Carlos
In this book, Alexander Betts makes an objective investigation about the refugee's displacements in Africa. Inside this considerable category, there is another one called “ survival migrants”, in which he will focus his attention.
I really enjoy how supported are the affirmations and the growth of the main and minor details of the research.
This piece works as an inspiration for future researchers that center themselves in migration and refugee topics. One should include “new” concepts as survival migration, taking into account the framework developed by Betts in this book.
“...there is international consensus around the imperative to protect refugees fleeing persecution by states. (...) there is far less consensus on whether and how to protect people fleeing fundamental human rights deprivations resulting from the inability or unwillingness of states to ensure those rights”. (Pg. 196)
In this book, I found the answer to the question that I had always have about electronic-techno music: What and why is its relation with politics and the LGBTIQ community? Maybe it is the same relation that pop, rock and even jazz music have with this two worlds. but these are three of my passion's life: techno, politics, and LGBTIQ.
The book order makes that the reader do not get bored just reading facts about how electronic music has growth through its history, but it invites us to take a world tour around the most important cities, where the electronic music took and takes place.
“‘You have to also understand that this music came out of cultures that were oppressed, so it was amazing because it was this space that people could go and be themselves. House is basically the bastard of disco and it was always a black and Latin art form, the music of people of colour, of queer people.'” pg. 352
Un libro necesario para cualquier colombiano o persona que desee profundizar en la historia del conflicto armado en Colombia desde la explicación clara típica de Ariel Ávila (en algunos momentos llegue a leer con el tono típico de Ávila). Personalmente, creo que el libro profundiza en los grupos paramilitares de forma repetitiva, inclusive en apartados en los que presenta a grupos guerrilleros como título de capítulo. A pesar de esto, la organización a manera de ensayo hace que los conceptos e hipótesis desarrolladas por Ávila sean coherentes y sólidos.
I really liked this book. Despite the critics I read in GoodReads before starting, I found an amazing and interplanetary trip through reading. The way Cline plays between the truth and the fake makes me feel a strong connection while reading. This version of the book has at the end an introduction to his master-peace “Ready Player One”, so I'm reading it soon for sure.
A pesar de ser escrito en 2003, la obra de Alonso Sánchez se acomoda aún a la realidad actual de muchos/as miembros de la comunidad LGBTI, e inclusive heterosexuales, teniendo en cuenta la crítica que se hace a la gente clasista y privilegiada de la ciudad.
Logré conectarme con sus historias, imaginarla, ponerme en sus tacones, y darme cuenta que, sin importar sus experiencias, siempre fue una mujer/hombre inteligente, que sabía lo que hacía y el por qué lo hacía.
“...y prefiero pensar que ser gay es un lujo, (...). ¿O es que alguien puede creer que es muy fácil eso de que a uno le toque soportar la inquina universal, y le murmuren a sus espaldas, y se burlen, y le griten maricona cuando se camina tranquilo por la calle, y le chiflen, y le griten groserías? No, claro que a nadie le gustan esas cosas” Pos. 2791.
4.5/5.0:
“La gente había olvidado que debía hacer algo con su vida y empezó tremenda fiesta abajo, a alguien se le ocurrió quitar esa canción de Radiohead y poner puro hardtechno, pum pum pum, ocho bits y solo cosas alegres, solo reggaetón, todos abajo bailando y saltando, el beat resonaba en todas las ventanas de la ciudad” p. 342
A masterpiece of queer theory:
“Like Monique Wittig, she had no vagina. Her sex was not geni- tal. Her body was not the anatomical object of gynecology or endocrinology. Altering the reproduction of the heterosexual order, severing the chain of nature imitation, the butch departed from the laws of evolution. She was posthuman and postevolu- tionary. This was a political mutation taking place in the cells, in the organs....” P. 171
I listen to this book
4.5./5.0
I finished almost crying.
“The teacher wanted us to write what we thought the meaning of life was once.” “What did you write?” “Company.” Grandpa closes his eyes. “That's the best answer I've heard.” “My teacher said I had to write a longer answer.” “So what did you do?” “I wrote: Company. And ice cream.” Grandpa spends a moment or two thinking that over. Then he asks: “What kind of ice cream?” Noah smiles. It's nice to be understood.”
I have different emotions with his book. I enjoyed the second half more than the first half of it. On it first half, it was details that I thought would be more important but then I realized they were not. In the second half I was so captivated and feeling each of the new moments described. It was my first gay novel.
