sariandtherevolution's reviews
138 reviews

A Decolonial Feminism by Françoise Vergès

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

Introductory text to decolonial feminism. I probably would have found it more interesting if I hadn’t minored in Gender & Diversity or was pursuing a master’s in Postcolonial Studies.

A Tempest by Aimé Césaire

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book is much more than a simple narration of the transformations Maggie Nelson experiences during her pregnancy, when giving birth, and at the start of her husband's hormonal replacement therapy. What she gives us, as she calls it, is a memoir in drag: she is in drag as a mother, and she is in drag as a married person in a straight-passing queer relationship (Vice, 2018). She writes about bodies and becoming, specifically about bodies, objects, lives, and ideas being replaced bit by bit until they constitute something different. The author, thus, daringly speaks of and analyzes experiences and feelings of mergings and separations.

Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

It is insightful to learn about the history of illness metaphors to be able to unlearn culturally and socially acquired harmful thought patterns that lead us to act and react in extreme ways: totally disregarding prognostics and medical advice due to fatalistic framings of illnesses. The book limits its analysis to the (white Christian) European and North American contexts throughout different historical periods. The author only briefly mentions a generalized idea of "the" (and not "an") African metaphorical framing of certain viruses and illnesses such as AIDS, syphillys, TB and cancer; failing to underline a variety of culturally contextual and relevant responses to deseases. It would have also been interesting to read about how the infected/ill patients resist(ed) such metaphors. For example, I think Susan Sontag should have spent time explaining how queer communities organize(d), mobilize(d) and educate(d) people (and each other) to free them(selves) from metaphors that contribute to "othering" which then leads to slow death.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi

3.25

Rester barbare by Louisa Yousfi

reflective fast-paced

4.0

Inyenzi ou les cafards by Scholastique Mukasonga

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

« Inyenzi ou les Cafards » est un livre incroyablement important qui traite non pas vraiment  le génocide rwandais contre le peuple tutsi, mais sur la longue expérience de déshumanisation et d'animalisation qui a conduit à la « normalisation » de l'extermination. « Les militaires du camps de Gako étaient là pour nous rappeler constamment qui nous étions: des serpents, des Inyenzi, ces cancrelats qui n'avaient rien d'humain avec lesquels il faudrait bien en finir un jour. En attendant, la terreur était systématiquement organisée » (p. 75). Scholastique Mukasonga nous rappelle l'importance de la solidarité communautaire pour survivre psychologiquement et physiquement et résister aux déplacements forcés et aux persécutions. L'auteur souligne également l'importance culturelle de l'éducation comme forme de libération et de l'écriture comme moyen de se souvenir et d'honorer ceux qui ont été massacrés.

The Seers by Sulaiman Addonia

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

London, how freeing and confusing you are. // Hannah has time, so much of it. Time to lose herself and rediscover, reinvent and reimagine herself: “In London, and in those early weeks, I owned nothing except time, so much that I believed the Home Office was giving me time in bucketloads to drown me in it” (p.5). The body and pleasure play a central role in this book; both because it is all Hannah says she has and because they are instruments she uses to define and redefine herself: “we’re not in Europe on a quest to find alternatives to our countries lying in ruins but to construct our own in the island of our lust” (pp. 130-131). This novel explores themes of grief, war, colonialism, migration and (gender, ethnic and sexual) identities in a very beautiful, creative and poetic manner.

Touch by Adania Shibli

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0