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A review by peggychecksitout
Recollections of My Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Every now and then, you come across a writer who speaks to something in you—an instinctual, clarifying realisation that the writer has something to teach you, if you’ll have the patience to listen to the message and learn it by heart. Rebecca Solnit is such a writer for me. What the message is, I’m still learning, but reading her memoir has unlocked a little more of it for me.
Recollections of My Non-Existence isn’t a conventional memoir, it’s more of an essayistic exploration of how she found her voice as the writer she is today. She muses on the forces around her that shaped her—her experiences facing gendered violence and oppression, the different communities she has been involved in and drawn to, and her love of books and writing.
Solnit has a really engaging writing style: she’s funny, insightful, lyrical and impactful. She effortlessly weaves together narratives exploring the personal, the philosophical, the political and the historic, and she is so good at invoking a sense of time and place you really come away feeling like you’ve experienced a small slice of it.
I think the best non-fiction is that which leaves you with the world making a little more sense in a new way—a small piece of the puzzle that is the human experience clicks into place, and this book was definitely achieved that for me.
Though this is only my third book of hers in my reading journey through her ouevre, it has definitely cemented Solnit as a guiding light in my own journey to find my way as a person and as an aspiring writer.
Recollections of My Non-Existence isn’t a conventional memoir, it’s more of an essayistic exploration of how she found her voice as the writer she is today. She muses on the forces around her that shaped her—her experiences facing gendered violence and oppression, the different communities she has been involved in and drawn to, and her love of books and writing.
Solnit has a really engaging writing style: she’s funny, insightful, lyrical and impactful. She effortlessly weaves together narratives exploring the personal, the philosophical, the political and the historic, and she is so good at invoking a sense of time and place you really come away feeling like you’ve experienced a small slice of it.
I think the best non-fiction is that which leaves you with the world making a little more sense in a new way—a small piece of the puzzle that is the human experience clicks into place, and this book was definitely achieved that for me.
Though this is only my third book of hers in my reading journey through her ouevre, it has definitely cemented Solnit as a guiding light in my own journey to find my way as a person and as an aspiring writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Physical abuse, Stalking, and Death of parent