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calarco 's review for:
Islands of Decolonial Love
by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Drawing from her own life and other contemporary Indigenous perspectives, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson creates a truly moving and thought-provoking series of short stories in [b:Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs|18267582|Islands of Decolonial Love Stories & Songs|Leanne Betasamosake Simpson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386282869l/18267582._SY75_.jpg|25728391].
Each story (or song) is short, yet vividly captures a great deal of emotion and individual personality that feels deeply intimate. Like an archipelago of islands, characters seem lonely yet interconnected, in this case through shared culture and expectation. While largely stemming from the Nishnaabeg nation (one of Canada’s First Nations; surrounding the North American Great Lakes), many of these stories still felt familiar to the experiences of anyone with indigenous (or even mestizo) heritage—so goes the universality of historic trauma and systemic injustice.
Also present throughout this collection are themes surrounding healing. At times this entails dark humor, at others unwavering acceptance of the uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s gentle in tone and at others a guttural scream into the void. Some characters feel trapped, while others are in a constant state of motion. Still, all seem to be moving towards a type of fundamental understanding, something I found to be a truly cathartic experience.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book, and will be on the lookout for more of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s work. I think that if you want to be understood, you must first learn to understand others, and this collection is a remarkable work of empathy.
Each story (or song) is short, yet vividly captures a great deal of emotion and individual personality that feels deeply intimate. Like an archipelago of islands, characters seem lonely yet interconnected, in this case through shared culture and expectation. While largely stemming from the Nishnaabeg nation (one of Canada’s First Nations; surrounding the North American Great Lakes), many of these stories still felt familiar to the experiences of anyone with indigenous (or even mestizo) heritage—so goes the universality of historic trauma and systemic injustice.
Also present throughout this collection are themes surrounding healing. At times this entails dark humor, at others unwavering acceptance of the uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s gentle in tone and at others a guttural scream into the void. Some characters feel trapped, while others are in a constant state of motion. Still, all seem to be moving towards a type of fundamental understanding, something I found to be a truly cathartic experience.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book, and will be on the lookout for more of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s work. I think that if you want to be understood, you must first learn to understand others, and this collection is a remarkable work of empathy.