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A review by marionhoney
The Lost Landscape by Joyce Carol Oates
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I have had this on my bookshelf for many years having originally acquired it for free. I was reading it to charity shop it, but ended up liking it so much that I am keeping it now to read again one day. She writes, her style is how I imagine I would write if I were to pen a memoir.
There were a couple moments of unexamined antiblackness-in-the-US that didn't sit well with me (imagery of a boy eating watermelon, her proximity to race riots in Detroit). That I wish had been acknowledged or explored further. Also the way she speaks about her autistic sister... I don't want to judge someone's grief and how they process difficult circumstances. But I kept thinking about how much I've been exposed to disability justice in the last year and how this felt so far from that framework. These elements complicated my feelings toward the author for what otherwise was close a 5-star reading experience for me.
There were a couple moments of unexamined antiblackness-in-the-US that didn't sit well with me (imagery of a boy eating watermelon, her proximity to race riots in Detroit). That I wish had been acknowledged or explored further. Also the way she speaks about her autistic sister... I don't want to judge someone's grief and how they process difficult circumstances. But I kept thinking about how much I've been exposed to disability justice in the last year and how this felt so far from that framework. These elements complicated my feelings toward the author for what otherwise was close a 5-star reading experience for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Classism