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Toisissamme kiinni - Muistelma by Vivian Gornick

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elfs29's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.75

I like the content of this book but I think I just prefer fiction over memoirs. The matter of fact tone of this book just did not invite much interest for me, but Gornick is clearly very intelligent and I would like to read some of her fiction.

Mama had assumed her widowhood in the same way. It elevated her in her own eyes, made of her a spiritually significant person, lent richness to her gloom and rhetoric to her speech. Papa's death became a religion that provided ceremony and doctrine. A woman-who-has-lost-the-love-of-her-life was now her orthodoxy: she paid it Talmudic attention.

ominousevent's review against another edition

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I love to hear the way people talk. Listening to this book narrated by the author gave me great joy for that reason alone. It is also powerful, intriguing, sometimes funny, often sad. I appreciate the way Gornick tells these stories of her life, without seeming too concerned with whether she makes herself look good or not. And I don't know how anyone can reveal so much of themself to untold strangers everywhere.