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dalyandot's review
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Memoir ofAndreas life and how her political views developed. Moving and inspiring
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Dworkin's title sums her memoir up perfectly: it is heartbreaking. Dworkin is a master with words, and knows just how to use each word to its fullest meaning, knows how to create a sentence that will slice and dice your heart to pieces. Though she's often either loved or hated, she knows one thing and remembers how she knows this: she cannot be bought or sold, for she feels too strongly.
She remembers her piano lessons, remembers remembering them, having forgotten how musical she was as a child. She remembers protesting against her college, and then the wars, and then going to prison.
Even if you aren't a fan of Dworkin, you must admit one thing: she is brutally honest about the world, and herself. She cannot be anything but that, and for that alone, she is a respectable person, a person with a solid moral compass, a wise woman.
Having read all of her non-fiction work now, it was absolutely fascinating to read her memoir. Broken up into many short chapters, she describes all of the meaningful events that have led her to be the woman she is today, and how her thoughts and decisions and perceptions have been determined by her past, her socialization, her experiences as a woman.
Overall, this memoir is indeed heartbreaking, and just as gut-wrenching as every other text she writes. Well worth the read.
Review cross-listed here!
She remembers her piano lessons, remembers remembering them, having forgotten how musical she was as a child. She remembers protesting against her college, and then the wars, and then going to prison.
Even if you aren't a fan of Dworkin, you must admit one thing: she is brutally honest about the world, and herself. She cannot be anything but that, and for that alone, she is a respectable person, a person with a solid moral compass, a wise woman.
Having read all of her non-fiction work now, it was absolutely fascinating to read her memoir. Broken up into many short chapters, she describes all of the meaningful events that have led her to be the woman she is today, and how her thoughts and decisions and perceptions have been determined by her past, her socialization, her experiences as a woman.
Overall, this memoir is indeed heartbreaking, and just as gut-wrenching as every other text she writes. Well worth the read.
Review cross-listed here!
stellagramina's review against another edition
4.0
Very poignant as a memoir. Excellent writing. Very different vibe than her theory type work. Moving, episodic.
anna_near's review against another edition
4.0
“Feminists have good reasons for feeling tired. The backlash against feminism has been deeply stupid.”
Like all of Andrea Dworkin's work, Heartbreak is powerful, painful, and beautiful. It a deeply vulnerable depiction of her life. She intertwines her personal experiences with broader political issues, shedding light on the intersectionality of feminism and other social justice movements. Her discussions on patriarchy, sexual violence, and the commodification of women's bodies are especially eye-opening and relevant in today's context with liberal feminism and the romanization of the sex work industry.
Dworkin's writing style is both captivating and unapologetic, drawing you in with her raw honesty and fierce dedication to feminist ideals. Throughout the memoir, she courageously discusses the personal challenges she faced as a feminist activist, giving readers a glimpse into the emotional rollercoaster of her life.
At this point, Dworkin needs to be required reading (esp for TERFS, who for some reason think she would be on their side) (she would not be.) While she is confrontational and abrasive, her impact is unforgettable.
Like all of Andrea Dworkin's work, Heartbreak is powerful, painful, and beautiful. It a deeply vulnerable depiction of her life. She intertwines her personal experiences with broader political issues, shedding light on the intersectionality of feminism and other social justice movements. Her discussions on patriarchy, sexual violence, and the commodification of women's bodies are especially eye-opening and relevant in today's context with liberal feminism and the romanization of the sex work industry.
Dworkin's writing style is both captivating and unapologetic, drawing you in with her raw honesty and fierce dedication to feminist ideals. Throughout the memoir, she courageously discusses the personal challenges she faced as a feminist activist, giving readers a glimpse into the emotional rollercoaster of her life.
At this point, Dworkin needs to be required reading (esp for TERFS, who for some reason think she would be on their side) (she would not be.) While she is confrontational and abrasive, her impact is unforgettable.
threadybeeps's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful and painful and too brief. I still have a million questions. My first impulse is to read everything else she wrote in succession, but I don't think my heart could take it.
imrath's review
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Antisemitism, Classism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: War, Incest, Racial slurs, Torture, and Abortion
leelulah's review against another edition
3.0
This book definitely changed my outlook on Dworkin. I had no idea what she endured, and although I wasn't likely to espouse the classic arguments against her, I had given up on the angry tone of Right Wing Women, thinking she wasn't for me. Now, I don't agree with her in all she has said, but had she dug a bit deeper, probably there'd have been something interesting coming up.
Her life is surely very sad and one gets to understand, as she promises, why does she think the way she does. Her love of music, her academic interests, her disenchanment with the left, her failed marriage, they're all a part of this person we made ourselves a caricature of, because we're scared of the words "radical feminist".
I still disagree with the core tenets of her political beliefs (abortion as pro-woman, namely; or her antiprison crusade), but there is some honesty in her breaking away from pacifism and the need of women to stand up against what's being done to them.
The parts that put me off had to do with her lack of care for policemen, but I guess those are basic leftist points. If you can see brutalized women as human, sure you can see brutalized men as such too.
Her life is surely very sad and one gets to understand, as she promises, why does she think the way she does. Her love of music, her academic interests, her disenchanment with the left, her failed marriage, they're all a part of this person we made ourselves a caricature of, because we're scared of the words "radical feminist".
I still disagree with the core tenets of her political beliefs (abortion as pro-woman, namely; or her antiprison crusade), but there is some honesty in her breaking away from pacifism and the need of women to stand up against what's being done to them.
The parts that put me off had to do with her lack of care for policemen, but I guess those are basic leftist points. If you can see brutalized women as human, sure you can see brutalized men as such too.
azuoliukas_wordpress_com's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
4.5
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