Aimz

Not What U Wanna Hear, But Ttuth

Reviewed: 04-24-24

Ms Dunbar-Ortiz has offered up another well-written set of histories that challange the myths & propaganda served up constantly in the USA to maintain the claim of ‘Exceptionalism’ that serves only the uppermost ownership class.

By showing how the settler-colonial origins of the USA created a military fiscal state that thrives only on war & exploitation, this book offers readers another chance to remove the blinders & instead envision a future that is aware of the true past and chooses not to perpetuate the behaviours that have brought us to this rapidly unfolding dystopia.

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Colonialism Is The Real Villain

Reviewed: 03-08-24

I haven’t read much about the Māori people but this book made for a wonderful primer of key cultural points.

Although i have doubts about the effectiveness of love & words in dismantling a system built on violence where words have been used mostly to justify the actions of colonizers all over the world, this novel did paint a picture of how personal forgiveness should be sought & given & backed by actions that actually mean that the same offense will not be made by that person.

The narrators were wonderful & the fluent use of te reo Māori made the book shine even brighter as performed.

Also loved that the characters were multi-generational, allowing for many povs of the same situation. This really filled out the dimensions of the story as too often, making room for alternate views that felt truly organic & unforced.

all in all, 10/10 - would highly recommend :)

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Tech Will Not Save Us

Reviewed: 02-04-24

… tho Ms Alderman spins a alternate path that uses tech in some pro-human ways, stating clearly how this is only possible of the goalnos NOT to make more money. She saves all with the last chapter: an uncomfortable dose of more-likely reality, not a happy ending, but not an absolute ending.

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Had To Listen Again

Reviewed: 04-04-23

Listened to this when it first came oit and wanted to listen again as it’s moved onto the screens. Also, Adjoa Andoh is one of my fave readers & I love how she fleshes out characters for me with her vocal facility.

I’d listened to the whole thing the first time before I realized the author had also written the beautiful Disobedience. She knows her way around religion & gender & sex & her way of giving us a story that shows how all are so improperly tied up with power and the abuses of same … make me glad I’m a godless heathen so I can at least avoid one of those traps.

I find it interesting that Barack Obama liked this book so much, but then again he is a true believer in politics as the art of the possible that the not very encouraging direction the story rolls in probably lets him feel good about his top-down view of the world. Hurt people hurt people and violence is the only things most people understand has been how much of the ‘civilized’ world has run for a couple of millenia … I can’t argue with the author’s take that humans just can’t get past that. Still, smaller groups of humans have found better ways of doing things throughout time - maybe after our own etch-a-sketch reset those groups will find better purchase despite the fact that revenge can pass for justice if you squint hard enough.

Alderman’s tale is full of Power and Revenge, tho’ I realized on the second reading that at least one character foregoes a final revenge and I would like to think that that is a tale that could be passed on through the ages as easily as so many other, less helpful ones.

It’ll be interesting to see what themes the screen version will focus on …

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Short But Deep

Reviewed: 01-08-21

This is an almost leisurely walk through a couple of African-American lives in the early 20th century and what it cost to live them. The end is left as a bit of mystery which suits me fine (unless I'm willfully choosing not to see what actually happened).

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17 people found this helpful

¡Hola, Primo!

Reviewed: 01-05-21

Tho' the hard "d"s in "Madre" were like nails on a chalkboard, Brammer's family history in 6 dishes was a great listen and just what I needed at this moment. As a chicanx whose parents also didn't insist on making her learn spanish (and were fine with my taking russian instead in 6th grade) but whose New Mexican & Mexican grandparents spoke spanish almost exclusively; whose ma was not kitchen-oriented; whose cousins run the gamut from Fenty low-100s to mid-300s; whose nuclear family in general exudes the warmth of Victorian English families (and not the Cratchits) seen on PBS - Bammer's experience is something I can relate to as we both seem more willing to seek out what was not always there to fully absorb when we were younger. Also, his realization of how not experiencing his grandmother's poverty had made understanding, among other things, her need to 'save' everything harder was especially important for me to hear: poverty was part of both of my parents' young lives & I need to constantly remember to have some patience while working on clearing out (purging) space for my niece in my parents' house now that only my ma & aunt are there (note: ma's fam say uncles & aunts, da's fam say tíos y tías).

Ignore the haters, this is a great listen - especially for those of us whose lives & cultural experiences are soooo different from those our parents & grandparents lived not that long ago.

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1 person found this helpful

And Now For Something Completely Different

Reviewed: 09-15-19

It’s almost YA, in a good way since it’s the young who have the energy/ability to do the physical. It saves a great character from the pathetic backstory given on the TV series. It answers a lot of questions ... AND it provides us with a 13th Symposium that addresses many of the failings in academia that were exposed at the 12th.

Written for the world we’re in now, i personally found it as satisfying as an excellent dessert after a challenging meal. Or as revenge served very very cold and at great cost, but enjoyed by other diners who lacked the luck & stony resolve to create such a ruthless masterpiece.

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10 people found this helpful

Ya Gotta Read The Book

Reviewed: 06-09-19

I’m sure the tv series will be interesting, but the book is an entirely different animal & Kate Mulhrew’s reading is spot-on perfect. i actually just listened to it for the second time & still got caught up in the emotional scenes, even tho’ i knew they were coming.

So, please, do yourself a favour & visit Christmasland as it was originally imagined & meet Vic and Maggie as they were conceived - they may not be Hollywood Pretty, but they have some character depth that may not translate onto a screen with the same force it will into your imagination.

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Not for the Feint of Feline Heart

Reviewed: 06-17-18

An excellent collection of mostly modern tales with felines of some shape or shade atbthe heart of them. Some do, however, reflect on humans less than caring behaviours towards these beautiful creatures - a couple are quite violent, but in service to the story being told.

For the mature cat fancier, this is a tasty smorgasbord of small bites and near-entrées served up to delight those who savour all things remotely related to Family Felidae (including one of the House Smilodon).

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1 person found this helpful

RequiredReding

Reviewed: 04-07-16

Live in the US? You ought to read this book.

Interested in the human condition? You ought to read this book.

Have a pulse and a mind? You really ought to read this book.

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