Self harm
not_another_ana's review against another edition
4.25
This is a female text, written in the twenty-first century. How late it is. How much has changed. How little.
This is difficult to describe in an easy accessible way. Think of a long form Youtube essay, the kind that lasts 3 hours, the kind that revolves around a topic so specific, so niche that can only be made interesting in the hands of a person plagued by the subject. I say this as a positive but also as the only way I feel I can capture the obsession and care you can pick up from these pages. Doireann Ní Ghríofa first heard of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill as a child growing up in Ireland, and though the years grew consumed not only by her poem, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, but by Eibhlín herself. In this book the author masterfully merges her obsession and what she discovered of this woman with her own life, her beliefs, her fears, and big events that marked her.
As the author mentions time and time again: This is a female text. The inciting incident is the near loss of a baby by Doireann and her need for retaking control in some way of her life and her routine. It's powerful and defiant but still intimate. The author unspools her life for all to see, just as she scrutinizes histoy for morsels of Eibhlín. It's so lyricial and full of rhythm, in a way only a poet could weave, that at points I felt hypnotized. I grew as obsessed with this long death Irish woman as the author did.
Since it was so intimate and personal I was able to understand while not actually relating to the author's struggles. Even the long sections about breastfeeding weren't a chore because of how honest they were told. I do, however, think that it could have been a bit shorter. It was difficult to mantain the whimsy and interest at some points because of the repetition. Even though it wasn't perfect in my eyes I don't believe I will ever stop thinking about it. Every time I put down my thoughts, like in this review, I will be haunted by the idea of it being a female text.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Murder, and Car accident
Moderate: Miscarriage and Sexism
Minor: Animal death
hanz's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Grief, Murder, and Miscarriage
woweewhoa's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, and Miscarriage
penofpossibilities's review
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Animal death, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, and Medical content
lou_o_donnell's review
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Miscarriage, and Murder
Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
kazkae's review
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage