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drowningparty's review against another edition
5.0
A great memoir filled with philosophic, artistic, anthropologic, and historic observations written in wonderfully lyrical prose. Map to the Door of No Return features a series of vignettes, snapshots of her, her friends, her idols, and strangers lives, which she has collected during the course of her travels around the world, as well as a discourse on history and how it influences future generations.
The sea is a recurring theme throughout and gives shape to the narrative. The tide rises and recedes: some passages perilous, anxiety-inducing, glimpses of war, revolution, slavery, and loss, while others are peaceful, pastoral, still—a breath of fresh air as the author retreats into nature or domesticity for a much needed rest. Like the sea, the narrative shifts across the globe, connecting lives as its author crosses continents, searching for an answer that always just eludes her, an answer which may be resignation to the fact there is no simple answer.
First and foremost a book about identity and racial displacement, Brand's Map can also be viewed as a meditation on the role of history in our daily lives. Everyone is given a choice: living with history—whether that means learning from its sins and mistakes or letting it seep into your bones as it seeps into the land it stains—or forgetting it for your own sanity, letting go so as to move forward, like stepping out of water. Ultimately, the choice is yours. There are no wrong answers.
The sea is a recurring theme throughout and gives shape to the narrative. The tide rises and recedes: some passages perilous, anxiety-inducing, glimpses of war, revolution, slavery, and loss, while others are peaceful, pastoral, still—a breath of fresh air as the author retreats into nature or domesticity for a much needed rest. Like the sea, the narrative shifts across the globe, connecting lives as its author crosses continents, searching for an answer that always just eludes her, an answer which may be resignation to the fact there is no simple answer.
First and foremost a book about identity and racial displacement, Brand's Map can also be viewed as a meditation on the role of history in our daily lives. Everyone is given a choice: living with history—whether that means learning from its sins and mistakes or letting it seep into your bones as it seeps into the land it stains—or forgetting it for your own sanity, letting go so as to move forward, like stepping out of water. Ultimately, the choice is yours. There are no wrong answers.
helenaruby's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
my feelings on this book are complex to say the least. the main thing i loved about this text is how beautiful the language was. when the prose is free flowing and poetic it really hits the mark and a lot of really beautiful sentiments about humanity’s relationship with nature, inter generational trauma, and spiritual connections across the Black diaspora are conveyed. dionne has a really charismatic way of writing as well, she can write very ironically or humorously at times which i didn’t expect from this book! the other hand, a map to the door of no return is experimental and genre defying. it’s at once an autobiography, a theoretical text, literary/poetic prose, and much more. as supportive as i am of black women writing outside the boundaries and expectations of canonical genre, this honestly didn’t make for an engaging read a lot of the time. one of my big takeaways from this book was unfortunately that it could’ve benefitted greatly from a talented editor. as a tight 100 page essay, this might well be a 9/10 read. but with all the meandering and too-repetitive motifs, i felt the book lost its way a little. i enjoyed it a lot more when i was reading extracts from it in black studies class than i did digesting it as a full book. but it’s worth a read if the specific subject matter calls to you!
kshgr's review against another edition
3.0
interesting mix of genre, too meandering for me in the end, and doesn't quite deconstruct 'origins' to the extent that it thinks it can
dukegregory's review against another edition
3.0
Redundant and a bit long regardless of the shorter length, but it still holds a sense of power. The literary criticism is the most substantial for me, even if some of it feels underbaked and underevidenced.
rachelclarareed's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
makeda_colourlit's review against another edition
Plan to start reading it again, as a v long period of time has passed since I first started it
kate56's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Dionne Brand reads the audiobook - it's phenomenal. I loved listening and reading... sometimes separately, sometimes together.