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A review by pushingdessy
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I started reading this book on a whim on Valentine’s Day. This had been on my TBR for years - previously, I’d only read “Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics” and I admit I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. Would I like a different bell hooks book?
Yes, I quite did!
📝 The book is split into 13 chapters where hooks explores the topic of love based on her own life journey as well as words from other thinkers, through different facets: clarity, honesty, childhood, friendship, self-love, community love, spirituality, romance, grief…
💬 I found it illuminating and inspiring in certain aspects, and even cathartic in others. I really liked the concept of love that hooks introduces based on other authors: love as verb, as intention and action with the purpose of nurturing your and someone else’s growth, rather than an indefinable emotion someone “falls into” helplessly. hooks is adamant that this goes beyond/has little to do with the romantic notions of love we’re constantly being fed, but also with the idea that we all know instinctively how to love, which I think is so important.
⚠️ One thing that bugged me was the religious undertones that become a little wilder towards the end. I don’t mind spirituality being included because, even though I struggle with it, I think it’s important to the self and agree with hooks that modern society has lost touch with true spirituality. But she lost me in the last chapter when she began to talk about literal angels and discussing a legend from the Bible, and I was annoyed when she talked about biblical scripture almost as if it were facts of nature and not something someone made up.
tl;dr love is scary but it’s worth it! (but tbh, I’m still scared lol.)
Yes, I quite did!
📝 The book is split into 13 chapters where hooks explores the topic of love based on her own life journey as well as words from other thinkers, through different facets: clarity, honesty, childhood, friendship, self-love, community love, spirituality, romance, grief…
💬 I found it illuminating and inspiring in certain aspects, and even cathartic in others. I really liked the concept of love that hooks introduces based on other authors: love as verb, as intention and action with the purpose of nurturing your and someone else’s growth, rather than an indefinable emotion someone “falls into” helplessly. hooks is adamant that this goes beyond/has little to do with the romantic notions of love we’re constantly being fed, but also with the idea that we all know instinctively how to love, which I think is so important.
⚠️ One thing that bugged me was the religious undertones that become a little wilder towards the end. I don’t mind spirituality being included because, even though I struggle with it, I think it’s important to the self and agree with hooks that modern society has lost touch with true spirituality. But she lost me in the last chapter when she began to talk about literal angels and discussing a legend from the Bible, and I was annoyed when she talked about biblical scripture almost as if it were facts of nature and not something someone made up.
tl;dr love is scary but it’s worth it! (but tbh, I’m still scared lol.)