Reviews tagging 'Death'

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

21 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

Okay, I absolutely LOVE Hanif Abdurraqib, and I love They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us. I listened to the essay collection slowly, pausing to listen to all the different artists and albums and songs he touches on (Abdurraqib has many a wonderful Spotify playlist to help with this endeavor, including one called They Can't Kill Us. that is a companion to the collection.)

So the context easily gets a 5/5, full stars from me. Read the essays, read them again, read Abdurraqib's other work. Keen-eyed observers will notice, though, that I only gave this 4.75 stars. Why?

Well, I listened to the audiobook production of They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, and it is a super interesting listen... but it's not the same text as the text versions. Firstly, Abdurraqib adds in a lot of author's notes, editoralizing in a way that I can sympathize with because he came back to this text to read it for the audiobook a few years after publishing. Secondly, one essay is not conveyable verbally - it's an erasure essay, and Abdurraqib notes that he couldn't figure out a way to speak it without compromising the piece. I grabbed a physical copy of the book from my library to read that essay ("August 9, 2014"), and I agree with his assessment that it wouldn't be an easy one to read aloud.

The fact that the audio and written version of the book are different isn't a bad thing per se, but it is a complicated one. And so I don't consider my rating a mark against it as much of a signal/acknowledgment that I read a different version of the text than people with physical or digital copies.

All that said - my favorite essays from this collection were "Under Half-Lit Fluorescents: The Wonder Years And The Great Suburban Narrative," "Death Becomes You: My Chemical Romance And Ten Years Of The Black Parade," "Nina Simone Was Very Black," "Serena Williams And The Policing Of Imagined Arrogance," and "The White Rapper Joke."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Death, Police brutality, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Cursing, and Suicide

Minor: Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, and Drug use

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

There is so much contained is such a short book. I really enjoyed the author's reflections and interjections about the contents of the essays in the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Suicide, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Mental illness

jourdanicus's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

I find it hard to rate a book of essays - many of these essays made me feel so much. The ones to which I couldn't relate as much felt a little more like a drag to get through. Usually I love a book read by its author, but prose read by a poet can actually be hit and miss (for me personally I guess).

Some of the essays hit deep and others seemed, idk, a little unfinished? But still beautiful.

I loved the concept - it was almost like memoir plus social/political commentary through the lens of music criticism. All things I love, especially when early pop punk is involved. I can't wait to read Abdurraqib's poetry.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Police brutality, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

erinmcav's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Police brutality, and Death

Minor: Islamophobia

sydapel's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Truly some of the best writing about music and culture I've come across. I'd seen this recommended in various places across my feed, but it was Mel on TikTok that convinced me when they described it as writing that really captured what it's like to love or be a fan of music/sports/etc in our current social climate, how communities are shaped by the attitudes of their leaders and what it's like to be a minority in many of these spaces. Can't recommend it enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Death

savvylit's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Recently I posted a stack of books that made me feel glad to be alive. I had just finished They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us and already knew that it would effortlessly fit in that stack alongside Abdurraqib's other collection A Little Devil in America. Abdurraqib writes with an unmatched clarity and beauty about what it means to be human. Running through it all is the personal; Abdurraqib's unique perspective as a poet, as a music critic, as a Black man, as someone who grew up Muslim. Ultimately, though, these essays seem to speak to universal truths. The high highs, the low lows, and the art - especially the music - that carries us and keeps us connected. That's what living is about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Suicide, and Racism

annejmartin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Racism, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Hate crime

emmasbelovedbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Suicide

blackberryjambaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Terminal illness, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Drug use, Child death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Pedophilia

imstephtacular's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

This is one of those books that I don’t feel smart enough to read and I mean that as a compliment. The poetry and criticism are so sharp and deep and wholly human. The stories are horrifying and harrowing but also hopeful and fascinating. I learned a ton and I know these essays are going to haunt me for days to come 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Gun violence, Grief, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Cursing, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Suicide, Sexism, Bullying, Slavery, Child death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Religious bigotry