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A review by foxo_cube
README.txt: A Memoir by Chelsea Manning
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
This is a fascinating memoir that makes a situation so obscured by political and technological complexities on the face of it very much human. Manning is someone who did what she did because she felt it was right, and I, for one, am inclined to agree with her.
She recounts her early life and interest in technology (encouraged by her dad to masculinise her, funnily enough) and the solace she found in the internet when she was in her adolescence. She makes it sound like great fun to mess about with hacking, honestly - hell, even when she describes her work in the army as an analyst, it's clear she really loved it, and I can't really blame her. It's probably really interesting, drawing conclusions and making decisions based on patterns of behaviour that you've observed over time - I think I'd love doing that! But, of course, being in Iraq and having the consequences of her work being much more real understandably took a toll on her. There's a sense of detachment that I guess you've got to have if you do basically any sort of military job, and she describes how the morality of it all affected her deeply.
It's also interesting to read how she worked out her gender and sexual identity over time. Her talking about how, when she was little, she would ask <i>why</i> she couldn't be a girl was so sweet and so sad. I'm so glad it turned out she absolutely could be one! I really do think it's good to have such a well-known figure be open about her journey. It's so important for people growing up trans to know that they aren't weird and they aren't alone and they can be the person they know they are.
The treatment that Manning describes in her confinement before her trial was absolutely abhorrent, but I can't say I'm terribly surprised. That she didn't get her spirit totally broken by it all is miraculous - but it sounds like that took a lot of work on her part, honestly.
I have a lot of respect for her. Even at points where it went against any sense of self-preservation, she did what she believed was right, and that's incredible.
Technically speaking, the memoir is nicely-written and doesn't delve into any jargon that I can imagine she could have scattered through the text like nothing else. She writes clearly and with heart, and even with how angry I was for her at some points, it was an enjoyable book to read.
She recounts her early life and interest in technology (encouraged by her dad to masculinise her, funnily enough) and the solace she found in the internet when she was in her adolescence. She makes it sound like great fun to mess about with hacking, honestly - hell, even when she describes her work in the army as an analyst, it's clear she really loved it, and I can't really blame her. It's probably really interesting, drawing conclusions and making decisions based on patterns of behaviour that you've observed over time - I think I'd love doing that! But, of course, being in Iraq and having the consequences of her work being much more real understandably took a toll on her. There's a sense of detachment that I guess you've got to have if you do basically any sort of military job, and she describes how the morality of it all affected her deeply.
It's also interesting to read how she worked out her gender and sexual identity over time. Her talking about how, when she was little, she would ask <i>why</i> she couldn't be a girl was so sweet and so sad. I'm so glad it turned out she absolutely could be one! I really do think it's good to have such a well-known figure be open about her journey. It's so important for people growing up trans to know that they aren't weird and they aren't alone and they can be the person they know they are.
The treatment that Manning describes in her confinement before her trial was absolutely abhorrent, but I can't say I'm terribly surprised. That she didn't get her spirit totally broken by it all is miraculous - but it sounds like that took a lot of work on her part, honestly.
I have a lot of respect for her. Even at points where it went against any sense of self-preservation, she did what she believed was right, and that's incredible.
Technically speaking, the memoir is nicely-written and doesn't delve into any jargon that I can imagine she could have scattered through the text like nothing else. She writes clearly and with heart, and even with how angry I was for her at some points, it was an enjoyable book to read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and War