Elisa Romagnoli
What a delightful tale with interwoven moving parts that come together wonderfully at the end. I enjoyed how the psychology of different people and places (as an extension of the people) shaped every facet of the story. It made the characters and the ways they worked together all the richer.
Powerful story of courage and strength.
It took courage to go through the healing process, to go and live with family that he'd never met before; to go to America and speak (even though his uncle didn't believe in him); and when the rebels attacked again to leave the country for a better life because even though his friends around him gave in to becoming soldiers again, he realized he didn't want that for his life and he realized he wanted better for himself.
Makes a few of fatphobic, classist and lowkey racist remarks in some places and smart, interesting notations on history in others. Made it a rollercoaster of a read. Also failed to recognize the israeli/british invasion of palestine. And completely ignores immigration and refuges in his analysis of peace. Also completely ignores the threat of climate change. These deliberately ignored subjects would give a more naunced take on his conclusions about the modern world.
Too long. Protagonist is antagonizingly stupid. And they keep trying to preach the meaning of life.
I did not want to finish this book. Sooo boring.
As womanist thought flourishes under the hands of its caretakers it expands in its meanings and its application for persons reading, writing and utilizing it. In ‘Ain't I a Womanist, Too?' Coleman ponders what it meant to be a womanist through the question ‘ain't I a Womanist, Too?' and how the meaning is changing. She then brings in various thinkers and writers who expand on what womanism means to them, their communities and the wider world.
The books holds within it an eclectic variety of essays that discuss, deconstruct and reconstruct topics from modern Muslim plural marriage to being a bitch (what it means and reclamation within black Christian spaces) to rap and house music.
This book took a little longer to read than I thought it would as some essays were easier to understand or read than others but I enjoyed the variety of contemplation that I saw within the book and the contemplations it has fostered within me. It was interesting to note the similarities between ‘queering' theory and thought, and womanist thought as well as their differences in handling subjects and advancing discourse.
Highly recommend so long as you have prior understanding of or knowledge within womanism in particular.
I'll return to this book often, a deep and abiding conversation with Ecclesiastes as a biblical text.
I went back in forth in deliberation over how to rate this novel. The story is fascinating in the political and socioeconomic issues it discusses and theorizes, for a quick example that comes to mind: Johnson seems to think that 3 year post high-school equitably funded government boarding schools (essentially, colleges) would be a wonderful investment of the government's money rather than prison systems and he supposes that they'll make a far greater positive impact. However Johnsons characters are all one dimensional, seemingly there to state and introduce his beliefs instead of follow or advance any sort of plot. The books pacing veers wildly back and forth from long dialogues, essays, and small bits of narrative. It's fascinating but not good. He also tacked on a random odd romance with his only female character and has appeared to have forgotten women in general in his book and the designs it exhorts for the advancement of the ‘negro problem' and the future of the US government.
If I could, I think I would rate this book three and a half stars. It's by no means good by modern standards however he posits fascinating political theories and makes excellent points on partisanship and politicians.
A survey of what history could mean for africa and what complicates ideas/designs toward the continent, it's history and it's starus.
This book was really helpful for dealing with some of my grief from the past ten years or so.
What a calming and encouraging poetry book to listen to while going throughout your day.
God is a black woman follows a black woman's journey to healing in faith practice through decolonization. Her tone was a delight to follow even through tough topics and experiences and she gave me many a quote and point to ponder in my own faith journey.
The characters are better in this book, towards the end in her monologue it does feel a bit like she doesn't have a partner to help her out at all. I feel like we don't at all explore the ways he makes things better or worse and he doesn't appear to help with housekeeping at all.
Too many sex scenes too.
But the characters and story felt richer than her previous two books in this series. Her description of autism also translated better in this book i believe than the past two, as someone without it, it gave me more clarity and insight into some of the nuances of autism for an individual without feeling like it was supposed to be any broad overgeneralizing description of every autistic person.
I liked the meandering tone that others don't seem too, as much. I also thought it was an interesting consideration of the ways that society/social circumstances pit women against each other and together and the interpersonal conflict that we see bloom from these contrived differences and boundaries.
A little preachy perhaps at parts so a star off for that.
Over all, enjoyed it though.
I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of ‘Wind, Sand and Stars' when I first started reading it. Now that I've closed it's pages, I don't love it but it's not as bad as I first thought it was. I'm giving it four stars (or maybe, three and a half) because it was a solid book with vivid descriptions, beautifully written lines, and interesting philosophical beliefs embedded in it's lines.
However, the prose and writing style that made this story so unique, may have also been it's partial downfall, in my opinion.
Reading ‘Wind, Sand and Stars' was like reading heavy poetry, the kind where you can analyse two lines and uncover an entire universe, and while it's a nice thing to have in a book, it needs to be balanced. There needs to be shorter sentences, bits of telling instead of showing; at delicate balance, I'm afraid our author tipped the scales. Instead of drawing me into his imagination and his circumstances, the pages were too slippery and I found myself falling out of the story, struggling to keep my eyes on the page and my head in the story.
It did get better -
After chapter five. In the copy I have there are only ten chapters, word of advice to writers: draw your readers into the story before it's half over.
I love the snapshots, characters, and little stories that he folds into this story. At first they didn't seem connected but I began to realize that every little story he told, gave us a vision into his worldview. His explanations for human nature, for the ways of the sky and the sea, built upon the tragedies he's seen and walked through as a pilot.
This book is a collection of stories essentially, speaking of the wonder and marvel of the world and its inhabitants. The author marvels at the people he meets and impact they make on his narrow view of the world. He talks of the dangers and troubles he saw and encountered. Then he slowly weaves it together with yarns of the magnificent world we are gifted to explore, enjoy, and care for
So yes, while there were stylized matters that bothered me, over all it was a good, solid read. I definitely recommend you read it. Even if I had only given this one star, I would still recommend you read it. It's always good to ponder another man's perspective on life.
Stay Safe.
Elisa
I love all that I learned about divorce, divorce strategies, and women detectives in mid-19th century Britain. I also enjoyed that neither the book nor the love interest were misogynistic. It was a breath of fresh air to not have to wade through misogynistic bullshit in a historical romance. However, the meat and potatoes, the writing in this book was weak. I think a couple more rounds of revision could've made this a fantastic read. There were prose issues, dialogue issues, more depth needed to be added to sentence/paragraph structure and the plot had some pacing issues. Overall not a bad book, but I also can't say that it's good, unfortunately.
As I said before, with a little more time in revision, this book could've been really good.
