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A review by flags
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
First off I really did enjoy this book and it's characters, our mother daughter dog (GOOD DOG!!!) family are all chatmingly written and every character in this is funny and odd and moves the story along with every interaction good or bad.
A fun book yes but also the plot is carried more by the drama of sexism assault death and such, the tv show is secondary to the character drama and extended life story sequences.
Flew by as a read, one of the most autistic 4 autistic romances I've read.
Wears it's messaging bluntly, backs up it's feminism with it's interesting cast of female characters and their interractions.
Suffers from wanting to stay within it's lane of white middle class feminism, by focusing so much on the stereotypes and critiques of 50s/60s american heteronormative patriarchy, it shows a near total disinterest in the political realities of that period. I had to laugh at the tokenistic way our protagonist pauses mid show to hold up a photo of rosa parks and say she stood with her when there are no mentioned characters of any diverse background, no organising beyond her own in show monologuing which does not broach the topic of race or class or much else, the only scandal is a palatable non scandal of neutral atheism which is treated as more politically relevant. Her brother commited suicide for being gay so we know she individually is not homophobic but she knows no other gay people and does not advocate for them, she name drops rosa parks but we never hear about her noticing how race limits the hiring of scientists in the same way gender does.
the story is well told but by placing such a uniffensive to modern readers version of a feminist hero it invents a whitewashed version of the femi ist movement. the complexities of that wave of feminism, the way women activists were also marginalised within adjacent political movements across race and causes. gone is almost any mention or credit of the real women who existed and made strides in the entertainment and scientific industries.
it's the blandly benign progressivism that results in things like the fictional non racist white guy tearing down the segregation sign at nasa for the real black women in hidden figures. it's the barbie movie pretending Mattel never had a female CEO to make a joke about sexism being bad. it's the fictional guy who threw the first brick at stonewall. I prefferred this style of fictional feminist revolutionary when it was the tongue in cheek spoofing of Down With Love's Barbara Novak.
I would not be so harsh on it if it weren't so centrally about feminist issues. The fact is as a reader I'm not interested in the simplistic pop feminism that misses so many opportunities for intersectionality. If I am going to read something obviously engaging with social and political themes I want a little more meat on it. I don't want something that feels this tidy. outside of alegory like in scifi the inspirational optimism doesn't ring true for me even though I know it works as warming empathy for others. Maybe it's because I've been enjoying the feeling of unfamiliarity I got recently when watching a movie from a time and country I did not have adequate contextual framework to navigate the themes of, that slight confusion and discomfort and curiosity is what a work should evoke if trying to be provocative with it's politics. This book felt like preaching to the choir. fun, charming, a good character driven story, but felt more suited for readers who don't engage with these narratives and themes often.
A fun book yes but also the plot is carried more by the drama of sexism assault death and such, the tv show is secondary to the character drama and extended life story sequences.
Flew by as a read, one of the most autistic 4 autistic romances I've read.
Wears it's messaging bluntly, backs up it's feminism with it's interesting cast of female characters and their interractions.
Suffers from wanting to stay within it's lane of white middle class feminism, by focusing so much on the stereotypes and critiques of 50s/60s american heteronormative patriarchy, it shows a near total disinterest in the political realities of that period. I had to laugh at the tokenistic way our protagonist pauses mid show to hold up a photo of rosa parks and say she stood with her when there are no mentioned characters of any diverse background, no organising beyond her own in show monologuing which does not broach the topic of race or class or much else, the only scandal is a palatable non scandal of neutral atheism which is treated as more politically relevant. Her brother commited suicide for being gay so we know she individually is not homophobic but she knows no other gay people and does not advocate for them, she name drops rosa parks but we never hear about her noticing how race limits the hiring of scientists in the same way gender does.
the story is well told but by placing such a uniffensive to modern readers version of a feminist hero it invents a whitewashed version of the femi ist movement. the complexities of that wave of feminism, the way women activists were also marginalised within adjacent political movements across race and causes. gone is almost any mention or credit of the real women who existed and made strides in the entertainment and scientific industries.
it's the blandly benign progressivism that results in things like the fictional non racist white guy tearing down the segregation sign at nasa for the real black women in hidden figures. it's the barbie movie pretending Mattel never had a female CEO to make a joke about sexism being bad. it's the fictional guy who threw the first brick at stonewall. I prefferred this style of fictional feminist revolutionary when it was the tongue in cheek spoofing of Down With Love's Barbara Novak.
I would not be so harsh on it if it weren't so centrally about feminist issues. The fact is as a reader I'm not interested in the simplistic pop feminism that misses so many opportunities for intersectionality. If I am going to read something obviously engaging with social and political themes I want a little more meat on it. I don't want something that feels this tidy. outside of alegory like in scifi the inspirational optimism doesn't ring true for me even though I know it works as warming empathy for others. Maybe it's because I've been enjoying the feeling of unfamiliarity I got recently when watching a movie from a time and country I did not have adequate contextual framework to navigate the themes of, that slight confusion and discomfort and curiosity is what a work should evoke if trying to be provocative with it's politics. This book felt like preaching to the choir. fun, charming, a good character driven story, but felt more suited for readers who don't engage with these narratives and themes often.