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s.penkevich's Reviews > Assembly
Assembly
by
by
�Why endure my own dehumanization?�
In her book, Citizen, Claudia Rankine asks �what does a victorious or defeated Black woman’s body in a historically white space look like?� The horror stories of violence and oppression against Black people, especially women, have filled many important books and articles, yet in Assembly, the debut novella from Natasha Brown, the author looks at ideas of success in historically white spaces to show the traumas of past and present reverberating together in order to examine not only how hostile these spaces are but how collaborative they are in the destruction of humanity. This brief but powerful novella takes sharp aim at a whole slew of systemic issues that plague society and all stem back to colonialism and racism as Brown unmasks myths of meritocracy, critiques corporate inclusivity initiatives and delivers an vital voice of change and denouncement of white supremacy. Brown’s message is important and reminds us that we are all complicit in this system that has us �burning our futures to fuel its voracious economy.� While the postmodernist narrative style feels unnecessarily obfuscating at times it does recreate a sense of bewilderment fitting for analyzing these social injustices and Brown really hits her stride in the more experimental final section of the book. A stunning debut that doesn’t quite pull together the style but has an urgent and crucial message we should all deeply take to heart.
Assembly follows an unnamed narrator during a weekend trip to her wealthy boyfriend’s white family garden party where she will be the only Black person present. This is interspersed with her recent promotion in the management offices of a major bank and a visit to a doctor for a tragic diagnosis. The book uses these three scenarios to extract an impressive variety of succinct critical examinations of capitalism and white supremacy while also showing how the two maintain power through their systemic partnership. It is a story about hard work and achievement yet finding that reaching the peak only gives a clearer view to society as a horrorshow of oppression. While the narrative is set in the UK and skewers the history of British imperialism, it is a universal message about the ways the powerful maintain their gates of power and try to suppress others beneath them.
�[J]ust survive it; march on into the inevitable. As our mothers, and fathers, did. Our grandparents before them. Survive.�
Central to the story is the myth of meritocracy and how hard work and achievement is subjective in a world where generational wealth and social status press their fingers on the scales while accusing everyone else of foul play. �The financial industry was the only viable route upwards,� the narrator confesses, but realizes �I traded in my life for a sliver of middle class comfort, for a future.� She sees the way the financial sector thrives on creating inequalities, on furthering climate crises, and understands her work in this industry makes her complicit in all these ills. As Emma Dabiri writes, paraphasing Bayo Akomolafe, 'inclusion today can be understood as access to the top deck of the slave ship...access to power in a system that is ultimately a tool of destruction.' Yet without it she would be crushed under poverty, pulverized by a society that she sees has nothing but ill intent for Black women. She was born in England but hears her whole life �you’re not a real Brit.� No matter what she does she will always be Othered. �Surviving makes me a participant in their narrative. Succeed or fail, my existence only reinforces this construct,� she says. �I reject it. I reject these options. I reject this life. Yes, I understand the pain. The pain is transformational—transcendent—the undoing of construction. A return, mercifully, to dust.�
What is the cost of survival, and how does one survive in a world constantly trying to kill you. If she becomes ill, she cannot work and cannot survive. Is it best to ignore the illness and let it kill her, she wonders, as it would certainly mark the end regardless. In the US this is a constant question, especially for many who, like myself, work multiple jobs but do not have health care. Brown points to capitalism as a system that grinds people out into oblivion, valuing them only for what profits they can produce for those above them and nothing else.
