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mmcloe's reviews
232 reviews
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
4.25
It's a classic for a reason and it's about time I got around to reading it. On a basic plotting/aesthetic level, it can read a bit like intergalactic CSPAN, especially the first half. I appreciate the slightly metafictional/encyclopedic quality of the different creation myths, folktales, and journal entries.
On a thematic and ideological level, it's incredibly cool to see something so old grapple with gender in such a meaningful and clear-eyed way, especially for a cis writer. The idea that gender is simultaneously a set of social/political relationships, a manifestation of erotic desire, and a series of discursive gestures that shape everything from our folklore to our interactions based on how adept we are at "reading" is explored quite excellently.
On a thematic and ideological level, it's incredibly cool to see something so old grapple with gender in such a meaningful and clear-eyed way, especially for a cis writer. The idea that gender is simultaneously a set of social/political relationships, a manifestation of erotic desire, and a series of discursive gestures that shape everything from our folklore to our interactions based on how adept we are at "reading" is explored quite excellently.
The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I don't know, it's fine. Like all of the major leftist touchpoints are there but I just can't get past the major conceit being "imagine a world where people are shamed and stigmatized for eating!!!!!" That's already here!! That's our current society!!!!
Also, fatness and fatphobia didn't really make an appearance beyond a few brief references which seems like a pretty considerable oversight when talking about food politics.
Also, fatness and fatphobia didn't really make an appearance beyond a few brief references which seems like a pretty considerable oversight when talking about food politics.
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Very very very very good
I'm still haunted by a single footnote in the middle of the novel where Simon begs the reader to not look down but to help him. I'm thinking a lot about the tension between authors, audiences, and the victims of spectacle and the ways in which the former two are responsible for harming the latter, even if passively. How can I, as a reader, possibly help Simon? And what does it mean for an author to put these characters in such a pleading position? Who are the people outside of the text who are undergoing similar violences and how can we stop them from being victimized?
I'm still haunted by a single footnote in the middle of the novel where Simon begs the reader to not look down but to help him. I'm thinking a lot about the tension between authors, audiences, and the victims of spectacle and the ways in which the former two are responsible for harming the latter, even if passively. How can I, as a reader, possibly help Simon? And what does it mean for an author to put these characters in such a pleading position? Who are the people outside of the text who are undergoing similar violences and how can we stop them from being victimized?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
The Fisher King by Paule Marshall
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Picked up a copy of this at a used book store many many years ago and just decided to read it. I like the ways that Marshall began to approach non-normative shapes of families and sexual entanglements.
I found the structure of the novel to be a bit too imprecise for my liking. Too much of an ensemble cast for an individual perspective, not polyphonic enough for something more collective.
Excited to get into Marshall's earlier works!
I found the structure of the novel to be a bit too imprecise for my liking. Too much of an ensemble cast for an individual perspective, not polyphonic enough for something more collective.
Excited to get into Marshall's earlier works!
Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach, James Laughlin
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
I've always loved and admired and tried to fashion myself after Sylvia Beach. What an incredible gift to bring together some of the most colorful and brightest minds of a generation into community with one another.
Also she spent 6 months in an internment camp and just mentions it in a sentence??? Girl are you okay???
Also she spent 6 months in an internment camp and just mentions it in a sentence??? Girl are you okay???
Tar Hollow Trans: Reflections on Culture and Identity in Appalachia by Stacy Jane Grover
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Does an excellent job at teasing out the blurry and complicated demarcations of what it means to be in "community." Very thankful for this addition to the growing body of queer appalachian scholarship and excited to see more from UK Press.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
The last two chapters were especially masterful but the whole novel was excellent. Reflections on art as resistance against settler colonialism was timely and optimistic and I always appreciate more personal accounts of the nakba and the occupation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation
Ghostly Matters: Haunting and the Sociological Imagination by Avery F. Gordon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Excellent and dense little text - I'm amazed at how well Gordon blends the otherworldly with the material and the aesthetic. I'm still thinking a lot about queer Appalachian art and the ways in which it reckons with ghosts and art to conduct a sort of folklore that envisions a utopian future, this was invaluable for that thinking.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Slavery, and Police brutality
Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia by Emily Hilliard
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Thinking through the intersections of queer Appalachian folklore, futurity, and hauntings for a paper I'm writing - this book was really helpful at synthesizing some of the major trends in critical folklore studies while also underscoring the role of the aesthetic and the material in the creation of folklore