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62nd out of 219 books
—
129 voters
The Cancer Journals
by
Audre Lorde
“Grief, terror, courage, the passion for survival and for more than survival, are here in the searchings of a great poet.”—Adrienne Rich
“This book teaches me that with one breast or none, I am still me.”—Alice Walker
“The forthrightness and ferocity with which Audre Lorde greeted every social injustice is in full force in this courageous exploration.”—Amazon.com
Moving betwe...more
Paperback, Special Edition, 104 pages
Published
September 1st 2006
by Aunt Lute Books
(first published 1980)
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I just finished reading this book yesterday evening, though I don’t know how interested I am in reading the tributes to Audre Lorde which follow the main text. This is a hard text, and the reason why I say this is because it truly is an unswerving example of practicing what you preach, what you say you believe in, and challenging others on their uncritical assumptions and givens.
Again, I am so interested in the various permutations of enforced silences, how clearly she articulates these silences...more
Again, I am so interested in the various permutations of enforced silences, how clearly she articulates these silences...more
Feb 21, 2007
Nicholas I. Wiggins
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone
Shelves:
fav-from-school
i read this in a Af-Am lit course in college and was floored. I wasn't expecting to be moved by it but was tremendously moved by her journey through cancer and a mastectomy. I believe I even had a better understanding of women after reading this book.
I remember hearing of Audre's death sixteen years ago. I sank to the floor and sobbed, the only time I have ever reacted that way to the death of someone I had never met. This was written fourteen years prior to her death, when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. As always, I am awed by her strength and the strength she gained from other women. If you have someone in your life facing breast cancer, buy them this book. Audre came to a powerful conclusion when she wrot...more
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Post-mastectomy reflections and journal entries from the former Poet Laureate. This is gorgeous, unsurprisingly. It's raw and pained and unapologetic about
both. But it also bothered me on a fundamental level, which I finally identified as the same place that will never be able to align itself with traditional feminism. Lorde's story is partly about a woman who refused to settle for prosthesis after her breast was removed, who believes that women don't need to have two breasts to be beautiful, th...more
both. But it also bothered me on a fundamental level, which I finally identified as the same place that will never be able to align itself with traditional feminism. Lorde's story is partly about a woman who refused to settle for prosthesis after her breast was removed, who believes that women don't need to have two breasts to be beautiful, th...more
I wrote this reflection before my grandmother died in 2006.
Beyond its status as a personal account of coming to terms with an illness, Lorde’s Cancer Journals struck me as serving a practical purpose for me, as a woman with breast cancer in my family. It’s certainly relevant to me right now for the ways in which she discusses the invisibility of breast cancer, the ways in which women are encouraged to hide both the illness and outcome of mastectomy. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cance...more
Beyond its status as a personal account of coming to terms with an illness, Lorde’s Cancer Journals struck me as serving a practical purpose for me, as a woman with breast cancer in my family. It’s certainly relevant to me right now for the ways in which she discusses the invisibility of breast cancer, the ways in which women are encouraged to hide both the illness and outcome of mastectomy. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cance...more
I was introduced to the work of Audre Lorde by a professor friend at Pitt who teaches several courses on her work. I studied it as rhetoric, however to read her writing for any purpose is an indescribable experience. Brilliance.
I revisited her work and this particular book when I was also diagnosed with breast cancer and was forced to face the painful decisions this diagnosis brings with it. How does one view a mastectomy? Would it be a life-saving experience or a rape of my body image? And why...more
I revisited her work and this particular book when I was also diagnosed with breast cancer and was forced to face the painful decisions this diagnosis brings with it. How does one view a mastectomy? Would it be a life-saving experience or a rape of my body image? And why...more
This book literally changed my life. I know that sounds a little cliche, but it was incredible to know the thoughts and feelings of one of the most influential queer writers of my time. I wish I was alive for more of her life. I wish I could have mourned her.
This book also changed my ideas on breast cancer. Since 50% of women get breast cancer, there is a good chance that my wife or I will get it. Reading this book makes me fear this disease less, and know that even if the worst happens, I, too,...more
This book also changed my ideas on breast cancer. Since 50% of women get breast cancer, there is a good chance that my wife or I will get it. Reading this book makes me fear this disease less, and know that even if the worst happens, I, too,...more
I cannot imagine going through breast cancer when Audre Lorde did; I thank her for being one of the women who made it okay for me to talk openly about my experiences and serving as an example of the courage it takes to get through this ordeal while being true to yourself.
I know that Ms. Lorde is coming from a very different perspective than am I, but I take issue with several things she says. I understand her criticisms of breast reconstruction, especially in light of her own experiences (which...more
I know that Ms. Lorde is coming from a very different perspective than am I, but I take issue with several things she says. I understand her criticisms of breast reconstruction, especially in light of her own experiences (which...more
Update: Currently re-reading this because I needed a little more undauntable audre in my life right now. So. much. love.
I have the original version of this book, not the new edition with the tributes, so I'm writing this here so that I have it later:
"I grew up by the Mississippi River. Hell, for most of my life I've lived within 70 miles of that river. Not next to her, mind you -- I've never lived in a river town. But by her. Not close enough to know her intimately: her daily changes, her season...more
I have the original version of this book, not the new edition with the tributes, so I'm writing this here so that I have it later:
"I grew up by the Mississippi River. Hell, for most of my life I've lived within 70 miles of that river. Not next to her, mind you -- I've never lived in a river town. But by her. Not close enough to know her intimately: her daily changes, her season...more
I was interviewing for a summer day camp counselor job in college and just finished reading this book. The interview for the job was terrible; three typical, bubbly camp counselor types asking the worst questions. For example: "What Disney character would you be and why?"