�They say they know how that woman got that job...this successful woman. This beleaguered, embattled woman.�
Much of the workplace narrative also keys in on the ways she is dismissed by her colleagues for her success. Co-workers openly complain affirmative action is unfair, or assume she is a token diversity hire, both Black and woman. �He says he’s no opposed to diversity. He just wants fairness, okay?� Later when yelled to by a white lawncare worker at her boyfriend’s estate, she wonders �In his preferred social hierarchy, his understanding of fair, who is allowed to walk, to breathe to enjoy a saturday?� The idea of fairness seems to assume white men are the standard, and anyone who manages to achieve to their level must be getting unfair advantages. In her book Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, Ijeoma Oluo says �I talk about how we somehow agreed that wealthy white men are the best group to bring the rest of us prosperity, when their wealth was stolen from our labor.� Brown examines the ways in which sharing status is viewed with suspicion, as if it must mean someone is now stealing from the white man’s labor, so sure of some assumed natural right to be successful and valued accordingly.
�Trancends race, they say of exceptional, dead black people. As if that relentless overcoming, when taken to the limit, as time stretches on to infinity, itself overcomes even limits, even infinity, even this place.�
Even her boss, who she shares the promotion with to become equal positions, spends most of his congratulatory statements talking about how he “gets it� and overly explains that he is “okay� sharing the promotion. Returning to Ijeoma Oluo, she writes that �We are expected to support white male supremacy in order to get a promotion, to be respected by our peers, for our children to succeed in school.� Earlier in the book we see the narrator must submit herself completely to her boss, Lou, in order to be respected by him as a worker (hinted in the opening that sexual harassment might be involved?) But Lou’s over insistence that he is okay because he is an ally is a key problem with concepts of allyship, which, as author and activist Emma Dabiri writes �you can continue to view Black people as inferior while still being committed to their “protection�,� an issue that also arises with her boyfriend later on. Her whole office is people saying Black people should be allowed to get promoted, but can’t seem to ever find a single instance where they see it being ‘fair�, even when it is the hardest working member of their office.
Another key issue with complicity, as examined by the narrator is �how can I use such a language to examine the society it reinforces?� This recalls the famous Audre Lorde quote �the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house� and shows how deeply entrenched Black people are in a white society that, especially after generations of being told they must adapt or be part of a melting pot (which is always coded to mean become like white people in the US), there is little ‘self� left not already smothered in a culture built on and by oppressing anyone who is an Other (race, gender, sexuality, etc). To help show the confusion and to subvert the concept of the novel, Brown employs a very postmodern style of short vignettes all tumbled together out of order as well as occasionally breaking into sections that read like Creative Nonfiction or even poetry. While it does create the sense that the narrator feels that �I am lost both literally and in the larger, abstract sense of this narrative,� it sometimes feels uneven and unnecessarily obfuscating. It works best at the end when it does become more nonfictional essay, and much of the book feels very much like Rankine’s Citizen. The narrator voice does tend to occasionally come off much like a young person who mistakes poet voice for being a high tone preacher voice full of incomplete sentences as a style, and it makes me wonder if this book would be better heard than read. A few points the narration sounded like that type you’d heard in 90s films like Trainspotting (that opening monologue especially) or Fight Club, insisting on its seriousness instead of trusting the reader to understand that it is serious. It is a laudable attempt at experimentation, yet did make the short novel drag.
�There is no back, or forward, only through it, this hostile environment.�
The final section of the novel is easily the best, and becomes a break from the narrative when the boyfriend’s family becomes the final straw in seeing just how much injustice there is in the world. It is made clear they are uncomfortable with a Black woman having access to their legacy, it is clear her job is uncomfortable with the same, it is clear the economy doesn’t view her or anyone as human, and it is clear she must find a way to say no. Brown deep dives most impressively through a historical lens of imperialism and racism, using examples of the ways Black women are Othered in daily life and addressing the whole legacy of British history.
And this is the hardest part. People complain of too many books about identity, complain that everyone makes everything too much about race, etc, et al, you’ve heard the whining I’m sure, yet these same people refuse to address the issues in order to correct them and thus are the ones who make it necessary to keep talking about these issues. And the social gaslighting that even questions peoples lived realities creates an opportunity for those opposed to equity, inclusivity, social justice, etc to pretend it’s a divided issue. Brown condemns this most excellently in the final section of this book and asks us all to join her.
