Reading Wednesday

[sabotabby]

Finished reading: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. Holy fuck this book is good. It's about a girl from Nigeria inhabited by ogbanje, a multitude of gods and vengeful spirits who fracture her identity. The story is told mainly from the perspective of the ogbanje, a few of whom develop individual personalities, as Ada goes to college in the US and encounters trauma after trauma. This could easily be trauma porn (and. Seriously. All the triggers. Every trigger you can possibly imagine and then some. If you want to read it and triggers are an issue for you, be warned.) but somehow it avoids that, in part through the sheer transcendent poetry of Emezi's writing. It's grounded in Igbo ontology—the term "multiple personality disorder" is never mentioned—and reads more like a dark and inventive fantasy novel than a literary work about mental illness, of which there are a dime a dozen. I can't overstress how incredible their writing is. Every sentence is a perfectly crafted gem. I immediately had to Google the author to see what else they'd written—Emezi is only 32 and this is their first novel. They just put out a new one last month that's YA, and despite my general aversion to YA I immediately put a hold on it without even looking at what it was about because I was so blown away by their first one.

Currently reading: On Literature by Umberto Eco. Wow, it's been years since I've read any Eco. I was exhausted last night and passed out before finishing the first essay, but it already felt like grabbing a coffee with a friend I hadn't seen in ages and remembering, "oh hey, I really like this person." I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

Adding Akwaeke Emezi to list of authors to look out for. But maybe I'll start with the YA.

it already felt like grabbing a coffee with a friend

I love Eco's essay writing style, it's so chatty with occasional gossip.

[sabotabby]

I imagine that their YA is gentler. There was a paywalled NYT article about writing a story about a trans person in which nothing bad happens to them. I don't know if that's the story but I like that idea.

Eco is really conversational, isn't he? Like even when he's talking about weighty issues. He's accessible in a way that never feels condescending. I once saw him speak on translation and it was the coolest shit.

*

[minoanmiss]

There are moods where I could really cathartically enjoy this beautiful-sounding book. *makes a note*

Re: *

[sabotabby]

It's so good. And, like, it didn't trigger me, but also I only really shared one trauma point with Ada. So—if you want to know before you read, I can tell you.