July Book Reviews
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture (Roxane Gay)
7/10 'Those boys killed the girl I was, but they didn't kill all of me.' This book was a hard read. If asked for my straightforward opinion, I didn't enjoy it. But objectively, it's such an important book. I didn't enjoy reading such raw experiences and emotions but the fact that those kinds of feelings weren't undercut really just shows how heavy the topic is. I probably would've preferred a more clinical tone, one that laid out the facts and included some cold hard math. But really, that's the point of the book. To take a topic that a lot of people are removed from and might avoid talking about, and lay it bare.I initially thought it was an overall essay by Roxane Gay instead of the collection of essays by various people that it actually was. It really varied wildly in tone and writing voice, which I didn't really like as a reading style, but again was great for making a point that sexual trauma takes all kinds of forms and people experience it in many different ways. Sometimes stream of consciousness, sometimes metaphorical, and sometimes brutally methodical. It's a book that is necessary and deeply real, but it's not one I enjoyed reading. And maybe that's what it should be.
What Happened (Hillary Rodham Clinton)
7/10 Okay, I know the whole point of this book is politics....but honestly it's too much polisci for me. It's just so in depth and long, written less with a close, relatable voice and more of a political analyst on TV voice. There's also a lot of repetitiveness. Huge sections of the book, including the introduction, afterword and the re-edited versions, just seemed like rehashing much of the same ideas. I get that it makes sense since current events move so fast, but even with the re-edits, it just sounded like more or less the same. She also loves to use quotes. They're all good quotes, but it just takes away from the experience if the reader is feeling moved by someone else's words. There's honestly just too many, and it lends to the feeling of alienation. (Especially compared to Michelle Obama's Becoming, which is why I wanted to read this book to compare the two.) She also tries to address some of her decisions that she was criticized for but a bit more lightly than I would've hoped.Still, I can still feel that she's really an amazing woman. The book certainly feels defensive, even while repeating that she doesn't want to make excuses, but given the results I think that tone can't be helped. The way she talks about policy and her own political experiences really enforces how qualified she was to hold the positions she did, and the one she hoped to get. And good god, the criticism! The sexism! The fact that she had to check herself again and again because they weren't ready for her, whether it was in her college days or her election campaign. It's really no wonder people can't seem to relate to her, she can't seem human because she's been dragged for being human, for being too much herself. And in the book you can see her trying to be 'more real', and her frustration with all of it really comes through. 'Losing is hard for everyone, but losing a race you thought you would win is devastating.' The fact that she can be hopeful, even in writing, is a commendable feat. She wants to believe in the power of the people no matter what. and losing that kind of race and 'making a bet' that voters will care about policy more than optics is hard. I think for her to be writing about herself, she does a pretty good job talking about the aspects of the election. Like from a POV that's inherently biased, she paints a clear picture.
It's not a perfect book, and it honestly wasn't a fun reading experience. But I'm really thrown by the level of hate levered at her. She's such a wildly polarizing figure to people apparently on both sides of the political spectrum and I can't really understand why. I feel like there are worst people out there, but just the amount of hate she gets is kind of incredible. She was also pretty down to earth about who she is and what people think of her in the book. It's a tough thing to come to terms too. "Moreover, I have come to terms with the fact that a lot of people - millions and millions of people -decided they just didn't like me. Imagine what that feels like. It hurts. And it's a hard thing to accept. But there's no getting around it."
In conclusion, I really won't recommend this book to people who aren't interested in politics, especially American politics. I'm not sure what I think about her in terms of 'likability'. But I think she's a strong, educated woman who's been through a crazy amount of stuff and managed to come out on her own terms. Her perspective is a needed one and her story is definitely one for the history books. "This was worth it. I will never think otherwise. This fight was worth it."
0 comments:
Post a Comment