The Argonauts

‘'You've punctured my solitude, I told you.''

I feel as if I'm treading on thin ice with this one, because in all honesty, this is a book that one has to read in order to understand. I feel that Nelson has exposed her soul to us, sharing thoughts and experiences that many of us would find unlikely to confess even to ourselves. How can we, as simple readers who haven't even experienced 10% of what she has been through, write a text saying ‘'this is good'' or ‘'this is bad''? Speaking for myself, I was deeply touched by her writing. Once again, I was convinced of the inadequacy and dogmatism of our ‘'progressive'' era, once again I understood how severely difficult is for each one of us to break the norms and be different.

‘'I realised that age doesn't necessarily bring anything with it, just itself. The rest is optional.''

My first experience with Nelson's writing was the beautiful Bluets, one of the finest memoirs I've ever read. The Argonauts is extremely different. I was very interested in the title she chose. I dare say- without presuming to assume what she had in mind- that the Argonauts is a metaphor for the continuous struggle to go against the current and succeed in what may seem as a Herculean, solitary effort. Whereas Bluets focuses on the melancholy of Love, here she writes primarily about gender identity and fluidity, sexuality and motherhood. I was particularly moved to read about her personal passage to motherhood while her partner was in the middle of a process that I can only describe as a rebirth. She touches in motherhood through the prism of mutual understanding ( or the lack of it) and the issue of infidelity juxtaposed with her father's death. I loved reading about her teaching experience and interactions with the young (and not so bright) minds.

I will be honest with you, as always, and tell you that there were quite a few moments when I felt uncomfortable reading her confessions and vivid (for lack of a stronger word) descriptions of certain issues that I consider too personal to be shared. But this is exactly why I loved The Argonauts. Even if we can't really understand because we have never walked in her shoes, her writing oozes confidence and vulnerability. It is raw and immediate and unafraid, But it is not for everyone.

I did prefer Bluets but that's only because I can't really relate to the theme of motherhood and its implications. This doesn't mean anything, though. Maggie Nelson is a writer whose language enters souls and minds bravely and directly.

‘'Leave it to the old politician white guy to call the lady speaker back to her body, so that no one misses the spectacle of that wild oxymoron, the pregnant woman who thinks. Which is really just a pumped-up version of that more general oxymoron, a woman who thinks.''

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

flashback to horrible days of reading highly abstract theory-ladden criticism in my English classes. Overthinking? But who am I to judge the overness of things. I'm impressed by how well she expressed herself though, her prose has character.

Noen vil kalle dette en memoar, andre et langessay, de mest kritiske vil se på det som en personlig dagbok i bokformat.
En bok om legning, om å bære fram barn, og om frihet. Egentlig det siste: Frihet som den grunnleggende drivkraften i mennesket, friheten til å være seg selv, og om hva som skjer med friheten med en gang man velger - fritt - å binde seg til noen andre, som f.eks. et barn.
En bok som utfordrer meg, og som får meg til å tenke på om hva jeg virkelig mener om den enkeltes rett til å velge sitt eget liv - og plikten til å leve det ut i en kontekst. Jeg har veldig sansen for det dynamiske frihetsbegrepet Maggie Nelson beskriver, og blir mer skeptisk til den statiske tradisjonen jeg tilhører.
Og konteksten? Maggie er - så vidt jeg forstår henne - lesbisk, med et sterkt behov for seksuell frihet. Partneren, Harry, er såkalt fluidkjønnet, at hans legning ikke kan plasseres på et fast punkt i en skala. Ganske utfordrende tanker, men har du sett Folkeopplysningen skjønner du hvor komplisert dette er. Og hva skjer når man insisterer på ulike friheter og det dukker opp et barn, og det dør foreldre - og du lever i spenningen av forventninger?
Veldig bra, spør du meg. Så lenge du er fri til å finne ditt eget svar på Maggie Nelsons utfordringer.

Y'all have genuinely been excited over this?

I'll still give Maggie Nelson a go as there were some sections of intrigue for me but fully, this was a miss.

This book was so beautiful and wrenching, I don't know how to rate it because how do you rate theory. But also there were some things that left me uneasy in an ethical way, and those are skewing my whole perception of the book.

Teared up while reading it in a coffeeshop. Really moving.

Esoteric, meandering, philosophical, yet still woven into a complete glimpse at a relationship (and parenting). Not my favorite but glad to have read it.

Why didn't I read this right when it came out? A deep pleasure to read. I love this sort of neither-memoir-nor-essay writing.

It made me feel a lot of feels, but genuinely and without stilted pathos or melodrama. It's pretentious as all fuck, make no mistake, but also direct in parts in a way that is rare and nice.

The obsession with fucking bores me, but then again, I am myself.

I didn't realise this was the same Maggie Nelson that wrote The Red Parts, about her aunt's murder (which is top notch btw). This was fascinating in much different way, I'm still chewing on it. I picked it up thinking it was fiction, or a more traditional memoir narrative. I love the way the authors quoted appear on the side of the text next to the quote - it's way more readable that traditional footnotes.

Maggie Nelson tells a personal story that is provocative and gentle, revealing and poetic. In a beautiful prose she talks of her relationship, pregnancy, of gender fluidity, transforming bodies, families, birth and death. Her story is mixed with more academic thoughts and quotes about gender studies, identity, language. She jumps back and forth in time and topic, but the flow of her voice masterfully weaves everything together. I was missing context for some of the more academic stuff, but the frankness and poetic quality of all her personal stories pulled me in. Another pro: Nelson narrates the audiobook herself and her voice is beautiful and comforting and a joy to listen to.

I started with an audio version of this book, but really, it's easier to read than listen to, even though the author herself is the narrator. Not that it's an easy book at all–it's smart and dense and requires focus. I want to read it again–my own copy–so I can mark it up as I go.

Book Club 2016

So torn about this book. It is at times exquisite, fascinating and deeply moving, particularly when she writes about her life.

But I struggled hugely with the frequent forays into jargon-heavy theory, as they were written (it felt) with a high expectation of the reader's level of understanding and intellect.

I wanted so much to learn, but came away feeling stupid and frustrated, yet with a craving to read more about her life.