Book Report

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

 Finding Me by Viola Davis –  A memoir by the famous actress. She has not had it easy, as she grew up in a very challenging situation. Her mother was violently abused by her father, they often had no heat or running water or food or clean clothing, as one of the few Black families in their Rhode Island town they were often subject to racism, and much more. As a teenager, Davis finds a program that exposes her to the arts, and she gets a lifeline out of there. I was struck also by Davis reminding us that 95% of actors do not work and less than 1% make more than 50K per year. I must say that Davis is a much better soul than I am. Her father abused her mother over and over again, nearly killing her more than once. Yet Davis ensures that when he is terminal, he is taken care of and when he dies, he gets a send-off worthy of a king. Like seriously, am I a monster? If this man were my dad, I wouldn’t care at all. Maybe I’ve been reading too much about patriarchy lately. In any case, I give the book a grade of 7. It was never boring though it didn’t thrill me either.

 

README.txt by Chelsea Manning – This has been on my “to read” list since it was published two years ago, and I’m finally glad I got a chance to read Manning’s memoir. Wow. She has been through hell and back. Terrible, abusive parents. Being trans in a world that hates trans people. Enlisting and experience the hell that is the military plus the hell that is a war that everyone knows we will never “win”, of seeing civilians including children killed and no one caring. And then of her seven years in in prison, some of which was in absolutely horrific conditions. In terms of this book, I give her full credit. Likely it could’ve been 500 pages but she keeps it to a crisp, fast-moving 250. I think I read it in two days. Grade: 8

 

The Lost Queen by Signe Pike –  Two reviews on the book’s jacket compare it to The Mists of Avalon, which is one of my all-time favorites. I’d say this book was beautifully written and it mostly held my interest, but it really lacked the intrigue and depths and passion of Mists. It’s the story of a woman nearly lost to history, an ancient queen of what is now Scotland. Grade: 6

 

Nevada by Imogen Binney – Published about 15 years ago, this is the tale of a trans woman named Maria who breaks up with her girlfriend, drinks too much, goes on a roadtrip, and meets someone working in a Wal-Mart and who may or may not be trans. Since it was published, it sounds like it has been viewed as a milestone of contemporary trans lit. I don’t know; as a novel it just wasn’t very good. I’ll probably forget about it in a few months. Grade: 4

 

Beyond Power by Marilyn French – Wow, this is a long review. Well, it’s a long book. I have to start with a bit of my history here. Throughout most of my life, I’ve been a feminist but the internet wasn’t a thing until I was about 21 or so. Before that, I read a lot of books and one of them was this opus. Published in 1985, it’s more than 500 pages (BIG pages with small font) long, not counting the notes pages. It’s a little-known but exhaustive history of patriarchy and how it works, the structure of power and what it looks like on a large scale throughout many different societies. A few months ago when Trump’s victory looked all but guaranteed, I decided to re-read this book, hoping to place this moment in the context of history, hoping get some insights on why it appears our cultures are always ready to self-destruct. I won’t even attempt to rehash everything in this book (the history of patriarchy isn’t a fun topic) or dissect it (given when it was published, you can be sure that doesn’t delve anywhere near enough into racism or into identities beyond the gender binary. The book is not particularly informed by the works or thoughts of Black women, though I think the writer kinda tried? I also won’t nitpick – like why are the words “nutritive” {yuck} and “felicity” in here like dozens of times, ugh come on, editor do your job!??). I should add that I read the whole book back in the day, but this go-around, I skimmed many sections. So, what did I think? Well, there’s plenty of good stuff in here. The section on ancient history is the best, and the author lays out well-reasoned thoughts on how, when, and why society moved from a more egalitarian place to patriarchy. She writes movingly about men’s experiences under patriarchy, how many of them are emotionally stunted and also constantly stymied at work, one of the few things they’ve been taught that can define them but which is also built on an oppressive foundation. The section on corporate power and corporate control over the world is more salient now than ever. It was nice to read something that took such a broad and deep look at history and culture. I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve done so. There are fascinating tidbits too. One example: cultures with the more extreme forms of patriarchy do not survive. (Like weirdly as bad as the ancient Greeks were, they were less patriarchal than the Aztecs who self-immolated much faster especially since they had so many enemies and had created their culture to be one of self-destruction. Of course now all we need is one dominating culture like North Korea or Russia or the US if Trump wins to nuke the whole world). It is always sad to read about what the human race has lost when we fell into patriarchy. (Another book I read recently, about women in the old West, talked about the Native American peoples, and how one tribe took in two white girls because they cared about people and hated to see them suffer, even when they looked like their enemies. Oh, what this planet has lost and how this species has suffered and caused suffering to other species! It’s sad also that this book itself is pretty much already in the dustbin of history even though it’s “only” 40 years old. On the other hand, I would argue that many of its ideas have survived. A lot of current books I read have an underlying understanding of patriarchy even if they don’t always use the term). Was the book useful to me in understanding why we keep trying to destroy ourselves? I guess so. In any case, things look much more hopeful now than when I first began reading the book. Sorry for the rambling review. Grade: 9