�I’ve watched with dispassionate curiosity as this continent hacks away at itself: confused, lost, sick with nostalgia for those imperialist glory days � when the them had been so clearly defined! It’s evident now, obvious in retrospect as the proof of root-two’s irrationality, that these world superpowers are neither infallible, nor superior. They’re nothing, not without a brutally enforced relativity. An organized, systematic brutality that their soft and sagging children can scarcely stomach � won’t even acknowledge. Yet cling to as truth. There was never any absolute, no decree from God. Just viscous, random chance. And then, compounding�
This is a really powerful little book that marks a very impressive start for a career I will certainly want to keep up with. She takes on many important issues head on and does so very succinctly. While the style of the book never quite felt like it worked, it was an impressive undertaking and points towards future possibilities that I am very excited for. Honestly, I can't stop thinking about this book. Assembly is a must read.
3.5/5
�Generations of sacrifice; hard work and harder living. So much suffered, so much forfeited, so much–for this opportunity. For my life. And I’ve tried, tried living up to it. But after years of struggling, fighting against the current, I’m ready to slow my arms. Stop kicking. Breathe the water in. I’m exhausted. Perhaps it’s time to end this story.�
In her book, Citizen, Claudia Rankine asks �what does a victorious or defeated Black woman’s body in a historically white space look like?� The horror stories of violence and oppression against Black people, especially women, have filled many important books and articles, yet in Assembly, the debut novella from Natasha Brown, the author looks at ideas of success in historically white spaces to show the traumas of past and present reverberating together in order to examine not only how hostile these spaces are but how collaborative they are in the destruction of humanity. This brief but powerful novella takes sharp aim at a whole slew of systemic issues that plague society and all stem back to colonialism and racism as Brown unmasks myths of meritocracy, critiques corporate inclusivity initiatives and delivers an vital voice of change and denouncement of white supremacy. Brown’s message is important and reminds us that we are all complicit in this system that has us �burning our futures to fuel its voracious economy.� While the postmodernist narrative style feels unnecessarily obfuscating at times it does recreate a sense of bewilderment fitting for analyzing these social injustices and Brown really hits her stride in the more experimental final section of the book. A stunning debut that doesn’t quite pull together the style but has an urgent and crucial message we should all deeply take to heart.
Assembly follows an unnamed narrator during a weekend trip to her wealthy boyfriend’s white family garden party where she will be the only Black person present. This is interspersed with her recent promotion in the management offices of a major bank and a visit to a doctor for a tragic diagnosis. The book uses these three scenarios to extract an impressive variety of succinct critical examinations of capitalism and white supremacy while also showing how the two maintain power through their systemic partnership. It is a story about hard work and achievement yet finding that reaching the peak only gives a clearer view to society as a horrorshow of oppression. While the narrative is set in the UK and skewers the history of British imperialism, it is a universal message about the ways the powerful maintain their gates of power and try to suppress others beneath them.
�[J]ust survive it; march on into the inevitable. As our mothers, and fathers, did. Our grandparents before them. Survive.�
Central to the story is the myth of meritocracy and how hard work and achievement is subjective in a world where generational wealth and social status press their fingers on the scales while accusing everyone else of foul play. �The financial industry was the only viable route upwards,� the narrator confesses, but realizes �I traded in my life for a sliver of middle class comfort, for a future.� She sees the way the financial sector thrives on creating inequalities, on furthering climate crises, and understands her work in this industry makes her complicit in all these ills. As Emma Dabiri writes, paraphasing Bayo Akomolafe, 'inclusion today can be understood as access to the top deck of the slave ship...access to power in a system that is ultimately a tool of destruction.' Yet without it she would be crushed under poverty, pulverized by a society that she sees has nothing but ill intent for Black women. She was born in England but hears her whole life �you’re not a real Brit.� No matter what she does she will always be Othered. �Surviving makes me a participant in their narrative. Succeed or fail, my existence only reinforces this construct,� she says. �I reject it. I reject these options. I reject this life. Yes, I understand the pain. The pain is transformational—transcendent—the undoing of construction. A return, mercifully, to dust.�
What is the cost of survival, and how does one survive in a world constantly trying to kill you. If she becomes ill, she cannot work and cannot survive. Is it best to ignore the illness and let it kill her, she wonders, as it would certainly mark the end regardless. In the US this is a constant question, especially for many who, like myself, work multiple jobs but do not have health care. Brown points to capitalism as a system that grinds people out into oblivion, valuing them only for what profits they can produce for those above them and nothing else.
