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A review by arisbookcorner
Notes from a Black Woman's Diary: Selected Works of Kathleen Collins by Kathleen Collins
3.0
IQ "There is no such thing as a helpless black woman [...]. There is no cultural conditioning, no unspoken expectation anywhere, that would allow me to believe I could afford to be helpless. The attitude of helplessness, of dependence, is foreign to me, based on assumptions that are alien to my upbringing. [...] I don't know how to be helpless. I don't know how not to make things work." ('Notes From A Black Woman's Diary', 48)
I was unable to keep my mind from wandering while I read the screenplays, they're long and I think my mind isn't built to concentrate and visualize like that. However I do really want to watch 'Losing Ground'. It is also worth noting that I'd never read a screenplay before and many of the abbreviations and directors notes went over my head. I also ultimately would say I'm still glad the screenplays were included because they serve as yet another testament to how versatile a writer Collins was. This collection might also have one of my favorite intros of all time, I am eagerly awaiting Danielle Evans' next book/short story collection and she was the perfect choice to introduce this collection. Like many newfound fans I mourn this literary talent we lost too soon but am exceedingly grateful that we have been given the opportunity to rediscover her work and give her the appreciation she deserved in her lifetime. I am an unabashed Kathleen Collins fan and I hope we get to see more of her unpublished works and her unique characters; artsy bourgeoise intellectual Black women with vibrant love affairs.
I was stunned by how deeply this resonated with me and also accurately summed up a feeling I'd had but never been able to express. "I have always liked to read memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, always been interested in the inner life. It is true that with age this habit is diminishing-as if, with age, my life is sufficient material unto itself an doesn't require any further comparison with other lives. But this is very recent. When I was younger I devoured them-indiscriminately-concerned, at first, only with the person's love life: the great love of their existence...how it turned out, what joy and sorrow it brought...I think i was preparing myself for a great love, storing up information on how to behave when it finally came along...[...] So when the 'love interest' subsided, I turned to memoirs for strength, just as if I were asking someone to show me, show me how to fight loneliness and anxiety and fear and insecurity." ('Notes From A Black Woman's Diary', 42-43). I think this also speaks to why I found her diary entries to be so captivating. And true to form they were by far my favorite section. The nosy person in me wanted more letters and diary entries along with the short stories ('The Reading' in this collection was great and I loved most of the stories in her previous book).
I was unable to keep my mind from wandering while I read the screenplays, they're long and I think my mind isn't built to concentrate and visualize like that. However I do really want to watch 'Losing Ground'. It is also worth noting that I'd never read a screenplay before and many of the abbreviations and directors notes went over my head. I also ultimately would say I'm still glad the screenplays were included because they serve as yet another testament to how versatile a writer Collins was. This collection might also have one of my favorite intros of all time, I am eagerly awaiting Danielle Evans' next book/short story collection and she was the perfect choice to introduce this collection. Like many newfound fans I mourn this literary talent we lost too soon but am exceedingly grateful that we have been given the opportunity to rediscover her work and give her the appreciation she deserved in her lifetime. I am an unabashed Kathleen Collins fan and I hope we get to see more of her unpublished works and her unique characters; artsy bourgeoise intellectual Black women with vibrant love affairs.
I was stunned by how deeply this resonated with me and also accurately summed up a feeling I'd had but never been able to express. "I have always liked to read memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, always been interested in the inner life. It is true that with age this habit is diminishing-as if, with age, my life is sufficient material unto itself an doesn't require any further comparison with other lives. But this is very recent. When I was younger I devoured them-indiscriminately-concerned, at first, only with the person's love life: the great love of their existence...how it turned out, what joy and sorrow it brought...I think i was preparing myself for a great love, storing up information on how to behave when it finally came along...[...] So when the 'love interest' subsided, I turned to memoirs for strength, just as if I were asking someone to show me, show me how to fight loneliness and anxiety and fear and insecurity." ('Notes From A Black Woman's Diary', 42-43). I think this also speaks to why I found her diary entries to be so captivating. And true to form they were by far my favorite section. The nosy person in me wanted more letters and diary entries along with the short stories ('The Reading' in this collection was great and I loved most of the stories in her previous book).