January 2021 Reads

In January of 2021 I read four books; two each of fiction and nonfiction.

Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar:
This book was far more expansive than I expected: race, gender, xenophobia, materialism, etc. It blurred the lines of truth and fiction throughout, in ever-changing proportions, a la On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. The central third seemed the most fictional, and it came through in the writing.

My scale became inflated by the end of 2021. I have tried to readjust down. 65/100

The Vegetarian, by Han Kang:
This book finally came to me from a distant library, and I jumped in. I didn’t actually know what this book was about ahead of time, and it was far more intense than expected. Broken up into three distinct sections, and I found the first third the most breathtaking. Lots to digest here. 73/100

My Story, by Rosa Parks:
Direct. Parks writes in a straightforward manner, which belies deep thought. A modern day icon of the Civil Rights movement, I was shocked by how normal her life was in the years following her act of protest. She did not make a living off of speaking and touring like one might expect, but rather went to work as a hostess at Hampton Institute and then as secretary for John Conyers, a Representative for Detroit.

Two other takeaways from this book. Parks tells now-unsurprising anecdotes of the misogyny in the movement, which we must continue to work to lessen every day. Parks also is not a disciple of non-violence, as I once expected. She finds courage in the non-violence movement, but on an individual level finds honor in whatever course of action she needs. She didn’t describe acts of violence, but at least threats of it, and saw no problem with that. 62/100

Manifestly Haraway, by Donna Haraway:
This book was challenging. Some of my reads are more academic, and this definitely is up there on that scale. The third section here was an informal interview about the first two sections, a pair of manifestos, which shed lots of light which was desparately needed as I read them. This would benefit from a reread. Weblike in the connections it makes and thought it forces. 50/100