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Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'
How to Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair
34 reviews
katewhite77's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
A simply beautiful memoir
Safia Sinclair is a poet, and it shows in her wonderful prose style. Though the writing style is beautifully poetic, the content is hard to read to read. Don't go into this expecting an easy ride, especially because the writing is visceral.
Safia grew up in Montego Bay Jamaica with her mother, father, and three younger siblings, who are all rastafari. This is, for the most part, a peaceful religion that believes Jamaica should be free from white colonial rule, also known as Babylon.
Over time however Safia"s father is over taken by religious furver and starts to follow a sect that believes in a very narrow interpretation of rastafaranism, particularly in regard to the role of women. This leads to him exerting tighter and tighter control over the females in the family.
Safia finds an escape route out through education and poetry. The book is dedicated to her mother, and it is easy to see why because she is amazing.
I fully expect this book to feature in my best books of the year, not least because it references the best band in the world. The Mighy Cranberries.
Safia Sinclair is a poet, and it shows in her wonderful prose style. Though the writing style is beautifully poetic, the content is hard to read to read. Don't go into this expecting an easy ride, especially because the writing is visceral.
Safia grew up in Montego Bay Jamaica with her mother, father, and three younger siblings, who are all rastafari. This is, for the most part, a peaceful religion that believes Jamaica should be free from white colonial rule, also known as Babylon.
Over time however Safia"s father is over taken by religious furver and starts to follow a sect that believes in a very narrow interpretation of rastafaranism, particularly in regard to the role of women. This leads to him exerting tighter and tighter control over the females in the family.
Safia finds an escape route out through education and poetry. The book is dedicated to her mother, and it is easy to see why because she is amazing.
I fully expect this book to feature in my best books of the year, not least because it references the best band in the world. The Mighy Cranberries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Religious bigotry and Classism
mmccombs's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
The writing was very well done and I really enjoyed learning more about Rastafari and the ways in which Sinclair navigated her family life. Making connections between the colonial past and present of Jamaica, the abusive control exacted by her father, and the long line of women who persevered and carried her was very well done. I did think it was fairly repetitive and slow, I most enjoyed the first few chapters and the last because that’s where she was able to round up and bring together her ideas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry
barbarella85's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
not_another_ana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
After more than nineteen years, my father still could not see me. To him, nothing I wrote would ever matter. Poetry was the voice I had forged because for so long I had been voiceless; I had written every word because I wanted him to hear me. Now I knew he never would.
I find it tricky to cast judgement on a memoir. How can I sit here and judge what happens when it's not just plot but someone's actual life and experience, it feels voyeuristic. At the same time the author is handing me their life on a platter, is asking me to come and see and experience. In How to Say Babylon Safiya Sinclair presents us the story of her life growing up in Jamaica under the control of a domineering abusive father who used Rastafarianism to control and terrorize the family. We're taken on this journey to her childhood, her struggles and how she persevered and became an award winning poet. She also explains what Rastafarianism is, how it got started, what are the practices and beliefs, and how that affected her.
I could not put this down, I read it in four days. The prose is beautiful and fluid, you could probably infer her background as a poet. If you don't enjoy purple prose, this might not be a good fit for you, for me it worked because I felt like I was right there in her head with her as the events happened. And boy did things happen to her, this is a book that deals with such complex and heart wrenching abuse. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, at times it felt so heavy and anxiety inducing. I was at a roller coaster right before the drop, or a balloon inflating with no sign of stopping and then... Well the drop didn't happen, the balloon never popped.
That was my only real issue with the book. The pacing brught us to this dazzling height only to gently let us down. To me it felt like perhaps she could have waited to write this memoir, there were a lot of painful memories she had to face and put to paper and the more recent ones just didn't come across as robust as the past. By this I mean I felt like she's too close to the point in time where her book ends to have been able to pull it apart and analyze it, process it. There's a lot of silence at the end, like the story was cherry-picked in some spots.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
tamaramo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Sexual harassment
mamadonna's review against another edition
5.0
Pure poetry meets challenging family dysfunction and abuse. I loved the book and the authors reading of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Religious bigotry
loveclairebearx's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I picked up this book expecting to enjoy it. Unpacking childhood as it relates to identity is my favorite memoir niche. What I did not expect, however, was to be swept away and enthralled by how breathtakingly gorgeous the writing is.
Sinclair’s talent for poetry and devoted daily practice of reading the dictionary shines in the lush prose - each descriptor dripping with expressive intent. Every sentence a reckoning.
Some books are meant to be devoured, others savored. This memoir is the latter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault
mugsandmanuscripts's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal cruelty
erickaonpaper's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
"Anything else you'd like to add?" Storygraph asks, unknowing that I may have many, many things to add re this memoir...
part love letter to jamaica, part good-bye letter to her rastafarian upbringing, part forgiveness letter to her parents (particularly to her father), part prayer, part poem, this memoir from safiya sinclair moved me to tears multiple times over the course of journeying through everything mentioned earlier. every time i finish a memoir, i'm grateful for the writer who delivered, and this time is no different. although i refuse to rate a memoir, i will effusively thrust this one into many readers' hands. bear in mind: some of the writing is so obviously coming from a lauded poet, and if poetry isn't your jam, some of the long, meandering sentences and narrative throughlines may ward you off. but do not let that deter you from wading through churlish moments, as safiya herself did not. to face your upbringing, to face your oppression in this way... what a gift. what a gift!!!
part love letter to jamaica, part good-bye letter to her rastafarian upbringing, part forgiveness letter to her parents (particularly to her father), part prayer, part poem, this memoir from safiya sinclair moved me to tears multiple times over the course of journeying through everything mentioned earlier. every time i finish a memoir, i'm grateful for the writer who delivered, and this time is no different. although i refuse to rate a memoir, i will effusively thrust this one into many readers' hands. bear in mind: some of the writing is so obviously coming from a lauded poet, and if poetry isn't your jam, some of the long, meandering sentences and narrative throughlines may ward you off. but do not let that deter you from wading through churlish moments, as safiya herself did not. to face your upbringing, to face your oppression in this way... what a gift. what a gift!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
lizzyreadz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Wow! I had no idea of Rastafarian religion and it was incredible to learn from the powerful voice & journey of the narrator Safiya Sinclair.
Her words painted a thick picture of family, struggle, strength, fear, and forgiveness. She writes so beautifully it makes your heart cry.
Her words painted a thick picture of family, struggle, strength, fear, and forgiveness. She writes so beautifully it makes your heart cry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism