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hetauuu 's review for:
This Mournable Body
by Tsitsi Dangarembga
I did not actually realise that This Mournable Body is part of a series until I looked up Dangarembga on Wikipedia. This bold slice-of-life novel stands well on its own too, though, so I doubt my reading experience was hindered by not having read the two previous books in the series - though I'm sure having done so would have deepened my understanding of our main character, Tambudzai.
This Mournable Body is a clear-eyed look at the often hollow promise of upwards mobility and success, an exploration of mental health, women in the workplace, and the meaning of family at the crossroads of success and work-life-balance. Tambudzai is a strong main character, which is a great feat of Dangarembga's writing as the entire novel is written in second person - in a way, Tambu is you, yet she is still Tambu in her own right. The lines between Tambu and the reader are blurred, sure, but they're still not nonexistent, and while the second person narration brings you closer to being her voice, it is still distinct enough to forefront Tambu's story. At first, I really struggled with the narrating style, but after a while it became a natural part of the book and did not bother me that much.
While I really adored Tambu as a character, I ultimately think This Mournable Body could have done with some editing down. Dangarembga approaches her themes and topics with grace, but I feel like this would have been a much more impactful reading experience if it did not contain as much as it did, which would have given space for the plot points and themes to grow more naturally. There is also a lack of a feeling of continuity in the plot that made this book feel rather disjointed to me, which is interesting because Dangarembga definitely does not just drop things and leave them as they lay, but in the end the structure of the novel is so that things feel abandoned in a way.
Overall, This Mournable Body is a strong 3-star read for me, and one that might benenit from a reread in the future. I enjoyed a lot of things in this novel, but other aspects left me wanting more, so I think 3 stars is the perfect representation of how I feel about this one.
This Mournable Body is a clear-eyed look at the often hollow promise of upwards mobility and success, an exploration of mental health, women in the workplace, and the meaning of family at the crossroads of success and work-life-balance. Tambudzai is a strong main character, which is a great feat of Dangarembga's writing as the entire novel is written in second person - in a way, Tambu is you, yet she is still Tambu in her own right. The lines between Tambu and the reader are blurred, sure, but they're still not nonexistent, and while the second person narration brings you closer to being her voice, it is still distinct enough to forefront Tambu's story. At first, I really struggled with the narrating style, but after a while it became a natural part of the book and did not bother me that much.
While I really adored Tambu as a character, I ultimately think This Mournable Body could have done with some editing down. Dangarembga approaches her themes and topics with grace, but I feel like this would have been a much more impactful reading experience if it did not contain as much as it did, which would have given space for the plot points and themes to grow more naturally. There is also a lack of a feeling of continuity in the plot that made this book feel rather disjointed to me, which is interesting because Dangarembga definitely does not just drop things and leave them as they lay, but in the end the structure of the novel is so that things feel abandoned in a way.
Overall, This Mournable Body is a strong 3-star read for me, and one that might benenit from a reread in the future. I enjoyed a lot of things in this novel, but other aspects left me wanting more, so I think 3 stars is the perfect representation of how I feel about this one.