�They say they know how that woman got that job...this successful woman. This beleaguered, embattled woman.�
Much of the workplace narrative also keys in on the ways she is dismissed by her colleagues for her success. Co-workers openly complain affirmative action is unfair, or assume she is a token diversity hire, both Black and woman. �He says he’s no opposed to diversity. He just wants fairness, okay?� Later when yelled to by a white lawncare worker at her boyfriend’s estate, she wonders �In his preferred social hierarchy, his understanding of fair, who is allowed to walk, to breathe to enjoy a saturday?� The idea of fairness seems to assume white men are the standard, and anyone who manages to achieve to their level must be getting unfair advantages. In her book Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, Ijeoma Oluo says �I talk about how we somehow agreed that wealthy white men are the best group to bring the rest of us prosperity, when their wealth was stolen from our labor.� Brown examines the ways in which sharing status is viewed with suspicion, as if it must mean someone is now stealing from the white man’s labor, so sure of some assumed natural right to be successful and valued accordingly.
�Trancends race, they say of exceptional, dead black people. As if that relentless overcoming, when taken to the limit, as time stretches on to infinity, itself overcomes even limits, even infinity, even this place.�
Even her boss, who she shares the promotion with to become equal positions, spends most of his congratulatory statements talking about how he “gets it� and overly explains that he is “okay� sharing the promotion. Returning to Ijeoma Oluo, she writes that �We are expected to support white male supremacy in order to get a promotion, to be respected by our peers, for our children to succeed in school.� Earlier in the book we see the narrator must submit herself completely to her boss, Lou, in order to be respected by him as a worker (hinted in the opening that sexual harassment might be involved?) But Lou’s over insistence that he is okay because he is an ally is a key problem with concepts of allyship, which, as author and activist Emma Dabiri writes �you can continue to view Black people as inferior while still being committed to their “protection�,� an issue that also arises with her boyfriend later on. Her whole office is people saying Black people should be allowed to get promoted, but can’t seem to ever find a single instance where they see it being ‘fair�, even when it is the hardest working member of their office.
Another key issue with complicity, as examined by the narrator is �how can I use such a language to examine the society it reinforces?� This recalls the famous Audre Lorde quote �the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house� and shows how deeply entrenched Black people are in a white society that, especially after generations of being told they must adapt or be part of a melting pot (which is always coded to mean become like white people in the US), there is little ‘self� left not already smothered in a culture built on and by oppressing anyone who is an Other (race, gender, sexuality, etc). To help show the confusion and to subvert the concept of the novel, Brown employs a very postmodern style of short vignettes all tumbled together out of order as well as occasionally breaking into sections that read like Creative Nonfiction or even poetry. While it does create the sense that the narrator feels that �I am lost both literally and in the larger, abstract sense of this narrative,� it sometimes feels uneven and unnecessarily obfuscating. It works best at the end when it does become more nonfictional essay, and much of the book feels very much like Rankine’s Citizen. The narrator voice does tend to occasionally come off much like a young person who mistakes poet voice for being a high tone preacher voice full of incomplete sentences as a style, and it makes me wonder if this book would be better heard than read. A few points the narration sounded like that type you’d heard in 90s films like Trainspotting (that opening monologue especially) or Fight Club, insisting on its seriousness instead of trusting the reader to understand that it is serious. It is a laudable attempt at experimentation, yet did make the short novel drag.
