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A review by pangnaolin
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I haven't done sticky note annotations in a long time, and this piece brought me back to them. Actually, I've had a vague desire to mark favorite lines and moments I want to come back to since I read The Left Hand of Darkness, but The Argonauts got me to finally do it. There were too many wonderfully thoughtful and intense moments to just remember.
I remember two in particular at the moment-- when she described the intimacy of breastfeeding due to hormones, and how women are often told to forgive themselves for the 'mix-up' in feeling that eroticism from the same hormones and then when she described her experience actually giving birth to her son Iggy. So many parts of this book really struck a chord in me, honestly-- not only from hearing her own beautifully-put experiences, but also from the curation of amazing quotes and thought that she incorporated.
The Argo and/or argonauts were mentioned very little throughout, which left me feeling a little bit surprised for most of the book, but as I read the last page, it really did feel like enough. Each mention was well placed and thought out. I'd be curious to see an analysis on her choice of where to mention the argo throughout this memoir, actually. I wonder if it exists.
I was really awed by how blatant Nelson was about sexuality, sex, and bodies in The Argonauts, and I loved it. It felt refreshing to not need euphemisms to talk about ourselves-- about the melting feeling of giving birth or how great anal is or any other number of things she talked about.
It was a bit of a brutal read, I'll be honest. I loved it a lot, though, and I'm glad I read it. It got a bit convoluted at times when she talked more about theory and delved into academia, but I think she maintained enough of a balance between that and more accessible language that even if I didn't fully take in some of the more complicated things, I didn't need to sit and reread it over and over to understand what she was trying to say.
Not to mention, she talked about some shit that really forced me to sit with it and let it sink in, and so I think this is one of few books I really would go back and re-read. Her last account in the memoir, of giving birth to Iggy, particularly hit home for me. Something about the way she wrote it felt so intimate and closed. Somehow, some way, I was in the dark room with her.
I remember two in particular at the moment-- when she described the intimacy of breastfeeding due to hormones, and how women are often told to forgive themselves for the 'mix-up' in feeling that eroticism from the same hormones and then when she described her experience actually giving birth to her son Iggy. So many parts of this book really struck a chord in me, honestly-- not only from hearing her own beautifully-put experiences, but also from the curation of amazing quotes and thought that she incorporated.
The Argo and/or argonauts were mentioned very little throughout, which left me feeling a little bit surprised for most of the book, but as I read the last page, it really did feel like enough. Each mention was well placed and thought out. I'd be curious to see an analysis on her choice of where to mention the argo throughout this memoir, actually. I wonder if it exists.
I was really awed by how blatant Nelson was about sexuality, sex, and bodies in The Argonauts, and I loved it. It felt refreshing to not need euphemisms to talk about ourselves-- about the melting feeling of giving birth or how great anal is or any other number of things she talked about.
It was a bit of a brutal read, I'll be honest. I loved it a lot, though, and I'm glad I read it. It got a bit convoluted at times when she talked more about theory and delved into academia, but I think she maintained enough of a balance between that and more accessible language that even if I didn't fully take in some of the more complicated things, I didn't need to sit and reread it over and over to understand what she was trying to say.
Not to mention, she talked about some shit that really forced me to sit with it and let it sink in, and so I think this is one of few books I really would go back and re-read. Her last account in the memoir, of giving birth to Iggy, particularly hit home for me. Something about the way she wrote it felt so intimate and closed. Somehow, some way, I was in the dark room with her.