iamlll
Book dragon: I will hoard as many as I can📚 I read a lot of genres, special love for historical fantasy though 💖 Reading is political
4103 points
4.32 average · 70 reviews
Click a segment to filter
When a work of fiction allies time theory, a bit of physic's sociological value, political commentaty, ethics, philosophy and projection beyond what our society is able to imagine, you know you just read a masterpiece. I feel like I've grown more into myself after reading The Dispossessed. I already considered myself an anarchist before so it wasn't a too murky territory, and I was very curious of how this political current might work in science-fiction, but I did not expect to have it literally blow my mind and further my expectations by a thousand. When I think about it, sci-fi is one of, if not the best, medium to access something we lack horrifically as anti-capitalists as a whole, no matter the movement, and that's projection. Because the main line of argument of opposition would be "okay, what comes next?" It's okay to say "I don't know", because it would be true. But Le Guin went further - literally, like outside our solar system - than any theories you might read and really dived deep, drilled through and exposed particles and peculiarities of a world we would never dare to imagine in the world we are in. And that's beautiful in ways that are hard to express. There is so much to say about all the topics brought up in barely 300 pages, all very important in their own right : how time, as abstract a concept as it might seem, shapes our world and how we live in it more than we can ever realize (and that's why time theories thought by people that are not white, western colonisers are very important to discuss); how community and individuality works; how one must get comfortable with change to be free, truly free... I don't want to put it all here, mainly because I know everyone can see a bit of themselves inside this book, and discovery is also important, to not always take another's word as true. But goodness that's barely scratching the surface, so imagine the rest ! I'm falling in love with this author's writing more and more as I go, I'm looking forward to reading a lot more and to keep getting surprised, and also challenged, incited to ask questions, to think deeply. Easily breaking into my top books this year.
"If you evade suffering you also evade the chance of joy. Pleasure you may get, or pleasures, but you will never be fulfilled. You will not know what it is to comes home."
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1)
Shannon Chakraborty
I seriously need more people on this book, or reading Shannon Chakraborty altogether because this specific one got me back into reading, I have a special bond to it x) but I also completely fell in love with the Daevabad universe... anyways, THIS IS NOT TALKED ABOUT ENOUGH. I never knew I needed this, but a main cast of grumpy middle aged/old and retired pirates bickering on a ship to pursue a quest they did not want to follow in the first place ? Loved it. Want more. The mere fact that Amina is 40ish, has a daughter and a bad knee makes her one of my favorite fantasy main characters of all the books I've read, and I wonder if anyone feels the same =)
iamlll commented...
Everyone here already made excellent points so I'm not going to repeat what has already been said. The act of withdrawing our support to an author because of their words/actions against a specific often oppressed community is personal and political, it says "I really do not agree with what this person is saying and helps happening to my/this community, so I won't give them my money or the platform to promots their work". We can encourage others to do the same if their share our opinions, but ultimately we can't force anyone, so if you keep supporting sair author, it's between you and your conscience. It highly depends on what you think is the right thing and how many excuses you are willing to find to not get out of your comfort zone. And I think the fact that other people boycotting authors is rubbing you the wrong way is a sign of an action that can't be ignored anymore because it's making you uncomfortable and challenging something you maybe didn't think about before, so it's working. Saying "it doesn't do anything" is factually wrong because it brings conversation as to why that happens and because culture is a key point to every fight for justice. Books are culturally important, what books are banned by law or morally accepted by people determines what is considered good material to be read and absorbed, and for who is it acceptable. We might not be remembered by history in a century, but as far as cultural transmission will go, I will never encourage kids to read books written by people who support genocide, and that's more than what many people might say currently
A big head scratcher for me. László Krasznahorkai won this year's Nobel for literature and I have seen a lot of people talking more about him being a "zionist" than his work in literature. I sincerely understand the severity of the Israel Palestinian conflict and I do believe what Israel is doing is a genocide but I've seen so many people brushing an author or their career's work aside just because they happen to be Jewish or have a zionist view. László Krasznahorkai's work is staple in human pessimism and gives one a deeper look in how it takes root in everyday life but half of the people who wish to be on the "right side of history" wouldn't engage with those ideas or books just because this one reason.
I see these communities which, rather than being based on the quality of books or the topics discussed, are based on "Non-Zionist bookclub". I've seen people showing disinterest in books they actually were about to read because "oh, he's zionist now I have to get ride of everything I wanted to read." I do not understand this performative behavior and I do not think that these people care for reading literature but about being considered as morally right.
I want to have a discussion because if I stayed in my own brain's echo chamber I might miss upon any other sincere answer to why it's not performative.
