Reviews

The World Split Open: Great Authors on How and Why We Write by Marilynne Robinson, Robert Stone, Jeanette Winterson, Russell Banks, Wallace Stegner, Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin

carobbooks_15's review against another edition

Will come back to it

happylilkt's review against another edition

5.0

I have been enjoying the anthology lately—essays, short stories, and poems. They are just the right size for my scattered brain during days at home with my children. I have owned this collection of essays (adapted from lectures) for a long time and indeed my first exposure to Chimamanda Adichie was from her essay in this book, which led me to read other works of hers, which were also excellent. This truly is a stellar collection. Margaret Atwood, Ursula K LeGuin, Marilynne Robinson were probably my other favorite contributors but I can't say I disliked any of the essays, which is a rare quality and speaks highly of the editing/publishing team.

If you love critical writing about art, writing, and literature this is for you.

myriadreads's review against another edition

4.0

Fantastic! Every essay is good, but those by Atwood, Le Guin, Doctorow, and Winterson really stand out.

lottie1803's review against another edition

emotional informative fast-paced

3.5

toniclark's review against another edition

3.0

Overall, somewhat disappointed. I admit, I bought the book without checking the contents very closely. Most of these essays are from the 1990s — which doesn't mean they can't be good, relevant, etc. But the collection is very uneven. Different people will, no doubt, have their own favorites. Mine were Adiche, Atwood, and Doctorow. Russell Banks was okay. I couldn't warm to the rest.

blairconrad's review against another edition

4.0

Generally interesting essays. I didn't read them all, as I hadn't the time.
Best part? [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]'s thoughts on imaginative fiction.

alpal2020's review against another edition

3.0

Some of the essays were really interesting; I'm not a writer, but the Ursula K. Le Guin essay and the Marilynne Robinson essay made me a better reader, I think. Some of them were very navel-gazey and unpleasant, though. One of them even argued that you shouldn't research when you write historical fiction because that's not what fiction is. That, to me, felt irresponsible...

Read this book; skip the essays by men. Sorry to put it so bluntly...

isheekagoswami's review against another edition

3.0

Some inspiring, thought provoking pieces in here. There were also a couple of meandering pieces, and I feel particularly sorry for the people who had to listen to the Marilynne Robinson talk - I couldn't even finish reading it.

sawyerbell's review against another edition

3.0

Mixed bag but the essays by Atwood, Winterson, LeGuin and Doctorow were all good.

teaandbooklover's review against another edition

3.0

The only thing in this book that spoke to me was the essay from Ursula Le Guin. Otherwise, meh.