�There is no back, or forward, only through it, this hostile environment.�
The final section of the novel is easily the best, and becomes a break from the narrative when the boyfriend’s family becomes the final straw in seeing just how much injustice there is in the world. It is made clear they are uncomfortable with a Black woman having access to their legacy, it is clear her job is uncomfortable with the same, it is clear the economy doesn’t view her or anyone as human, and it is clear she must find a way to say no. Brown deep dives most impressively through a historical lens of imperialism and racism, using examples of the ways Black women are Othered in daily life and addressing the whole legacy of British history.
�How can we engage, discuss, even think through a post-colonial lens, when there’s no shared base of knowledge? When even the simplest accounting of events - as preserved in the country’s own archives - wobbles suspect as tin-foil-hat conspiracies in the minds of its educated citizens.�
And this is the hardest part. People complain of too many books about identity, complain that everyone makes everything too much about race, etc, et al, you’ve heard the whining I’m sure, yet these same people refuse to address the issues in order to correct them and thus are the ones who make it necessary to keep talking about these issues. And the social gaslighting that even questions peoples lived realities creates an opportunity for those opposed to equity, inclusivity, social justice, etc to pretend it’s a divided issue. Brown condemns this most excellently in the final section of this book and asks us all to join her.
�I’ve watched with dispassionate curiosity as this continent hacks away at itself: confused, lost, sick with nostalgia for those imperialist glory days � when the them had been so clearly defined! It’s evident now, obvious in retrospect as the proof of root-two’s irrationality, that these world superpowers are neither infallible, nor superior. They’re nothing, not without a brutally enforced relativity. An organized, systematic brutality that their soft and sagging children can scarcely stomach � won’t even acknowledge. Yet cling to as truth. There was never any absolute, no decree from God. Just viscous, random chance. And then, compounding�
This is a really powerful little book that marks a very impressive start for a career I will certainly want to keep up with. She takes on many important issues head on and does so very succinctly. While the style of the book never quite felt like it worked, it was an impressive undertaking and points towards future possibilities that I am very excited for. Honestly, I can't stop thinking about this book. Assembly is a must read.
3.5/5
�Generations of sacrifice; hard work and harder living. So much suffered, so much forfeited, so much–for this opportunity. For my life. And I’ve tried, tried living up to it. But after years of struggling, fighting against the current, I’m ready to slow my arms. Stop kicking. Breathe the water in. I’m exhausted. Perhaps it’s time to end this story.�
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What an ace, thorough review, nice! Think I've seen this on bookmarks, maybe...
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Jared wrote: "What an ace, thorough review, nice! Think I've seen this on bookmarks, maybe..."Thank you so much! Definitely worth picking up!
Beautiful review - been meaning to read this since it was nominated for the Goldsmiths prize.
Sara wrote: "Beautiful review - been meaning to read this since it was nominated for the Goldsmiths prize."Thank you! I hope you enjoy, it’s a pretty cool little book. I kind of want to reread it via audiobook now
Fantastic review, I've seen so many good things about this book. It's on my tbr.
Melissa (LifeFullyBooked) wrote: "Fantastic review, I've seen so many good things about this book. It's on my tbr."Thank you so much! It’s really worth a read, I’ve been sort of thinking about it constantly since finishing
![©hrissie ❁ [1st week on campus-somewhat run-down]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1610034740p1/49071166.jpg)
Phenomenal review, Steve! I absolutely enjoyed reading your thorough and in-depth analysis. I think I will get to this one eventually.
©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Phenomenal review, Steve! I absolutely enjoyed reading your thorough and in-depth analysis. I think I will get to this one eventually."Thank you so much! Would recommend, it’s pretty impressive and I hope you enjoy. It’s one where I’ve liked it the more I’ve processed it after the fact (to be honest at about halfway through I was more thinking 2 stars) which tends to be the sign of a good book for me haha.
s.penkevich wrote: "©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Phenomenal review, Steve! I absolutely enjoyed reading your thorough and in-depth analysis. I think I will get to this one eventually."Thank you so much! Wo..."
