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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
“Because empowerment is not the same thing as emancipation.”
How to Read Now is a series of essays with an instructional line that runs through all of them. One of the key ideas behind it is that it is important to be thoughtful about everything we read, especially the context, and the impact. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and picked up some new perspectives along the way. I think a few of my favorite passages can do the rest of the talking in this review for me though.
“‘Say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes who lives in Ithaca.’ The boast is like an identity card he throws as Polyphemus’ feet. City waster, valiant warrior, man of many resources, son of, citizen of. It’s his confidence in his own context that is Odysseus’ greatest strength, his greatest privilege, and his greatest cruelty. He may be traveling, but he’s not a migrant. Man of many resources, worldly wise, skilled in diplomacy, lover of stolen wealth and sadistic gains. Odysseus always has a home to return to. Wherever he goes is civilization, to the despair of everyone else. Polyphemus is home but he’s been made foreign by Odysseus. A barbarian, a savage, someone whose entire world can be invaded, stripped for parts, then abandoned.”
“There is no space here for writing as invitation, or as a place for mutual intimacy or vulnerability.”
“Most people are not in fact all that ignorant, IE: lacking knowledge or unaware. Bad reading is not a question of people undereducated in a more equitable and progressive understanding of what it means to be a person among other people. Most people are vastly over-educated. Over-educated in white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. — It’s not a question of bringing people out of their ignorance, but a question of bringing people out of their deliberately extensive education.”
How to Read Now is a series of essays with an instructional line that runs through all of them. One of the key ideas behind it is that it is important to be thoughtful about everything we read, especially the context, and the impact. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and picked up some new perspectives along the way. I think a few of my favorite passages can do the rest of the talking in this review for me though.
“‘Say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes who lives in Ithaca.’ The boast is like an identity card he throws as Polyphemus’ feet. City waster, valiant warrior, man of many resources, son of, citizen of. It’s his confidence in his own context that is Odysseus’ greatest strength, his greatest privilege, and his greatest cruelty. He may be traveling, but he’s not a migrant. Man of many resources, worldly wise, skilled in diplomacy, lover of stolen wealth and sadistic gains. Odysseus always has a home to return to. Wherever he goes is civilization, to the despair of everyone else. Polyphemus is home but he’s been made foreign by Odysseus. A barbarian, a savage, someone whose entire world can be invaded, stripped for parts, then abandoned.”
“There is no space here for writing as invitation, or as a place for mutual intimacy or vulnerability.”
“Most people are not in fact all that ignorant, IE: lacking knowledge or unaware. Bad reading is not a question of people undereducated in a more equitable and progressive understanding of what it means to be a person among other people. Most people are vastly over-educated. Over-educated in white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. — It’s not a question of bringing people out of their ignorance, but a question of bringing people out of their deliberately extensive education.”
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Incisive and powerful writing. The way Castillo thinks is beautiful and sharp. I am so glad I read this.
reflective
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.
I'm either not the right audience or it's not the right time for this one for me!
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
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.
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced