Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Les Argonautes by Maggie Nelson

41 reviews

talin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Vomit, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

u_0's review against another edition

I am only 5% in but I think I should DNF it. There is a lot of beautiful language here but I don't think it's for me. I thought the story was fiction but it's a memoir that reads like a diary. The writing is at times extremely beautiful and poignant but other times it was chaotic, pretentious, and impossible to follow. I might continue but it's really hard for me to read the book given she's talking about real people, it just feels like I'm invading everyone's privacy. I hope later on in the book queerness and gendernormativity are explored with more diversity and intersectionality. At this point I would rate it 3/5 stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Pregnancy

robinks's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

3.25

As a disclaimer: I think this book would’ve come across better in print format instead of audiobook. Some of the formatting and content felt disjointed in audio. That being said, I had a hard time figuring out what this story was trying to communicate, though it did bring up some good questions about blended families for reflection.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Cancer and Abortion

lottiegasp's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

This is a beautifully written memoir of Nelson's relationship with her trans partner Harry, her stepson and their new baby. As a queer feminist in what can be mistaken as a heteronormative family, Nelson explores issues of gender, queerness, feminism, family and motherhood.

I thought it had really interesting perspectives about being queer, feminist and shunning societal norms while cherishing love and family. Rightfully so, a lot of feminism focusses on empowering women and genderqueer people to be single and child-free, to not be stuck in unfulfilling and unequal relationships, and to find and cherish love elsewhere. But for people who do seek and find love through their romantic partner and children, I think it is important to consider how to do these things in a way that does not simply reinforce the hetero status quo. This is something Nelson grapples with, while portraying how she and Harry have approached things.

At some parts in the middle I found the writing and references to other scholars a bit dense. Nevertheless, I overall appreciated the rich, aesthetic literary writing style, which is perhaps more common in fiction than memoirs.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia

There are explicit descriptions of consensual sex. And detailed description of pregnancy and labour. There are some brief descriptions of transphobia, but the book focusses much more on trans joy. The author deadnames her partner once, presumably with his permission. There is a gutwrenching description of a parent dying, which is beautifully written but very sad.

jaiari12's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Sexism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Stalking, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

maess's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Alcohol

o3tri's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Lesbophobia

leguinstan's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

The Argonauts has literally made me reevaluate the way I think about memoirs and I can confidently say that after having read this, I no longer have the same expectations about the genre that I once did.

While much has been said about Nelson's heavy incorporation of queer and feminist theory in her memoir, the sense of uncertainty expressed in The Argonauts is what made the biggest impression on me. From the meandering stream-of-consciousness writing to the chain of unanswered questions peppered throughout her theoretical musings, Nelson makes it apparent that for all her erudition she is just as unmoored as the rest of us. This is in stark contrast to what most of us expect from a memoir: a strictly chronological presentation of a sequence of events leading to a significant change or revelation in the memoirist's life. Nelson intentionally leans into the contradictory, ever-evolving aspects of her identity and resists the instinct to compress her life into the confines of a narrative arc.

While I found it very easy to appreciate these aspects of the work, I can't say the same for the aforementioned incorporation of theory which had me frustrated at several points. And aside from this frustration, I also find it more difficult to find the value in what is arguably the single most inaccessible aspect of the memoir. But considering the fact that Nelson is entrenched in academia and that she is interested in queer and feminist theory, would a removal of the theoretical analysis in The Argonauts be a less authentic representation of Maggie Nelson's life? Can authenticity sometimes be at odds with accessibility? Is this genre-mashing a reflection of Nelson's multiplicity?

The reading experience may not have been smooth sailing, but Nelson's boldly experimental, vulnerable, thought-provoking writing makes up for the bumpy ride.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

brotlord's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer

pang's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief and Stalking

Minor: Transphobia