3.5/5.0
“»Du erkennst einen Schwulen am mangelnden sportlichen Talent?« »Eher am mangelnden sportlichen Ehrgeiz.« »Also, ich weiß nicht...« »Aber ich!«, beharrte Tereza. »Ich hab das aus sicherer Quelle, jeder Schwule kennt diese Tests und lacht sich darüber kaputt. Glaub mir, dein Sohn ist eine Tunte!«” S. 344
“Distanz schafft Klarheit. Und Klarheit ist das, was ich zurzeit mehr als alles andere brauche” S. 425
5.0
One of my favorite book of this year:
''it is only one who knows the mental and moral suffering to which an invert is exposed. Who knows the never-ending hypocrisies and consumes he must practice. Who comprehends the infinity difficulties which supposed natural satisfaction of his sexual desire. It is only such a one, who is able truly to understand the purpose of the book, and Mr Alice and I have written.”
Favorite quotes:
“I often wondered what kind of slip I would be written on if I was a word. Something too long, certainly. Probably the wrong colour. A scrap of paper that didn't quite fit. I worried that perhaps I would never find my place in the pigeon-holes at all”. P. 123
“I had to think. ‘It's about seeing something before it's fully formed. Watching it evolve. I imagine sitting here on opening night and appreciating every scene all the more because I understand what has led to it. Bill laughed. ‘What's so funny?' ‘Nothing. It's just that you don't speak often, but when you do it's perfect” p. 149
“Maybe it's about time I became “more worldly”, as you put it. Things are changing. Women don't have to live lives determined by others. They have choices, and I choose not to live the rest of my days doing as I'm told and worrying about what people will think. That's no life at all” p. 169
“He'd given me something I'd wanted since the first time he took my hand. It wasn't love; nothing like it. It was knowledge. Bill took words I'd written on slips and turned them into places on my body. He introduced me to sensations that no fine sentence could come close to defining. Near its end, I'd heard the pleasure of it exhaled on my breath, felt my back arch and my neck stretch to expose its pulse. It was a surrender, but not to him. Like an alchemist, Bill had turned Mabel's vulgarities and Tilda's practicalities into something beautiful. I was grateful, but I was not in love.” p. 175
‘Fear hates the ordinary, she said. ‘When yer feared, you need to think ordinary thoughts, do ordinary things. You ‘ear me? The fear'll back off, for a time at least” p. 185
“There was none. There are none. There never would be a word to mach Her” p. 210
“There was the fainest smell of coal smoke and the sounds of birds calling their own to roost, their songs as clear and distinct as church bells. My face was wet with loss and love and regret. And woven through it all there was a thread of shameful relief” p. 226
“He came round to my side of the table and sat beside me. “Love, Easy. A good family is one where there is love” p. 234
“(...) You can't change what is. - “do you really believe that, Lizzie?” She looked at me, wary of the question. “Surely things could change if enough people wanted them to” I continued”. p. 246
“It struck me that we are never fully at ease when we are aware of another's gaze. Perhaps we are never ourselves. In the desire to please or impress, to persuade or dominate, our movements become conscious, our features set”. p. 317
“If war could change the nature of men, it would surely change the nature of worlds, I thought. But so much of the English language had already been set in type and printed. We were nearing the end” p. 342
4.5/5.0
“Man konnte in den vornehmsten Restaurants essen, man konnte jede Art von sinnlicher Lust erfahren, man konnte auf einer Bühne in São Paulo vor zwanzigtausend Menschen singen, man konnte in donnerndem Applaus baden, man konnte bis ans Ende der Welt reisen, man konnte im Internet Millionen Follower haben, man konnte Olympiamedaillen gewinnen, aber ohne Liebe war das alles sinnlos” p. 275
4.5
“Experts in the mission boards were selected to make the choice and give legitimacy to that choice. The risk is that there is little appetite to make choices as everyone defends their own corner” p. 117
“All this brings us back to the point that social missions are harder to fulfil than purely technological ones because they combine political, regulatory and behavioural changes” p. 146
“Greek political philosophy had a strong sense of public service and the duty of the citizen to engage in public affairs. This was seen as necessary to avoid tyranny, so much so that the ancient Greeks used the term ‘idiotes' (ιδιώτης) to denote those who did not operate in the public sphere; to put it harshly, if you were only concerned with the private sector, you were an idiot” p. 169
“Data is created collectively, and is increasingly central to the ability of citizens to access their rights to education, health and ser- vices like public transport. Finding ways in which to make sure that we govern data creation to benefit the common good is thus central to the ability to govern inclusive growth” p. 198
4.5
(I listen to this book)
Lovely makes this story perfect. Megha created a beautiful story in which all the characters mix in between, and get us to know how dreams and expectations are a common game between individual and community. I could feel the hope (and hopelessness) of each character. The audiobook version is narrated by different authors, making it involving and dynamic.
I was not fair enough with this book. Maybe it's the situation we're all living right now, but it took me so long to go finish it. At the end of this book I just got the question: what is my utopia and what am I doing to deconstruct it?
