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A review by catisbookish
Rehearsals for Living by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Robyn Maynard
3.75
So many deeply interesting and important conversations and discussions in this book. Reading this now, in the state the world is in, was particularly relevant. Seeing activism and the movements against racism, sexism, capitalism, and so many more as world-building or creating a new world to live in was such a beautiful way of putting it. “There are some world endings that I am comfortable with” will stick with me for a long time.
However, the way this was written was simply not for me. At times, I found the writing deeply insightful and quite beautiful, but most times I found the language overly complex and repetitive. The words “futurities” and “relationalities” were used so often and in cases were I felt it would be better to use “the futures of” or “relations/in relation to/relationships” simply because it sounds more natural. Probably a dumb critique on my part but the use of language in this book really took me out of the narrative a lot and began to get on my nerves.
Also, I listened to the audiobook and I really wish I had just read a physical copy. The audiobook is not well narrated, which is really unfortunate because I loved the idea of Robyn and Leanne having this conversation with each other and I thought the audiobook would add to that experience. Unfortunately, the narration felt extremely stilted and unnatural, especially when Leanne was narrating. So with that said, I might revisit this book in the future and read the physical copy.
But overall, if you’re Canadian and want to have a better understanding of our society, how the COVID-19 pandemic was (and still is) disproportionately affecting racialized folks, if you want to better understand the interconnectedness of the Black Lives Matter and the Indigenous Land Back movement throughout history and in the modern day, and how, most importantly, Canada as a governmental body and system needs to be torn down in order to be rebuilt into a more inclusive, compassionate, anti-capitalist, anti-racist society in which we could all thrive, then I think this book is well worth the read.
However, the way this was written was simply not for me. At times, I found the writing deeply insightful and quite beautiful, but most times I found the language overly complex and repetitive. The words “futurities” and “relationalities” were used so often and in cases were I felt it would be better to use “the futures of” or “relations/in relation to/relationships” simply because it sounds more natural. Probably a dumb critique on my part but the use of language in this book really took me out of the narrative a lot and began to get on my nerves.
Also, I listened to the audiobook and I really wish I had just read a physical copy. The audiobook is not well narrated, which is really unfortunate because I loved the idea of Robyn and Leanne having this conversation with each other and I thought the audiobook would add to that experience. Unfortunately, the narration felt extremely stilted and unnatural, especially when Leanne was narrating. So with that said, I might revisit this book in the future and read the physical copy.
But overall, if you’re Canadian and want to have a better understanding of our society, how the COVID-19 pandemic was (and still is) disproportionately affecting racialized folks, if you want to better understand the interconnectedness of the Black Lives Matter and the Indigenous Land Back movement throughout history and in the modern day, and how, most importantly, Canada as a governmental body and system needs to be torn down in order to be rebuilt into a more inclusive, compassionate, anti-capitalist, anti-racist society in which we could all thrive, then I think this book is well worth the read.