Oh yes, that happens to me too. Lately it has happened with Ishiguro's latest, Klara and the Sun (still need to get down to reviewing it). It certainly IS the sign of a good book for me.
©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Oh yes, that happens to me too. Lately it has happened with Ishiguro's latest, Klara and the Sun (still need to get down to reviewing it). It certainly IS the sign of a good book for m..."Ooo I still need to read that one, I take it that it’s good? Considering your attempt to get into audiobooks, I suspect this one would be even better as an audiobook. The prose really feels like it is meant to be heard more than read.
s.penkevich wrote: "©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Oh yes, that happens to me too. Lately it has happened with Ishiguro's latest, Klara and the Sun (still need to get down to reviewing it). It certainly IS the..."It's brilliant! And that's saying something for me, because I only make sci-fi exceptions for a handful of authors. It will probably be one of those books that grows on you with later processing though, because it feels heavily alienating for the reader. Audiobooks are a valid possibility: I am trying to be more open to them myself, though I do suspect that I will forevermore prefer the traditional mode of reading.
©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Oh yes, that happens to me too. Lately it has happened with Ishiguro's latest, Klara and the Sun (still need to get down to reviewing it)...."That is good to hear! I’ve been meaning to read that one and the reviews seem to show the book as fairly polarizing but I feel like most of his books are. I like that he tries new things often, and heavily alienating for the reader is something I tend to enjoy haha.
Same, nothing quite compares for me either though I have been quite enjoying the library digital app for reading while on desk at work haha. Do you tend to underline or take notes when reading?
s.penkevich wrote: "©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Oh yes, that happens to me too. Lately it has happened with Ishiguro's latest, Klara and the Sun (s..."Definitely! You could say that I am a compulsive underline-r and note taker with most books. I read a lot of eBooks these days so I have developed a colour coded highlighting system.
I sense that you will very much appreciate Klara - it is on the lines of his Never Let Me Go if you have read that one, but Klara does so much more. I look forward to your review!
©hrissie � Wor(l)ds*Of*Wonders wrote: "Definitely! You could say that I am a compulsive underline-r and note taker with most books. I read a lot of eBooks these days so I have developed a colour coded highlighting system...."Oooo I should start a colour coded system haha. I do block off paragraphs with different symbols to denote different themes so it's easier to find quotes, and not for any reason other than goodreads reviewing (nerd alert).
Good to hear, I really liked Never Let me Go...I went on a huge Ishiguro kick during a goodreads hiatus and regret never reviewing any, so perhaps thatll be my first.
Great review as always, insightful and balanced. Seems like a really heavy read though. What is the hook for the casual 'unwoke' reader?, in these times, escapism vs. (systemic) reality? I myself find increasingly difficult to focus on these kinds of polemical books...and am reading fluff. Like cookbooks. Aargh!
Gerhard wrote: "Great review as always, insightful and balanced. Seems like a really heavy read though. What is the hook for the casual 'unwoke' reader?, in these times, escapism vs. (systemic) reality? I myself f..."Thank you so much! I'm glad you bring that up because it is something I thought about while reading it, especially with how it's fairly abstract. I was reading this alongside another nonfiction book and decided to save the discussion about that for the other review (hopefully I'll write it soonish?), because that is a good point: will anyone not already fairly versed in the ideas even pick it up? Emma Dabiri talks a lot about how there are a lot of great antiracist books but it just turns into the same readers stuck infighting and reconsidering terminology over and over but is it actually making much progress? and people opposed to antiracism won't read them/continue to deny/etc and here we are in 2021 still making the same points, etc. I will say this one does at the end tie some ideas together in a fresh way but the Dabiri book takes things a lot further maybe and is more reaching out to a wider range of readers?
