Dan
I heard many many things about this book, all good things, and when I finally found the time to pick it up I was honestly surprised by how short it was! But, it lacked no amount of poignancy. To be honest, there were sections while reading where my mind did wander here or there but not due to a lack of interest, just due to how Joan's writing style was. For a moment we would be caught on her husband John, then we were knee-deep in details about heart conditions she read up about, then we were whisked to a memory she had with John or her daughter Quntana. It wasn't my lack of interest, it was just the way she wrote so true to herself and how she was feeling and how one thought reminded her of another and another, and that was what really stuck out to me about this book. It was lovely to hear how connected she felt to her husband and daughter so truly, but all the more tragic when considering both of them might not have known the depths of this connection. I'm not sure if I'll ever desire to read this again, but I don't think I'll forget the emotions Joan dredged up and shared that she felt.
I heard many many things about this book, all good things, and when I finally found the time to pick it up I was honestly surprised by how short it was! But, it lacked no amount of poignancy. To be honest, there were sections while reading where my mind did wander here or there but not due to a lack of interest, just due to how Joan's writing style was. For a moment we would be caught on her husband John, then we were knee-deep in details about heart conditions she read up about, then we were whisked to a memory she had with John or her daughter Quntana. It wasn't my lack of interest, it was just the way she wrote so true to herself and how she was feeling and how one thought reminded her of another and another, and that was what really stuck out to me about this book. It was lovely to hear how connected she felt to her husband and daughter so truly, but all the more tragic when considering both of them might not have known the depths of this connection. I'm not sure if I'll ever desire to read this again, but I don't think I'll forget the emotions Joan dredged up and shared that she felt.
A contemptuous book. Other reviews here on the site have said what I think about this book in a far better way already, but I really did not care about this and should have DNF'd it tbh.
Talking briefly about the good. I liked the style and snappiness of the book. Chapters were often short and digestible to really coherent thoughts or streams of thoughts or actions. The narration style also was something I enjoyed, being a glimpse into the unnamed narrator's mind about different things going on. Time span was a little hard to pinpoint but also kinda irrelevant so it made it easy to view this as a memoir of notes about a person's life.
However I basically detested everything else about this book. No single character was likable, certainly including the main narrator, and I think that's largely because their viewpoint was so venomous and filled with spite. Painted in that lens nobody is going to be likable. The main character's motives were so sad and pitiable and their view of everything and everyone around them was so marred with distrust and inhospitality that I kept thinking the entire time how much I never wanted to meet anyone in this book but especially not her. The narrator really needed to get over herself but also this one guy she's following.
One thing I was particularly disappointed in was the narrator's view on race and gender. She tackled both of these social topics, and a few more, several times over the course of the book, but never with any coherence or lingering thought. It was always unbridled rage about the situation she and others like her were in. She complained endlessly about white people and about men and frankly I agree with her and I think it's important to expose those things. However, she didn't really actually SAY anything interesting or useful about them. She kinda just beat the points over with a bat and said they're unequivocally bad and that they make her life miserable. And I'm sorry if that's the case, and she's right that she is a victim of the patriarchy and of race relations. But really, is that all we're going to do here? It felt apropos to the book as it was always talked about with a sting of venom, and much like the rest of the book it was entirely pointless and didn't have anything interesting to say whatsoever.
It should be noted that I listened to the audiobook of this, narrated by the author, which I think contributed to the tone of the book significantly, so I gave it some gusto for that, but it also furthered my disdain for this book since it drove home how sad it was that the author is so clearly just fiery over this stuff she really needs to get a grip over and solve in a more well-meant manner. If she really cares so much about this one guy, and about her role as a brown skinned person, then use that power and the voice and platform she has to actually say or do something more than just spit at others blindly.
A contemptuous book. Other reviews here on the site have said what I think about this book in a far better way already, but I really did not care about this and should have DNF'd it tbh.
Talking briefly about the good. I liked the style and snappiness of the book. Chapters were often short and digestible to really coherent thoughts or streams of thoughts or actions. The narration style also was something I enjoyed, being a glimpse into the unnamed narrator's mind about different things going on. Time span was a little hard to pinpoint but also kinda irrelevant so it made it easy to view this as a memoir of notes about a person's life.
However I basically detested everything else about this book. No single character was likable, certainly including the main narrator, and I think that's largely because their viewpoint was so venomous and filled with spite. Painted in that lens nobody is going to be likable. The main character's motives were so sad and pitiable and their view of everything and everyone around them was so marred with distrust and inhospitality that I kept thinking the entire time how much I never wanted to meet anyone in this book but especially not her. The narrator really needed to get over herself but also this one guy she's following.
