Girl, Woman, Other

Some people say it is too ambitious - I think not - Bernadine takes on some massive issues and conquers them all. Breathtaking insights into a world that isn't always visible.

i'm just a lil bit burned out on litfic rn 3

Creative and full of life. I enjoyed this, and started listening. Then I switched to skim the rest of the book because I find I need more of a regular narrative these days. I would read more by Evaristo.

I had a harder time getting into this book than I expected but ended up giving it 4.5 stars!!

Girl, Woman, Other has been on my want to read list for a few years now and when I finally found it at a used bookstore, I wanted to start it right away. It felt hard at first with the style in which this book was written, free, flowing with lack of punctuation, capitalization, and other writing/typing rules. Once I kind of adjusted to the style, it flowed so naturally, like the conversations were coming off the page.

I really love the vignettes of characters throughout this book and could feel the dynamic web of connection between them the whole time. That being said, it is offputting when you finish a part of the book and don't get to hear from the character again.

I saw some reviews that people said “oh I didn't feel like I got to like delve into the characters and I wanted them to be more developed”, but I kind of liked that. We just had a snippet of time with them but it's still tells us so much about who they are in their lives. So many books give me too much information about someone and very few leave me wanting more, and I would always prefer the ladder.

Obviously, the characters are all flawed. I think that's what the point is when trying to capture this many women, from so many different time periods & experiences. However, I did not love the way Yazz was written only because I am her age and I didn't feel like it was very representative of our generation. But that being said it's not the fault of the author that she doesn't necessarily have the exact experiences as me and the people I know.

I think once I reach Dominique I really got the bug for this book which I finished pretty quickly once I reached that point.

Definitely recommend if you like reading literary fiction and English literature . it felt so different from my experience and I forget that England is so culturally different from the United States. I know that sounds dumb, but it really feels so different to read.

Loved loved loved 4.5

A patchwork quilt of intersecting, crisscrossing stories - each that could have stood alone. Evaristo's prizewinning masterpiece covers so many subjects; love, death, abandonment, forgiveness, feminism, transgender issues, racism, sexism, domestic violence - to name but a few. There's no preaching, just discussions which inform you and allow you to make your own opinion. Overall, it is a book full of enjoyable stories about people, who they are and how they affect each other. I could have happily kept on reading, following all the paths leading away to the next person and the next and the next. But I also feel the book ended perfectly, with a moving scene that needed no further exploration.

4.75
I loved reading this book a lot. The writing was amazing and I was so blown away reading it all. My brain couldn't comprehend how such simple words can be so meaningful.
The second to last chapter was a bit less than mind-blowing, got a bit confusing because this book does not have a lot of punctuation, almost barely any punctuation, to be frank. I remember some commas and some question marks but that's pretty much it. Didn't bother me though, I really liked it.

Bernardine Evaristo jakoi vuoden 2019 Booker-palkinnon Margaret Atwoodin kanssa tällä kirjallaan, ensimmäisenä mustana naisena ja mustana brittinä. Tyttö, nainen, toinen on toinen suomennos Evaristolta: Johnny Kniga julkaisi Anni Sumarin suomentaman Keisarin kullanmurun vuonna 2003. Evaristolla onkin takanaan pitkä, yli 20 vuoden mittainen ura ennen Booker-voittoaan.

Tyttö, nainen, toinen on kunnianosoituksensa ansainnut. Teos kertoo 12 mustan naisen tarinan. Jokainen tarina on erilainen, mutta ne kaikki kytkeytyvät toisiinsa jollain tapaa. Lähtökohtana on maineikas teatteriohjaaja Amma, jonka näytelmä Dahomeyn viimeinen amatsoni saa ensi-iltansa kansallisteatterissa. Mustan lesbon lesboidentiteettiä luotaava näytelmä, jossa lavalla on vain mustia naisia, kansallisteatterin lavalla! Mikä saavutus naiselta, joka on joutunut pitkään katselemaan teatterimaailmaa marginaaleista ja heittelemään sieltä establishmentiä käsikranaateilla.

