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becmatho's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not quite sure what I’ve just read or how it even appeared in my life, but I am sure of how important this book is. I am sure that this book is intensely pertinent to humanity and our story of resilience and of making sense of life. The final star is only not there because I am a little flummoxed.
azazed's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book, loved the writing style and the content. I found it very profound. The last chapter confused me tho - it wasn’t unenjoyable I just couldn’t make sense of it.
jaclyn_sixminutesforme's review against another edition
4.0
It feels somewhat appropriate to finish this on the final day of #nonfictionnovember - #Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin @brow_books recently won the Best Writing Award as part of the 2018 Melbourne Prize.
Blurbed as an attempt to reset the nonfiction form in Australia, this unique essay collection certainly is both experimental and immersive in the broad spectrum of topics it covers.
The essays teetered between reflective streams of consciousness and social commentary, and really engaged with hard hitting topics including teen suicide, child abduction, refugee experiences, and Holocaust narratives. The author had a really personal connection with her subject matter, and the essays often read like a behind the scenes glimpse into some of her other nonfiction writing. With the exception perhaps of the very last in the collection, I found the essays really engaged me as a reader and threw me into the author’s thoughts. (Perhaps the more experimental format of that final piece was a little lost on me 🤷🏻♀️).
A particular standout from the collection for me was “Give Me A Child Before The Age of Seven And I Will Show You The Woman” which discusses Nahji Chu and her misschu business, looking at the meaning behind the branding and Nahji’s journey to Australia. (For those outside Australia, misschu is a restaurant selling modern Vietnamese and Asian street food - the branding uses images from the Chu family’s refugee paperwork). Packed into this essay was a discussion about the refugee experience, racism in Australia, and using branding to both educate and confront some of these issues.
I really enjoyed this collection and while it may have more immediacy to Australian readers, I think the universality of the themes covered means it is one that international readers will also readily connect with.
Blurbed as an attempt to reset the nonfiction form in Australia, this unique essay collection certainly is both experimental and immersive in the broad spectrum of topics it covers.
The essays teetered between reflective streams of consciousness and social commentary, and really engaged with hard hitting topics including teen suicide, child abduction, refugee experiences, and Holocaust narratives. The author had a really personal connection with her subject matter, and the essays often read like a behind the scenes glimpse into some of her other nonfiction writing. With the exception perhaps of the very last in the collection, I found the essays really engaged me as a reader and threw me into the author’s thoughts. (Perhaps the more experimental format of that final piece was a little lost on me 🤷🏻♀️).
A particular standout from the collection for me was “Give Me A Child Before The Age of Seven And I Will Show You The Woman” which discusses Nahji Chu and her misschu business, looking at the meaning behind the branding and Nahji’s journey to Australia. (For those outside Australia, misschu is a restaurant selling modern Vietnamese and Asian street food - the branding uses images from the Chu family’s refugee paperwork). Packed into this essay was a discussion about the refugee experience, racism in Australia, and using branding to both educate and confront some of these issues.
I really enjoyed this collection and while it may have more immediacy to Australian readers, I think the universality of the themes covered means it is one that international readers will also readily connect with.
jesslynsukamto's review against another edition
4.0
The essays teetered between reflective streams of consciousness and social commentary, and really engaged with hard hitting topics including teen suicide, child abduction, refugee experiences, and Holocaust narratives. An eclectic, thought-provoking read, also a gorgeous, difficult and extraordinary book that demands deep engagement from the reader (something I ended up not supplying). I feel it would be better consumed in a more dedicated way.
lynleybidlake's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
erinstewart's review against another edition
4.0
What I liked most about this book is that it felt authentic. Sort of like notes to self, that kind of intimacy in terms of describing experience and thought processes while still being organised and easy to read and deft. I got the sense of the author grappling with ideas about how to cope with life (from a range of perspectives) with no easy answers or pretentions of expertise. In a good way! In a way that's strangely reassuring? I don't know, this book is really hard to explain, but again, in a good way :)
jammydodger's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
elena_lowana's review against another edition
5.0
I really, really enjoyed reading this. Tumarkin had some brilliant insights; I found her style of writing really refreshing. I particularly enjoyed the way she used brackets/parentheses to hold a different form of conversation with the reader, whilst also pulling them through her ideas. The end point of the chapters aren't clear at the beginning, which really worked in this book. It made you want to keep reading. Will definitely reread.
disassociated's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting narrative structure. Some of the threads were a little difficult to keep track of at times.