One thing I was particularly disappointed in was the narrator's view on race and gender. She tackled both of these social topics, and a few more, several times over the course of the book, but never with any coherence or lingering thought. It was always unbridled rage about the situation she and others like her were in. She complained endlessly about white people and about men and frankly I agree with her and I think it's important to expose those things. However, she didn't really actually SAY anything interesting or useful about them. She kinda just beat the points over with a bat and said they're unequivocally bad and that they make her life miserable. And I'm sorry if that's the case, and she's right that she is a victim of the patriarchy and of race relations. But really, is that all we're going to do here? It felt apropos to the book as it was always talked about with a sting of venom, and much like the rest of the book it was entirely pointless and didn't have anything interesting to say whatsoever.
It should be noted that I listened to the audiobook of this, narrated by the author, which I think contributed to the tone of the book significantly, so I gave it some gusto for that, but it also furthered my disdain for this book since it drove home how sad it was that the author is so clearly just fiery over this stuff she really needs to get a grip over and solve in a more well-meant manner. If she really cares so much about this one guy, and about her role as a brown skinned person, then use that power and the voice and platform she has to actually say or do something more than just spit at others blindly.
Upon finishing Severance I felt confused. I was content in having finished it, and I was engaged especially in the back half of the book, but I also felt like I didn't quite understand what themes I was supposed to have gleaned from this. On reading a bit further into the book, apparently I had somehow missed an important detail that indeed changed my perception of a few key points in the story.
To get it out in the open, there are multiple points in which nostalgia plays a key factor. Somehow, I had missed a link between nostalgia and the fever that incited the events of the book. On realization of this and reflection of the book itself, I really appreciated the theme here.
Much more clear to me was the rhetoric around rampant consumerism, which hit me a lot more than anything else. I appreciated the subtleties in some ways that the book handled this theme, but also how blatant it was at times. It's especially poignant to have picked up on the details Ling Ma put in about this after everything about COVID and the global pandemic we all actually experienced.
Which lastly brings me to the comparison of the pandemic in this book and our real life pandemic we all experienced. I didn't find anything about this book harrowing or depressing to read about, nor did I feel like it sucked me back into that time in all of our lives. I found some things surprisingly–shockingly, even–accurate to how the pandemic shook down in real life, but I didn't really have a lasting feeling of gloom looming over me like I know some who have read this post-2020 felt. I really enjoyed how insightful Ling Ma ended up being about certain things that would transpire during a global pandemic, especially on consumerism and capitalistic goals, and for that alone I wavered from a 3 to 4 star review while writing this.
Overall I was not shaken to my core over this book, but I enjoyed the themes which at times felt disparate but always purposeful–and I think that sums up my general feeling of the book. As it jumps from pre- to mid- to post-pandemic throughout, it was often hard to tell where each thread was pulling towards, or especially how they were relating to one another. However, none of the storylines felt like they were unnecessary. I felt like all had purpose and even if it wasn't obvious how some related to one another, I still gleaned something from them all, which kept me reading. I will probably not read this again, but I would recommend this book, though I'm not sure if I'll spend as much time lingering on it as some other books.
Upon finishing Severance I felt confused. I was content in having finished it, and I was engaged especially in the back half of the book, but I also felt like I didn't quite understand what themes I was supposed to have gleaned from this. On reading a bit further into the book, apparently I had somehow missed an important detail that indeed changed my perception of a few key points in the story.
To get it out in the open, there are multiple points in which nostalgia plays a key factor. Somehow, I had missed a link between nostalgia and the fever that incited the events of the book. On realization of this and reflection of the book itself, I really appreciated the theme here.
Much more clear to me was the rhetoric around rampant consumerism, which hit me a lot more than anything else. I appreciated the subtleties in some ways that the book handled this theme, but also how blatant it was at times. It's especially poignant to have picked up on the details Ling Ma put in about this after everything about COVID and the global pandemic we all actually experienced.
Which lastly brings me to the comparison of the pandemic in this book and our real life pandemic we all experienced. I didn't find anything about this book harrowing or depressing to read about, nor did I feel like it sucked me back into that time in all of our lives. I found some things surprisingly–shockingly, even–accurate to how the pandemic shook down in real life, but I didn't really have a lasting feeling of gloom looming over me like I know some who have read this post-2020 felt. I really enjoyed how insightful Ling Ma ended up being about certain things that would transpire during a global pandemic, especially on consumerism and capitalistic goals, and for that alone I wavered from a 3 to 4 star review while writing this.
Overall I was not shaken to my core over this book, but I enjoyed the themes which at times felt disparate but always purposeful–and I think that sums up my general feeling of the book. As it jumps from pre- to mid- to post-pandemic throughout, it was often hard to tell where each thread was pulling towards, or especially how they were relating to one another. However, none of the storylines felt like they were unnecessary. I felt like all had purpose and even if it wasn't obvious how some related to one another, I still gleaned something from them all, which kept me reading. I will probably not read this again, but I would recommend this book, though I'm not sure if I'll spend as much time lingering on it as some other books.
Answered a promptWhat are your favorite books of all time?