Ensimmäisessä luvussa kohdataan Amman tytär Yazz, joka saa edustaa nuorempaa sukupolvea ystävineen, ja Amman paras ystävä Dominique, jonka kanssa teatteriura alkoi, mutta joka ajautui elämässä sittemmin aivan toisenlaisille poluille. Toisessa luvussa tarkastellaan ensin Carolea, maahanmuuttajan tytärtä, joka nousee ankeista oloista odottamattomaan menetykseen, mutta hukkaa samalla – ainakin äitinsä mielestä – juurensa. Seuraavaksi ääneen pääsee Carolen äiti Bummi, Nigeriasta Englantiin muuttanut nainen, joka murehtii tytärtään ja työskentelee itse siivoajana. Toisen luvun viimeisenä äänenä on Carolen vanha koulukaveri LaTisha, jonka elämä saa toisenlaisen suunnan kuin Carolella.

Lukujen edetessä tarinat kiertävät yhä kauemmas Ammasta ja laajenevat monin tavoin. Joidenkin kohdalla saa hetken miettiä, että kuinkas tämä nyt näin – kirjanhan piti kertoa mustista naisista. Ihonväri ja identiteetti eivät kuitenkaan ole mustavalkoisia, kaksinapaisia asioita, vaan liukuva spektri ja runsas kirjo erilaisia ulkonäköjä, identiteettejä ja elämänkokemuksia, ja se on yksi tämän kirjan rikkauksista. Äänessä ovat enimmäkseen naiset, mutta myös trans- ja muunsukupuoliset identiteetit nousevat esiin. Ajan suhteen enimmäkseen liikutaan 1900-luvun loppupuoliskolla ja 2000-luvulla, mutta yksi tarinoista kurkistaa mustien asemaan 1900-luvun alun Pohjois-Englannissa. Lopuksi Evaristo käärii tarinat vielä siististi nippuun tuomalla eri henkilöitä yhteen Amman näytelmän ensi-illan jatkoille.

Kirjan henkilögalleria on värikäs ja monipuolinen. Intersektionaalisen feminismin hengessä se kartoittaa monenlaisten taustojen intersektioita ja käsittelee sujuvasti rotua, kulttuurista taustaa, seksuaali- ja sukupuoli-identiteettejä, luokkataustaa, maantiedettä ja yhteiskunnallista asemaa. Moniääninen kirja osoittaa, etteivät asiat ole aivan suoraviivaisia ja että monenlaisten naisten elämät ovat mielenkiintoisia, samaistuttavia ja kiehtovia unelmien, toiveiden, rajoitusten ja kamppailujen sekoituksia.

Romaanin kieltä on syytä kehua. Evaristo on aikaisemminkin kirjoittanut runoromaania, sellainen oli esimerkiksi edellinen suomennos Keisarin kullanmuru. Jos tässä kohtaa nyt ajattelee viime vuosina yleistyneitä nuorten säeromaaneja, kuten Elizabeth Acevedoa, menee hieman metsään: Evariston teksti ei ole sellaista kepeää ja lyhyttä runosäettä, teksti on vähän romaanimaisempaa ja runsaampaa. Kieliopillisesti siivoja ja kurinalaisia virkkeitä tekstissä ei kuitenkaan ole, ei pisteitä tai isoja alkukirjaimia, ja välillä, kun se on tehokeinona tarpeen, solahdetaan vaivattomasti vielä runomaisempaan ilmaisuun, kuten toistaviin luetteloihin tai yksittäisten sanojen pudotteluun.

Amma
kävelee rantakadulla sen vesistön viertä joka halkaisee hänen kaupunkinsa, muutama varhaisaamun proomu lipuu hitaasti ohi
vasemmalla laivan kantta muistuttava kävelysilta ja sen pylonit kuin purjeveneen mastot
oikealla joki kaartaa itään Waterloon sillan ali kohti St Paulin kupolia
hän aistii auringon nousun, ilma on vielä raikas ennen kuin kuumuus ja katku tukkii kadut
viulisti soittaa jotakin sopivan piristävää kauempana promenadilla
Amman näytelmä Dahomeyn viimeinen amatsoni saa ensi-iltansa kansallisteatterissa tänä iltana

Kaijamari Sivill

Tyttö, nainen, toinen

This book was AMAZING! I loved the characters' unique voices and perspectives, the style of writing, and how everything tied together. An amazing compilation of the lives of Black women in England. Covers abusive relationships, politics, gender, and so many other topics artfully and from many perspectives.

