oh this book made my heart and mind feel full simultaneously.
Life is still very hectic atm. I started at The Guardian on Monday !! and I'm moving to Loh this book made my heart and mind feel full simultaneously.
Life is still very hectic atm. I started at The Guardian on Monday !! and I'm moving to London next week !!! but I've been reading chapters of short books here and there, one being Pure Colour by Sheila Heti.
Short but mighty, you could easily read this one in an afternoon, but I took my time, rereading sentences in pure amazement, other times pausing and thinking until the meaning hit me. The words themselves were simple but packed full of meaning: and that's what I found fascinating. This book felt intimate, speaking about private joys and personal melancholy. The feelings and thoughts we all feel and think but are rarely candid about lay bare on every page. It made me reflect on what I should really focus my attention on and give my entire heart while also reminding me to appreciate the small things in daily life and the beauty found within them.
I wish I could articulate what this book was about, but the synopsis, “Pure Color is a galaxy of a novel, explosive, celestially bright, huge, and streaked with beauty", sums it up perfectly. This book is bizarre, metaphorical, philosophical, surrealist, biblical, cosmically explosive. Quote time:
"...those eight billion people have won the lottery. And the worst part is that nobody realises that! They don't realize what a rare opportunity they have to observe the universe"
"She felt so alone in those days. Not that she minded. It is only when you get older that everyone makes you feel bad about being alone, or implies that spending time with other people is somehow better, because it proves you to be likeable."
"Here we are, just living in the credits at the end of the movie. Everyone wants to see their name up on a screen. And whoever wants it is capable of putting it there. That is the work we are doing collectively now: just putting our names up on a screen. We have been given the technology for this one minor thing, here at the very end of the world, this one consolation, this booby-prize."
“For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it”...more
“The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” "This is not our world with trees in“The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” "This is not our world with trees in it. It's a world of trees, where humans have just arrived.” The Overstory begins with eight seemingly unrelated short stories surrounding a host of distinct characters. Their worlds slowly interconnect, the roots of their stories growing into each other. Yet what follows isn't a character-driven narrative but a treatise on environmental activism and a love story to the wonder of trees. Powers writing is undeniably beautiful. The amount of detail that Powers packs into every page is impressive. And the thematic complexity which he achieves through deft anthropomorphic symbolism and exploration of human nature is incredible. And yet, there are only so many loving descriptions of trees a person can take after a while. I wrote about climate fiction in my dissertation, so I've grown to relish odes to scenery and nature. But in this 500+ paged novel, these descriptions became repetitive, and eventually, the novel became, well, less engaging. What Powers does achieve is an exploration of humankind's failures or attempts to act and care in the face of ecological collapse. Many of our characters protest against deforestation and clear-cutting, dedicating themselves to protecting the trees against corporations. They are caught by sabotage and low blows, by loopholes and hypocrisy. Powers forces readers to see that earth belongs to the forests, not to us, despite our attempts to wipe them down. And there lies the crux of the novel: eco-anger. Nevertheless, the Overstory is a heavy hitter. A celebration of the natural world is what Powers wanted to deliver, and he delivered it excellently. If you're looking for a fast-paced novel, this won't be for you. But if you're craving a slow, lush, meditative read with awe-inspiring descriptions of the natural world, you will soak this one up....more
"They acted as if once you understood what was tormenting you, you could get rid of the memories. But you couldn’t. The memories always would be there"They acted as if once you understood what was tormenting you, you could get rid of the memories. But you couldn’t. The memories always would be there, hurting you."
After months of turbulent reading amid moving to London and starting a new job, The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois is complete, and what a ride. The scope of Honoree Fanonne Jeffers' debut is astounding, chronicling several generations, what it is to be a woman, American history, and how one girl honours her ancestors.
Multi-generational, character-driven novels are my bag, and I found this family history profoundly moving. Jeffers intersperses poetic 'Songs' throughout Ailey's story, which reveal the complicated inter-generational heritage of her Black American ancestry through centuries of a troubling and all too real American history.
I loved Ailey. She carries her sass and feistiness from childhood to her thirties while searching for a sense of belonging and identity. However, her stubborness acts as a blanket covering her internal struggle with her traumatic past. Literature, specifically The Color Purple, is her comfort blanket, as Aretha Franklin is for her mom.
Meanwhile, Ailey's great Uncle Root may be one of my all-time favourite characters, always primed with a story to tell, true or from the depths of his swirling imagination.
Rife with lush descriptions of food, this book will make you peckish. From Mrs. Garfield's collard greens and grits, morning pancakes and banana bread to Christmas dinner and a blueberry muffin and sandwich for school lunches, the ritual of eating unites family in the face of unbearable repression, grief, loss, abuse and other life challenges.
Unfortunately, I found the last quarter to dip. We lose the drama around Ailey's love life and her family and step into pages upon pages of history. Wow it took me a while. Nevertheless, it wrapped up perfectly. Love Songs is a book that demands committment from the reader - it's a big mountain to climb - but it's a rewarding journey and a true literary triumph....more
Down to its choppy style and lack of narrative, Weather won’t be to everyone’s taste. But I thought it was brilliant. This novel is reflective of oDown to its choppy style and lack of narrative, Weather won’t be to everyone’s taste. But I thought it was brilliant. This novel is reflective of our anxious times, told through the perspective of Lizzie, a librarian mum and sister. Weather is a moving book, crafted from layers of imagery and small stories: Lizzie trying to raise a child in a world facing a crisis, her brother dealing with addiction, the charismatic Sylvia hosting a climate change podcast called 'Hell or High Water'. These plot threads unfold through droplets of Lizzie's thoughts. She's reflective, witty, and finds herself hoping she can make a dent in the world's pain. It was a quick read and excellently written - I can't wait to read more of Jenny Offill's work!...more
“What does human behaviour matter,” he asks, “when Homo sapiens will have disappeared from Earth in the blink of a geological eye? Viewed from the per“What does human behaviour matter,” he asks, “when Homo sapiens will have disappeared from Earth in the blink of a geological eye? Viewed from the perspective of deserts or oceans, morality looks absurd, crushed to irrelevance. A flat ontology entices: all life is equally insignificant in the face of our eventual ruin.”...more
"leaving the house not knowing what the day might bring you, where possibilities seem infinite, where beauty and joy, too, can be endless." summer sum"leaving the house not knowing what the day might bring you, where possibilities seem infinite, where beauty and joy, too, can be endless." summer summed up
I read Open Water in a breezy 24 hours, back home in Liverpool, where I did little else but eat and have an obligatory heatwave barbecue. Although the entire book is brimming with quotable snippets and meditations, these two paragraphs stood out to me; they summarise summer stunningly.
This summer has breezed by, finding little time to be absorbed in the joy of books but equally having a wonderful whirlwind of a few months. Worries feel trivial, laughter and music an escape, yet the thick nights and desire to do nothing but sloth around have been real. 'Where has the summer gone?' has become as frequent a conversation starter as us Brits commenting on the weather. Yet after 2 years of being in and out of lockdown, it's been a special one.
That's all to say I loved this book and it was one of the few I soaked up this summer....more
Loading...
