Scan barcode
A review by thedogmother
My Broken Language: A Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Powerful and lyrical, Hudes memoir is a beautiful song celebrating her family and culture. Ultimately, the writing was too literary and arty for me. Again, I find myself totally unable to get immersed in these heavily poetic texts that used to be my jam back in my English major days. The content was both interesting and important. I really enjoyed learning about her mother's spirituality, but the delivery of that great content just didn't capture me.
There's super relatable passage that I want to keep here: "Instead, did something at my core disappoint mom? Some ingrained selfhood guaranteeing her displeasure would stick forever? And I finally let loose the thought I hated thinking, tired and obvious as it was, and unresolved as it would remain. Was I not Puerto Rican enough? The next thought was new. Was mom not Puerto Rican enough? Had years in Philly resulted in her own selfhood slipping away, rendering my halfness an abrasion in her migrant wound?"
There's super relatable passage that I want to keep here: "Instead, did something at my core disappoint mom? Some ingrained selfhood guaranteeing her displeasure would stick forever? And I finally let loose the thought I hated thinking, tired and obvious as it was, and unresolved as it would remain. Was I not Puerto Rican enough? The next thought was new. Was mom not Puerto Rican enough? Had years in Philly resulted in her own selfhood slipping away, rendering my halfness an abrasion in her migrant wound?"