My favorite chapters were Amma, Bummi, and Hattie. I HATED the Yazz chapter, just a completely off-putting person (maybe all 19 year olds are unlikeable, hard to say). The After Party chapter was a bit disappointing, it felt disjointed and why are we getting in the head of a man for page-upon-page all of a sudden? I thought the Epilogue more than made up for it, though.

I really wanted to like Girl, Woman, Other more than I did. But the writing style didn't pair well with how scattered my attention was during the time I was reading it.

4 stars because I recognize the merit of the book, it simply came to me at the wrong time.

It must have been around 2014 when I was at Mannheim's (south-western Germany) Paradeplatz (the former parade grounds near Mannheim Palace). I was smoking and watching people when a young woman approached another nearby male smoker - only to be shouted at aggressively. I, in turn, shouted at the guy, went there and he left whereas I proceeded to offer the woman a cigarette which was what she had asked that other guy for.I asked her what that guy's problem had been. She looked at me curiously and told me to take a good look at her. Somewhat embarrassed I did - had I missed something about her?! I didn't notice anything - to me, she looked just like you and me.I apologised for obviously being daft to which she deadpan replied “I'm black”.Yes, I can be a bit on the naïve side but I honestly hadn't consciously noticed and I had hoped that especially in my country, Germany, with its history, in a major city and in modern times, the skin colour had ceased to be an issue. The conversation that ensued changed my mind about that for much, much worse.I'm grateful for making me aware of what I had hoped had gone with the bad old times.This book challenged my perceptions again. First of all by omitting most punctuation, almost universally using lowercase characters (apart from names!) and cleverly using formatting to transport content.I was truly annoyed at first but quickly got used to the style and when Evaristo used it to create ambiguity I started even liking it - to the point where I basically fell in love with the author's style.Nothing could have prepared me for the stories of her very diverse cast which simply blew me away. When I read in the blurb about this book being “Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary” I immediately discounted that as marketing hogwash whereas it's probably the best and most concise description of its contents.Most of the cast are in some way related to each other - from Carole who tells us about her teacher “Fuckface King” whom we later get to know as Shirley and from whom we learn why she became the way she was to Morgan whose story broadened my mind with respect to gender.The intricately interwoven lives of those 12 people - girls, women, others - stand for the diversity of society as a whole and for lots of lives into which we are allowed some intimate insight on a level most of us wouldn't dare to ask.Lightly told in modern language but not once shallow, we pretty much witness discrimination, equality issues on many levels and coping strategies. Evaristo avoids judgement and instead tries to help her readers come to their own understanding - and fairly often succeeded when I found my own prejudices being challenged. At times, I felt ashamed of myself. Never judged, though, but rather challenged.Thankfully, despite its challenging stories and style, “Girl, Woman, Other” is also full of humour, e. g. when Amma finds herself living in a derelict building with very diverse and politically charged co-inhabitants: »the Marxists demanded they set up a Central Committee of the Workers' Republic of Freedomia, which was a bit rich, Amma thought, seeing as most of them had taken ‘a principled stand against the running dogs of capitalism' as an excuse to not work«If this wonderful book has a tiny flaw it's that it's - at one point - very slightly longer than it should have been. I was about to withhold one star for that reason but when I was finished, I felt I couldn't award less than a full five stars to a book that changed my mind. The dedication couldn't be more fitting:»For the sisters & the sistas & the sistahs & the sistren & the women & the womxn & the wimmin & the womyn & our brethren & our bredrin & our brothers & our bruvs & our men & our mandem & the LGBTQI+ members of the human family«Ultimately, I've read twelve simple, powerful, unforgettable stories that I cannot recommend highly enough to anyone with an open mind.Or, to use this books own words:»a five-star review has already been uploaded online from one usually savage pit-bull of a critic who's been uncharacteristically gushing: astonishing, moving, controversial, original« Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Loved it. I really enjoyed that there were sections told from different perspectives, and how it covered so many individual stories.

