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A review by rainmisoa
The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Wow... just wow... this book is incredible! I loved everything about it. The writing, the story, the characters, the diversity, the creativity, all of it. I've always loved Monae's work. Her music is always so deep in its meaning, in what she is trying to say. So I've wanted to read her book the moment I first saw her Dirty Computer short film. I loved that she wrote a book that expanded the universe she created in that movie.
Each short story was told exceptionally well. You can feel the horror that many of these characters had to face because of how strict and controlling everything was. But there was always a sense of hope wrapped into these stories. A message of if you are willing to fight back, you can get through anything. I loved that even though there was a lot of strife, Monae found a way to bring love into this bleak world. It really does give you a sense of empowerment, that one day we may be able to live in a world where there isn't any discrimination of any kind.
I do have one minor complaint about the audiobook, however. I listened to the audiobook as I read along with the physical book and I noticed some discrepancies. Especially in the second story in the collection. The story centers around a character that uses they/them pronouns and as such, in the physical book, the writing included a lot of gender neutral terms to refer to people. Like saying group or occupants to refer to people. However, the audiobook would replace those words with women making it appear as if everyone in attendance were identifying themselves as women and that's not the case. It's also very troubling that the audiobook kept saying "women" seeing as how the whole point of the story is to call out TERFs. It was just disheartening to hear the audiobook read in that way. Not to mention that the audiobook I was listening to claimed that it was the "unabridged" version yet there were sections of the physical book that were skipped over in the audiobook. If I wasn't reading the physical book along with listening to the audiobook, I would not have been aware to the nuances of the story. Some people do not have the privilege to read the physical book and can only rely on the audiobook which means they will miss out on parts of the story. I am just disappointed that the audiobook had such discrepancies in it.
Other than the audiobook, the physical book is incredibly well done. As I said earlier, I have no complaints about this book. Each short story is unique and fits this world Monae created so well. I am looking forward to any other books Monae may write in the future. If you love sci-fi, dystopian worlds, queer love, hope for the future, then read this book! You will have such a great time! Might want to skip on the audiobook, though.
Each short story was told exceptionally well. You can feel the horror that many of these characters had to face because of how strict and controlling everything was. But there was always a sense of hope wrapped into these stories. A message of if you are willing to fight back, you can get through anything. I loved that even though there was a lot of strife, Monae found a way to bring love into this bleak world. It really does give you a sense of empowerment, that one day we may be able to live in a world where there isn't any discrimination of any kind.
I do have one minor complaint about the audiobook, however. I listened to the audiobook as I read along with the physical book and I noticed some discrepancies. Especially in the second story in the collection. The story centers around a character that uses they/them pronouns and as such, in the physical book, the writing included a lot of gender neutral terms to refer to people. Like saying group or occupants to refer to people. However, the audiobook would replace those words with women making it appear as if everyone in attendance were identifying themselves as women and that's not the case. It's also very troubling that the audiobook kept saying "women" seeing as how the whole point of the story is to call out TERFs. It was just disheartening to hear the audiobook read in that way. Not to mention that the audiobook I was listening to claimed that it was the "unabridged" version yet there were sections of the physical book that were skipped over in the audiobook. If I wasn't reading the physical book along with listening to the audiobook, I would not have been aware to the nuances of the story. Some people do not have the privilege to read the physical book and can only rely on the audiobook which means they will miss out on parts of the story. I am just disappointed that the audiobook had such discrepancies in it.
Other than the audiobook, the physical book is incredibly well done. As I said earlier, I have no complaints about this book. Each short story is unique and fits this world Monae created so well. I am looking forward to any other books Monae may write in the future. If you love sci-fi, dystopian worlds, queer love, hope for the future, then read this book! You will have such a great time! Might want to skip on the audiobook, though.