I think I could read Amelia Abraham's personality through the book. How the journey started and how it ended. The (re)definition of the words we're using as a community and why we should care about the whole L-G-B and T and I and Queer brothers/sisters too.
“That we could have our freedom and our rights and equality on paper, but we would still carry shame, trauma and internalized hatred, as long as we were still taught that there are right and wrong ways to be, or that some LGBTQ+ people are more worthy of acceptance than others”. Pag. 321
Just incredible! I had to finish this book as soon as possible, because I couldn't wait to know how it will be developed. In 75% of the book I thought “this can be a really good story or a weak try”. The end made me chose the first one.
“The dead don't talk”.
A mandatory classic book. I can not understand how Orwell published this piece in 1949 and how it still works in 2020. The manipulation of media and the power of the elite have not changed and it still the same. He was so ahead of his time.
“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane” Pg. 197
It's a reminder of the injustice world in which we live right now. Even if we think that we fight for the same problems and issues, the book set an idea of how different can be seen the perspective of the same problem and how it can not be answer at the same way to everybody, knowing how “diverse” we are. It's just the description of the world that we're in now and how hypocrite are the governments that disguise their speeches full of “liberation” or “equality” when in the reality they are not interested in it.
Just two questions while finishing the book: 1. I know it is clear that the way this ideas should be taken to the real world can not be answered right now and will depend to the future context, but I am so curious to know how this demands can be resolved bases on their own concepts; 2. How can we fight against the leftist that comply with the same negative characteristics given in this book. We usually just condemn right and far-right parties for taking inequality, homofobic and racist decisions, but there are many examples around the world of the same measures taken by “left-wing” governments.
I was not expecting that end! The last third of the story loose energy and active development that goes through the rest of the book. I could even say that I didn't like the end. Although the story is a roller coaster itself. Sometimes really funny and sometimes really depressing.
Casey Plett take me to her journey around Wendy's life. Knowing that trans life expectancy is 35 years old, the fear of death is constantly around. How the society judge her but she's strong enough to do not care. That is something I really like about this book: how strong Wendy is. The main character is not afraid of judgement or social perception.
I hope it be something else in the future. I think there are some characters that could have relevance in the future and even have a harder focus in future books. But do not know if Plett is planning it so.
“Lila was silent for a moment. “Why's it so fucking hard for us to stay alive, man?” pag. 241
I did not get into her story as I was waiting for. Sometimes I feel her pain, her anxious, and the way she described her feelings was enough for me to make me feel sad of her condition and understand how this illness works.
But, for example, I did not enjoy the last quarter of the book. I find it confusing in terms of structure and the organization of her ideas. Did not know if it was the purpose, but I lost the attention of her arguments in the last section.
“I tweeted, What would you do if you were actually dead, and the life you were living right now was your second chance?” Pg. 149
One of my favorite books about race and belonging. I felt it so honest and make me think about what we considere “normal” and why. The importance of diversity and how it works for the United Kingdom while we are talking about race.
Being part of a minority, as a Latino, as a gay man, as a person who have felt discrimination for being himself, I feel so connected with this book.
I hope to keep reading about this topics thank to Afua Hirsch.
Favorite quotes:
“San wears an expression of melancholy, perhaps, but also of loneliness. It is an expression that is not hers alone. A young woman on an escalator, a young man silently walking from building to building with a résumé in hand, salarymen on the subway at dawn-the same expression appears and disappears from their faces” p. 41
“When perfectly healthy plants began to drop their petals or buds, Su-ae would say, That's because you've overwatered them; if you love things too much, they die. She said the same thing when the spider plant's long blades turned yellow” p. 67
“Just like Su-ae says, Koreans are particularly susceptible to superstitions flowers and plants; the inquirers often end up taking lucky bamboo with them. Sometimes they walk in with gloomy expressions, but seem to leave refreshed” p. 98
“No one at the table is more surprised than San. Every sound in the room dies down and soon falls completely silent. The clashing of beer mugs, the sound of people entering the café, the voices of the other patrons, the music-it all stops. Like the world has been paused. It would've helped if someone had said something to break the spell, but no one speaks. Finally someone points to her rising blush and teases her, saying, “Look at that, her face is turning red.” p. 115
“Violet: Noun, a plant, a swallow flower... purple, the color, also used to describe... an oversensitive person, a shy person (“shrinking violet”)” p. 137
4.5/5.0
This book is a must on queer theory and LGBTQ individuals interested in knowing about queer history, our history. Understand that we are not the first “weirdos,” but a thousand years ago, there were people like us... But bad Gays.
“We do not get to choose who we are but we do get to choose how, and with whom, we dance: what queerness, what faggotry, what transness, what gender trouble and abolition will be for us and with us and to us. The past is still with us; the revolutions of the queer future beckon” p. 309