‘'Amma is walking along the promenade in the waterway that bisects her city, a few early morning barges cruise slowly by, to her left is the nautical-themes footbridge with its deck-like walkway and sailing mast pylons to her right is the bend in the river as it heads east past Waterloo Bridge towards the dome of St Paul's she feels the sun begin to rise, the air still breezy before the city clogs up with heat and fumes.''

Twelve women. Twelve stories, twelve stops in an exciting, moving journey. Twelve hearts, twelve minds, twelve souls. Twelve confessions, twelve testimonies. One masterpiece.

Evaristo has created a difficult route for us. Through London - vividly portrayed- through Theatre, Education and the Arts, through the upper and middle classes, meeting the workers and the bohemians and the privileged, the ‘'old'' and the ‘young'', the hopeful and the fearful. She beautifully communicates the complex themes of race, gender and sexuality, equality and independence, justice and equal opportunities, patriarchy and revolution. It is a rough journey through the decades that shaped our modern world and our convictions and perceptions. The fight for civil rights, the threat of Aids, the Thatcherian politics, the chaos of Brexit and the impossible chasm it has caused.

The stories of the twelve women and their voices reach far beyond the issues of sexual liberation and emancipation. Evaristo offers us a completely honest view of organizations and political parties. She comments on the gang problem and the babymothers of British society, on the hurdles in Education with its centuries-old convictions, the curse of lesson plans, the death of all creativity and freedom (and I speak from 14 years of experience). Her writing is flowing, raw and honest. She doesn't present saints but women who are good, women who are bad and women who are everything in between.

Through the African myths of warrior women, Amma's free spirit, Yazz's wonderful musings that reminded me of my university years, Shirley's resilience, Dominique's enlightenment, Evaristo shows that we are not victims and those who would like to see us as such (and treat us even worse...) better keep THAT in mind. On a literary level, she gave me the golden opportunity to explore the work of writers that were unknown to me. I was in the middle of reading a number of exciting books at the same time, but my mind wanted to exclusively dedicate itself to this modern masterpiece.

In 2020, Bernardine Evaristo became the first woman of colour and the first Black British woman to get a number 1 in the UK paperback fiction charts. In 2019, she became the first black woman and first Black British author to win the Booker prize. BUT. Girl, Woman, Other should have been the sole winner. Why didn't this happen? I think we all know why. Who can forget BBCs abominable ‘'Margaret Atwood and another author''?

‘'I'm not a victim. Don't ever treat me like a victim, my mother didn't raise me to be a victim.''

In other news, Goodreads Search ‘'function'' doesn't seem to be able to ‘'find' the novel by its title. I guess it's easier and more popular in the Amazon sphere of abhorrence for The Girl with the Golden whothefuckcareswhatitisreally and its sequels to show up...

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

4.5/5

as someone to whom magical realism often feels devoid of the depth and meaningfulness that I associate with literary fiction, this novel has completely blown me away. Bernardine Evaristo dedicates each chapter to a different character, which is portrayed in a way that captures their singular, diverse experiences as racialised women living in Britain, as opposed to a homogenised feminist narrative. Yet at the same time the way Evaristo interconnects these different stories is truly astonishing, bringing together race, gender, sexuality, social class and age, while recognising that each category holds ambiguous (at times conflicting) experiences and perspectives. the beauty of this book lies in its ability to join together individuality and collectivity, personal and political, struggle and joy.

The way this was written without full stops took a while to get used to, but in the end I liked it. It made the prose feel poetic, and each character still felt unique. It felt like listening to a group of people telling you a story.

There were some perspectives I liked, but some of them felt really mean-spirited (both Yazz and Morgan's segments read like they were the targets of mockery by the author, which was disappointing) and it's weird that three different people managed to magically rise out of depression on a dime for no reason. The ending felt really predictable and the character it involved annoyed me.

I love when I come across a book that thwarts my expectation of fiction. This book paints portraits of twelve Black women in verse as opposed to prose, often forgoing punctuation and capitals such that there's an openness and fluidity to the narrative that is special to read. I also love how human the characters are, experiencing everyday struggles and major crises and despair – but each tale manages to end optimistically. Not in a happily-ever-after way, but in a it-will-be-okay kind of way. I don't know how to explain it other than both it's challenging and comforting and a different kind of experience to read.

One sentence synopsis... A sweeping history of twelve British women of colour - all a few degrees separated from each other.

Read it if you like... contemporary British culture. This book touches on Brexit, intersectionality, identity, Twitter, feminism, and more. It's a richly textured social novel and also a compulsive page-turner.

Dream casting... the rights to turn it into a limited series have already been snatched up but fingers crossed Michaela Coel gets involved in any capacity.

I want to read it again. It's hard to articulate the impression this book has left with me. All stories are so unique yet intertwined, the characters are so alive yet ordinary yet extraordinary. I highly recommend it!

Really enjoyed this one. Each POV was equally compelling and the unique writing style, not quite in verse but not quite prose either, was also refreshing (once I got used to it!). The hype is well-deserved.

A fantastic series of interweaving stories of British women spanning generations, sexualities, gender identities, & cultural heritage. Evaristo's skill is in how she's able to capture these contrasting voices- particularly the intergenerational ones. I enjoyed this book & hope to see more like it

Absolutely remarkable. Instant spot on the “to reread” list.

I really feel like I should've liked this book, but I didn't. I thought my ebook file was corrupted when I discovered the creative use of spacing and lack of punctuation. I can absolutely see how it could lend a more poetic vibe to the story, but that's the unfortunate thing - I don't like poetry. I usually like short stories like these but I just could not give it a fair chance. I kept trying to read faster to finish the book but the writing style forces you to read more slowly.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo was a worthy winner of the Booker Prize 2019. The book explores the lives of a number of interconnected women and one genderfluid character. An experimental novel that uses the medium of short chapters about each one woman followed on by another linked character. Some readers may find it a bit too experimental as Evaristo does not use traditional punctuation, although this is not a difficult book to read and is in fact, very accessible. There are a number of extremely memorable characters, including Amma who is at the centre of the novel. She puts on a play a feminist play about amazonians. The book explores the lives of black women over a century and explores their different lives and experiences of fitting in and finding a place in society. Also, highlighting how our perception of race, feminism and gender has changed. Families are always at the heart of the stories. I really enjoyed reading this book, and would give it a five star rating.

*3.5 stars. Evaristo can certainly write. Each chapter/character is well-drawn and interesting. The points of view, with the through-points about race, class, sexuality, feminism, individuality, generational change, etc. had enough heft to sync the stories enough to cobble them as a “novel.” The experimental writing style is hypnotic and easy to fall into rhythm with. I do think there was a tendency to lose the characters to the mission of enlightenment, but I still found them relatable, albeit a bit one-note in their activism.

This review can also be found on my blog.this was a really lovely exploration of black individuals in the UK. 11 of the characters followed are women and one is a non-binary person who uses they/them pronouns. it was really refreshing to read about such a variety of people; many of these characters are queer, and some are even non-monogamous. the term polyamory is also explicitly used! it was really lovely to see these kinds of relationships normalized.Amma experienced commitment to one person as imprisonment, she hadn't left home for a life of freedom and adventure to end up chained to another person's desiresthis is essentially a series of overlapping short stories, each focused on an individual character. these characters are all interconnected, in ways that become increasingly clear as the book moves forward. there was one real WOW moment at the end that got me right in the gut. i was impressed at how well Evaristo layered these stories and built such a rich, real story.she wishes her mother was alive to enjoy her new lifesee me now, Mama, see me nowmy only complaint is really that the breadth of characters makes it difficult to follow. by the time a character was mentioned again, i would sometimes forget them or important information about them. i also found the first half of the book a little difficult to connect with. it was highly readable, but not extraordinary compelling. luckily, that changed in the second half, which i read in one day, unable to put the book down.sadly, there wasn't a sapphic bone in her bodyi think this is a really important book and i'm glad it's gotten so much recognition! i'll definitely be recommending it to others. additionally, feel free to link me any ownvoices reviews to share, as i may be queer and polyamorous, but i am also white and american and can only review through that lens.Blog Twitter Instagram Facebook Ko-fi