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A review by kelly_e
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Title: A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
Author: Alicia Elliott
Genre: Non Fiction Essays
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: March 26 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Honest • Eye-opening • Informative
📖 S Y N O P S I S
A deeply personal collection of essays by Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliott, this book is an exploration of poverty, race, intergenerational trauma, mental illness, love, belonging and Indigenous relations.
💭 T H O U G H T S
This collection of essays is so powerful! For me, it's always the sign of a great book when it challenges me to confront and challenge my own assumptions. This is certainly not an easy read, and nor should it be. It is a key piece of Indigenous Canadian literature that will make you think and want to do better.
Alicia Elliot delivers a collection of both critical and narrative essays in a thoughtful and insightful manner. She covers a lot of ground from mental illness to colonialism to trauma to Indigenous culture, and yet each topic has its place. It's easy enough to read one essay at a time, as each one covers a different subject, and yet she transitions smoothly from one essay to the next interconnecting them in a way only a gifted writer can. She is such an intelligent writer because this structure was perfect for the subject matter. Her writing is raw, honest, compelling and beautiful yet haunting as well. The addition of a interactive portion to this book was so beneficial to me as a reader.
This is a voice we need to hear. A Mind Spread Out on the Ground will open your eyes, it may make you uncomfortable, but I can guarantee you will think and learn so much. It is worth everyone's time, because even you don't end up loving it, you will without a doubt have added value to your reading life.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Everyone!
• readers who want to learn
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I remembered all the times I've pointed our racism in my life and the white people around me claimed I was imaging it. I remembered that, eventually, I started to wonder if I really was imaging it. I am always made to feel as if I am imagining it."
"Instead of looking at the horrors Canada has inflicted upon us and linking them to our current health issues, Canada has chosen to blame our biology, as though those very genes they're blaming weren't marked by genocide, too. This is how a once thriving, healthy population comes to be 'inherently unhealthy'. It wasn't the genocide that centuries of Canadian officials enacted upon us that was the problem; it was how we reacted to that genocide, It was our fault, our bodies' faults."
"It's easy to tells a person who has a physical illness that they are not their cold, or their diabetes, or their stroke. Their illness is something that happens to them, affects their life - sometimes in incredibly difficult ways - but it still isn't them. It's harder to make that distinction when you have a mental illness that completely changes the way you express your personality, they way you interact with others, the way you see the world. Where do you end and where does you sickness begin?"
Author: Alicia Elliott
Genre: Non Fiction Essays
Rating: 4.5
Pub Date: March 26 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Honest • Eye-opening • Informative
📖 S Y N O P S I S
A deeply personal collection of essays by Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliott, this book is an exploration of poverty, race, intergenerational trauma, mental illness, love, belonging and Indigenous relations.
💭 T H O U G H T S
This collection of essays is so powerful! For me, it's always the sign of a great book when it challenges me to confront and challenge my own assumptions. This is certainly not an easy read, and nor should it be. It is a key piece of Indigenous Canadian literature that will make you think and want to do better.
Alicia Elliot delivers a collection of both critical and narrative essays in a thoughtful and insightful manner. She covers a lot of ground from mental illness to colonialism to trauma to Indigenous culture, and yet each topic has its place. It's easy enough to read one essay at a time, as each one covers a different subject, and yet she transitions smoothly from one essay to the next interconnecting them in a way only a gifted writer can. She is such an intelligent writer because this structure was perfect for the subject matter. Her writing is raw, honest, compelling and beautiful yet haunting as well. The addition of a interactive portion to this book was so beneficial to me as a reader.
This is a voice we need to hear. A Mind Spread Out on the Ground will open your eyes, it may make you uncomfortable, but I can guarantee you will think and learn so much. It is worth everyone's time, because even you don't end up loving it, you will without a doubt have added value to your reading life.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Everyone!
• readers who want to learn
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I remembered all the times I've pointed our racism in my life and the white people around me claimed I was imaging it. I remembered that, eventually, I started to wonder if I really was imaging it. I am always made to feel as if I am imagining it."
"Instead of looking at the horrors Canada has inflicted upon us and linking them to our current health issues, Canada has chosen to blame our biology, as though those very genes they're blaming weren't marked by genocide, too. This is how a once thriving, healthy population comes to be 'inherently unhealthy'. It wasn't the genocide that centuries of Canadian officials enacted upon us that was the problem; it was how we reacted to that genocide, It was our fault, our bodies' faults."
"It's easy to tells a person who has a physical illness that they are not their cold, or their diabetes, or their stroke. Their illness is something that happens to them, affects their life - sometimes in incredibly difficult ways - but it still isn't them. It's harder to make that distinction when you have a mental illness that completely changes the way you express your personality, they way you interact with others, the way you see the world. Where do you end and where does you sickness begin?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Genocide and Sexual assault