Haha, but I know what you mean. I overdid it on heavy books during halloween and now I'm like...maybe I'm going to just read some fun scifi for awhile haha.
s.penkevich wrote: "Haha, but I know what you mean. I overdid it on heavy books during halloween and now I'm like...maybe I'm going to just read some fun scifi for awhile haha."Know exactly what you mean. I deliberately alternate 'lighter' reading with 'heavier' books, or I have a couple of different ones going at the same time that I switch between whenever I need a break. I only recently began reading more poetry, which I find to be a great literary palate cleanser. Short stories as well. It was drummed into me at school that reading more than one book at once is the sign of an undisciplined mind, but it is essential for me.
Gerhard wrote: "Know exactly what you mean. I deliberately alternate 'lighter' reading with 'heavier' books, or I have a couple of different ones going at the same time that I switch between .."Ooo yes, poetry is the best palate cleanser! I try to always have at least one collection going at all times, or short stories which I’ve been on more of a kick lately (realizing I can pull up the library ereader app at the front desk at the library has really inspired me to read a lot of short story collections lately haha). Yeaaaa I remember hearing that as well about multiple books, but then a college prof telling us it’s actually a good thing because of compartmentalizing? Does anyone have data on this haha
Thanks for the review. One of my book club friends read this and didn't like it all too much, but based on your review, I may still try this. Cheers!
Louis wrote: "Thanks for the review. One of my book club friends read this and didn't like it all too much, but based on your review, I may still try this. Cheers!"Thank you. To be fair, this was one didnt open up for me until the second half of it, for the first I sort of was worried I wasn’t following it and wasn’t that into it. It is kind of confusing at first (I thought) so just bear with it is my advice. Hope you enjoy, interested to hear what you think!
Terrific review. Sounds more an ideas book? Like the meritocracy theme.
Nick wrote: "Terrific review. Sounds more an ideas book? Like the meritocracy theme."Thank you. Yea, definitely more on the ideas with a plot more as a vessel to talk about them, but it holds up even after it more or less abandons having a plot for the final—and best—section.
I'm halfway through this book now and thinking about not finishing it, because I felt I was missing something, I have taken a few notes I enjoyed, but overall I was confused about the direction it was taking. Obviously after reading your perfect review I'm going to finish it, hopefully the second half will also be better for me.
jess wrote: "I'm halfway through this book now and thinking about not finishing it, because I felt I was missing something, I have taken a few notes I enjoyed, but overall I was confused about the direction it ..."To be honesty I almost abandoned this one half way through as well and I was glad I didn’t. But I kind of hated it at first and assumed there was no way I was giving the book more than 2 stars. It’s like�.really hard to follow for awhile right? I think if you push through you will start to see, it all click and the earlier parts will get explained a lot better I felt. Can’t wait to hear what you think.
s.penkevich wrote: "jess wrote: "I'm halfway through this book now and thinking about not finishing it, because I felt I was missing something, I have taken a few notes I enjoyed, but overall I was confused about the ..."Finally read this, and I am glad I did, it did got better and I feel I will be going back to it, at least reading bits of it, there are a lot of powerful statements.
jess wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "jess wrote: "I'm halfway through this book now and thinking about not finishing it, because I felt I was missing something, I have taken a few notes I enjoyed, but overall I was..."Yay I’m glad you finished and got a lot out of it. It really opens up at the end right? I sort of wish the whole book was like that…the beginning almost was too disorienting to even know what was going on? Which I guess was for effect but still.
Beautiful review, thank you!
Dhwani wrote: "Beautiful review, thank you!"Thank you so much! Glad you loved this book as well!
I feel like i should write a review on this review than the book itself. Excellent!
book wrote: "I feel like i should write a review on this review than the book itself. Excellent!"Thank you so much! This book was wild, I should revisit it sometime. Though I'm pretty excited for her new one.
I agree with you when you say that the book is better heard than read. I couldn’t quite sense the obfuscation while listening to it. A great review indeed.
P. S. : I read her latest Universality also.
