Scan barcode
pinesandpages's review against another edition
3.75
The author is clearly quite smart, thoughtful, and analytical. Lots of excellent ruminations and castigations.
My qualms with this book were threefold:
1. I didn’t expect this to be literary criticism. As I can’t even recall the last time I read something that could be described as “literary,” this is a genre I’m not well informed in (or interested in). I should’ve read the full synopsis but I stopped after the first paragraph, thinking I knew what the book would be about and alas I was incorrect.
2. Because I’m not well versed in literary things and also pop culture in many ways, I knew almost none of the author’s references. That doesn’t mean Castillo necessarily chose obscure things to write her essays about (eg Joan Didion and X-Men/Watchmen were discussed at length) but I still didn’t know them! Which made it harder to connect, be interested, or form my own opinion. I didn’t come into the book with my own thoughts on the topics, ready to engage with the author - I merely read the thoroughly laid out opinions and said “oh, ok.” (Although I will note she does discuss at length a few extremely obscure texts.)
3. Castillo makes no attempt to make her points using accessible language, so concepts are abstract/meta and sentences are LENGTHY. The dictionary was in heavy use. I’m not saying she needs to dumb down her points but it was hard to fill grasp what she meant, once we got more esoteric. And boy, did we get esoteric. Again, not what I expected!
I highlighted several sentences and paragraphs to ponder over and will return back to them….but I am in no rush to do so. By the last two essays I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the book in a timely fashion, and then I was taken aback by the abrupt and unceremonious end. Castillo did insert a lot of fun and interesting tidbits/gossip into her endnotes which was fun.
So, all that to say: this book is smart and interesting, but I was not the correct audience for it.
My qualms with this book were threefold:
1. I didn’t expect this to be literary criticism. As I can’t even recall the last time I read something that could be described as “literary,” this is a genre I’m not well informed in (or interested in). I should’ve read the full synopsis but I stopped after the first paragraph, thinking I knew what the book would be about and alas I was incorrect.
2. Because I’m not well versed in literary things and also pop culture in many ways, I knew almost none of the author’s references. That doesn’t mean Castillo necessarily chose obscure things to write her essays about (eg Joan Didion and X-Men/Watchmen were discussed at length) but I still didn’t know them! Which made it harder to connect, be interested, or form my own opinion. I didn’t come into the book with my own thoughts on the topics, ready to engage with the author - I merely read the thoroughly laid out opinions and said “oh, ok.” (Although I will note she does discuss at length a few extremely obscure texts.)
3. Castillo makes no attempt to make her points using accessible language, so concepts are abstract/meta and sentences are LENGTHY. The dictionary was in heavy use. I’m not saying she needs to dumb down her points but it was hard to fill grasp what she meant, once we got more esoteric. And boy, did we get esoteric. Again, not what I expected!
I highlighted several sentences and paragraphs to ponder over and will return back to them….but I am in no rush to do so. By the last two essays I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish the book in a timely fashion, and then I was taken aback by the abrupt and unceremonious end. Castillo did insert a lot of fun and interesting tidbits/gossip into her endnotes which was fun.
So, all that to say: this book is smart and interesting, but I was not the correct audience for it.
hkburke2's review against another edition
I'm either not the right audience or it's not the right time for this one for me!
jg12389's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
I liked a lot of what the author had to say and some of it was really profound. I haven't read or watched most of the books/movies/TV shows that she writes about, though, so I felt a little bit lost. Also. at some points the language gets very sophisticated and is not accessible to most, which tends to irk me, even if it's understandable to me (and some parts were totally over my head, to be clear). I really appreciate what the author is trying to do with these essays, but for a variety of reasons, some of the details didn't hit home for me.
heynonnynonnie's review against another edition
3.0
Why I Picked This Book: Feeling like I needed some critique on books marketed almost solely as BIPOC. I didn't have words to explain the nuances of the dichotomy between feeling that representation matters and feeling like some books are only about a statistical representation rather than something reflective of a culture or an individual. I wanted an inkling of how to move the discussion further than the vague "read diversely". From the marketing and the few Goodreads reviews I skimmed, I understood this was kinda academic-lite with a larger focus on pop culture - maybe a little counter-culture. As a result, I expected some of these essays to read like a blog post of a grad student/recent post-grad. The book's saturation within book social media signaled that it would likely be fairly basic, but I was excited to read about it from an American-Filipino perspective. I wanted to see how someone else in the Filipino/SE Asian label grapples with the questions brought up in diverse publishing.
Thoughts: I liked the first two essays, the last few pages of the penultimate essay, and the very last essay. I think it was the first essay that discussed how writers of color are often served up to the market as an ethical consumption for white readers to practice empathy. I felt like the point of that essay was that the "diversity matters" chant doesn't address the systemic disparities regarding race and class. Based on the first essay and the title, I was expecting a prescriptive approach, which isn't what the author is going for. The other essays lacked focus and often didn't seem to be building new ideas. Often, I got an "I'm not like other readers" vibe from the author, which exacerbated my issues with the middle essays.
Thoughts: I liked the first two essays, the last few pages of the penultimate essay, and the very last essay. I think it was the first essay that discussed how writers of color are often served up to the market as an ethical consumption for white readers to practice empathy. I felt like the point of that essay was that the "diversity matters" chant doesn't address the systemic disparities regarding race and class. Based on the first essay and the title, I was expecting a prescriptive approach, which isn't what the author is going for. The other essays lacked focus and often didn't seem to be building new ideas. Often, I got an "I'm not like other readers" vibe from the author, which exacerbated my issues with the middle essays.
aftaerglows's review against another edition
5.0
8.5/10
this book isn't exactly what i expected: it's less about literary criticism and more about critical thinking and politics. the author says the title should be 'how to dismantle your entire critical apparatus', though it doesn't directly teach you: it urges you to do the work and read the world around you with an observant eye. it's a wonderful work on so many levels, even though it's a bit chaotic in the middle and some essays are definitely better than others.
this book isn't exactly what i expected: it's less about literary criticism and more about critical thinking and politics. the author says the title should be 'how to dismantle your entire critical apparatus', though it doesn't directly teach you: it urges you to do the work and read the world around you with an observant eye. it's a wonderful work on so many levels, even though it's a bit chaotic in the middle and some essays are definitely better than others.
mylynn's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Hate crime
Minor: Sexual violence, Infertility, and Miscarriage
heather_koshiol's review against another edition
Will return to this when work is less stressful and when I the right level of attention to devote.