Take a photo of a barcode or cover
walaalamageeddow 's review for:
Incomplete Short Stories and Essays
by Jamie Berrout
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
i am always in search of stories that are written from an abolitionist perspective which is how I ended up finding this book and the short stories, thoughts, prompts, critical essays gave me what I wanted and so much more!!!
here are some of the passages that stood out to me:
In the end, the two of them become friends, they begin to understand one another, that they aren't so different. Especially that the state is largely responsible
for their misery.
....
The way we use stories to explain things we couldn't otherwise. The way we use stories to make sense
of the experiences that add up to each of our realities.
The way we use stories to search for ourselves and to transforms ourselves and to become ourselves.
....
But the further the show progresses, the more the main
characters realize that the police are the true villains of the city, that they've been working alongside unrepentant, state-sanctioned murderers and their enablers in the courts and prosecutor's office, that these instances of police brutality are pervasive and considered normal or even necessary by the police, that there is no such
thing as a good cop because any cop who tries to help them gets fired, discredited, or killed by the system. And the farther the show goes on, the more danger the protagonists are in because the police and state gradually recognize them as a threat and move to
confront them.
....
In all those years that I was growing up as a girl I could never call myself a
girl. Maybe that's why I use that name so much now and why I need to try it while I can, for myself and other trans girls and their different girlhoods.
....
Then turn the problem on its head – imagine a world in which your problem is not only completely gone but reversed – now you are more than safe and actually can protect others, now changing your name is not expensive or a burden but it’s a real opportunity.
.....
I’m no longer sure if a particular childhood memory is true or if it is based on a dream. Although – and this is the key – I really don’t think distinguishing
between actual events/memories and dreams should matter now. Because either way the longing that’s behind the memory or dream is the same and it’s enough to make everything clear.
.....
Why is it that the characters, sisters in their priestesshood, possess great wealth and can recognize that their wealth exists in contrast to poverty and homelessness, without acting to lift to lift others out of the margins? I'm thinking about the character Marta who volunteers
to “feed the homeless” once a year and afterward rides away on a limo. Doesn't that single act of volunteering aid become
meaningless in light of her excessive wealth; and if it is ugly and condescending then why does the novel praise her rather than be critical? Why do the sisters never have to worry about money; why do they always have apartments (they collectively own significant
amounts of property) and jobs? Why don't the characters wonder about this, and why doesn't the narration (brought to us by a goddess who has lived countless lives) question this?
here are some of the passages that stood out to me:
In the end, the two of them become friends, they begin to understand one another, that they aren't so different. Especially that the state is largely responsible
for their misery.
....
The way we use stories to explain things we couldn't otherwise. The way we use stories to make sense
of the experiences that add up to each of our realities.
The way we use stories to search for ourselves and to transforms ourselves and to become ourselves.
....
But the further the show progresses, the more the main
characters realize that the police are the true villains of the city, that they've been working alongside unrepentant, state-sanctioned murderers and their enablers in the courts and prosecutor's office, that these instances of police brutality are pervasive and considered normal or even necessary by the police, that there is no such
thing as a good cop because any cop who tries to help them gets fired, discredited, or killed by the system. And the farther the show goes on, the more danger the protagonists are in because the police and state gradually recognize them as a threat and move to
confront them.
....
In all those years that I was growing up as a girl I could never call myself a
girl. Maybe that's why I use that name so much now and why I need to try it while I can, for myself and other trans girls and their different girlhoods.
....
Then turn the problem on its head – imagine a world in which your problem is not only completely gone but reversed – now you are more than safe and actually can protect others, now changing your name is not expensive or a burden but it’s a real opportunity.
.....
I’m no longer sure if a particular childhood memory is true or if it is based on a dream. Although – and this is the key – I really don’t think distinguishing
between actual events/memories and dreams should matter now. Because either way the longing that’s behind the memory or dream is the same and it’s enough to make everything clear.
.....
Why is it that the characters, sisters in their priestesshood, possess great wealth and can recognize that their wealth exists in contrast to poverty and homelessness, without acting to lift to lift others out of the margins? I'm thinking about the character Marta who volunteers
to “feed the homeless” once a year and afterward rides away on a limo. Doesn't that single act of volunteering aid become
meaningless in light of her excessive wealth; and if it is ugly and condescending then why does the novel praise her rather than be critical? Why do the sisters never have to worry about money; why do they always have apartments (they collectively own significant
amounts of property) and jobs? Why don't the characters wonder about this, and why doesn't the narration (brought to us by a goddess who has lived countless lives) question this?