Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by emmaemmaemmaemma
Spoon River Antologia by Edgar Lee Masters
3.0
“It is all very well, but for myself I know I stirred certain vibrations in Spoon River. Which are my true epitaph, more lasting than stone.”
I am torn on my rating for this one, but inclined to rate it lower. Like all older pieces, it’s a product of it’s time, but I think in the setting of epitaphs, that made aspect of this read even more painful.
Because honestly, this book made me sad. To see even in fiction, that the women who die or live tragically, do so at the hands of men. While the men who die or live tragically, do so mostly by their own choices. The power imbalance is painful to see, knowing that it’s still there across the world today. Women suffering at the hands of men, not getting to live their true beautiful lives as they should, because the men around them see a different life for them. The deeply sad lives that these fictional women were forced into is only a very small part of this book, but the part that hurt the most.
Aside from that, it’s a fairly interesting read, but in the big wide world of books, not one I would rate especially highly in comparison. It’s still a very unique concept, but the end where it’s all supposed to come together feels disjointed, like an unearned info dump instead of an aha! I tried to keep up and note who was intertwined with who, but at a certain point, having read so many epitaphs, it stops feeling worth it, which makes the payoff of the end make less sense. Still, I did enjoy myself enough to finish it, so that has to be worth something. I’ll close with my favorite quote from the book, that single-handedly undermines the purpose of the whole thing by casting doubt on everything you’ve read so far (even though you still have a good chunk of reading left to get through)
“But still I chiseled whatever they paid me to chisel, and made myself party to the false chronicles of the stones,
Even as the historian does who writes without knowing the truth, or because he is influenced to hide it.”
I am torn on my rating for this one, but inclined to rate it lower. Like all older pieces, it’s a product of it’s time, but I think in the setting of epitaphs, that made aspect of this read even more painful.
Because honestly, this book made me sad. To see even in fiction, that the women who die or live tragically, do so at the hands of men. While the men who die or live tragically, do so mostly by their own choices. The power imbalance is painful to see, knowing that it’s still there across the world today. Women suffering at the hands of men, not getting to live their true beautiful lives as they should, because the men around them see a different life for them. The deeply sad lives that these fictional women were forced into is only a very small part of this book, but the part that hurt the most.
Aside from that, it’s a fairly interesting read, but in the big wide world of books, not one I would rate especially highly in comparison. It’s still a very unique concept, but the end where it’s all supposed to come together feels disjointed, like an unearned info dump instead of an aha! I tried to keep up and note who was intertwined with who, but at a certain point, having read so many epitaphs, it stops feeling worth it, which makes the payoff of the end make less sense. Still, I did enjoy myself enough to finish it, so that has to be worth something. I’ll close with my favorite quote from the book, that single-handedly undermines the purpose of the whole thing by casting doubt on everything you’ve read so far (even though you still have a good chunk of reading left to get through)
“But still I chiseled whatever they paid me to chisel, and made myself party to the false chronicles of the stones,
Even as the historian does who writes without knowing the truth, or because he is influenced to hide it.”