The last (also terrible, but predictable) question they asked: "If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be?" I finally decided on Audre Lorde whose Cancer Journals I had just read in a class.
I lov...more
The last (also terrible, but predictable) question they asked: "If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be?" I finally decided on Audre Lorde whose Cancer Journals I had just read in a class.
I lov...more
Oct 12, 2011
Heather
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those interested in narrative medicine & other public health folks
I wanted to read this book for a long time and never had a chance. Oddly enough, I finally read the book in a doctoral course on the erotic imagination. Lorde is a stunningly beautiful writer and this thin text is plump and lush with layers of narrative, social issues, sensuality, pain, and much more. It is a moving, beautiful read and provides so much context for her essay "Uses of the Erotic" which she wrote during her battle with cancer.
I haven't read anything by Audre Lorde before I read the The Cancer Journals. What amazing woman and writer. I appreciated her very personal viewpoint about having breast cancer as a breast cancer survivor myself. The issues and questions that she brings up are still relevant today for anyone having to deal with breast cancer.
My tattered copy of this book has been with me most of my life. I read it before I got breast cancer. Found it on a shelf at the old St. Mark's Bookshop. Twenty years later I re-read it during my treatment. Tonight, another thirteen years later, I read it again.
Thank you, Audre.
Thank you, Audre.
When I started reading the first page of this book, I was haunted because I had already known the fate of Audre Lorde. Death reads over your shoulder as your reading this book. And I believe that Death was in the hospital room with Lorde post-surgery. While reading I felt that after the removal of her breast, she began to die. I admire her for fighting the difference in her mind, heart and soul and for accepting, no, embracing a reincarnation of herself.
B+ Lorde documenting her journey with cancer…fascinating, but at times, I wanted more details. She has such a strong reaction to the insistence that she wear a fake breast after her masectomy.
It's a diary and not fiction, so not as interesting as her other books. She had a harder life with Almanzo than she thought she would
This work really emphasizes and combats the silence that exists in so many areas of our lives. It addresses the pain of cancer and how to deal with it to have power and overcome. Audre Lorde along with providing an account of her own life and position as "black lesbian feminist warrior poet" reaches out to women all over to help them gain insight into the power which they can have. She speaks of acceptance and of what can be done in order to improve many of the systems of power that our society...more
"And, of course, I am afraid - you can hear it in my voice - because the transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation and that always seems fraught with danger. But my daughter said, 'Tell them about how you're never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there's always that one little piece inside of you that wants to be spoken out, and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter and hotter and if you don't speak it out one day i...more
Thoughtful. Inspires courage. Race, gender, mortality, bravery.
"transforming silence into speech and action"
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Everyone should read this book.
pure audre genius...
Jan 14, 2010
Carrie Pirmann
added it
memoir
read
I am using this as a piece for my master's paper because lorde's voice is actually one of few who in detail speaks of her exeprience not only with cancer, but the medical establishment, her breasts, her love of and community of women, and her mood. a 76 page fountain of deep exploration into these important topics for a patient's life that I am using as an illness narrative and applying it to narrative therapy for problems related to health issues.
Some beautiful moments but not really what I was expecting...
I was expecting a journal that took the reader through her experiences... This was really a few excerpts from her journal and then expounding on those excerpts at what felt like a much later time. A bit disappointing especially when I think of how much texts like Zami: A New Spelling of My Name and Sister Outsider have impacted my life and my scholarship.
I was expecting a journal that took the reader through her experiences... This was really a few excerpts from her journal and then expounding on those excerpts at what felt like a much later time. A bit disappointing especially when I think of how much texts like Zami: A New Spelling of My Name and Sister Outsider have impacted my life and my scholarship.
The most empowering thing I could read right now. Audre Lorde both validates what I've felt and inspires me to grow.
This is Lorde’s captivating and insightful journal of her struggle with breast cancer – she speaks of the fear, the rage, and the sorrow. Most striking was her single mastectomy and the way she was treated by her physicians and other hospital workers following it.
Oct 14, 2008
Satia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
cancer survivors, cancer caretakers, lesbian
I love Audre Lorde's poetry and wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy this book. VERY PROVOCATIVE. A great book for discussion. Here's my full review.
http://satia.blogspot.com/2008/10/can...
http://satia.blogspot.com/2008/10/can...
I've always kind of felt that Lorde wouldn't like me, that she'd think I was too silly or something. Yes, I think about these things. I, however, found this collection gripping. What a hard, strong woman she was.
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Lorde's poetry was published very regularly during the 1960s — in Langston Hughes' 1962 New Negro Poets, USA; in several foreign anthologies; and in black literary magazines. During this time, she was politically active in civil rights, anti-war, and feminist movements. Her first volume of poetry, The First Cities (1968), was published by the Poet's Press and edited by Diane di Prima, a former cla...more
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“My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. But for every real word spoken, for every attempt I had ever made to speak those truths for which I am still seeking, I had made contact with other women while we examined the words to fit a world in which we all believed, bridging our differences.”
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50 people liked it
“What is there possibly left for us to be afraid of, after we have dealt face to face with death and not embraced it? Once I accept the existence of dying as a life process, who can ever have power over me again?”
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18 people liked it
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Nov 18, 2008 07:01am