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A review by adamchalmers
Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies and Revolution by Laurie Penny
5.0
Fantastic read. A lot of individual points she made were familiar, but they were tied together in a cohesive structure that explains WHY things are so fucked up, not just listing fucked up things. It mixes the abstract philosophical points with personal anecdotes really well, so it's always captivating. The writing is mostly wonderful prose with occasional poetic passages thrown in - not poetry, but figurative imaginative writing that feels like it.
Penny's book is probably the grimmest I've read, she doesn't hold back at all, she lists exactly how and why gender relations are fucked up in the 21st century and what battles are left to feminists. But it's not a gloomy book. There's an undertone of hope and revolution throughout the whole thing. I finished it and felt inspired and excited for 2017.
It's also a great book for our generation because unlike so many other social texts it's written by a real digital native - someone who, like me, grew up on forums and journal sites and chatting to internet friends. She really captures the spirit of those days and combines it with her time in Occupy and other social movements. I fucking love this book and would recommend it to anyone hoping for a better world.
Penny's book is probably the grimmest I've read, she doesn't hold back at all, she lists exactly how and why gender relations are fucked up in the 21st century and what battles are left to feminists. But it's not a gloomy book. There's an undertone of hope and revolution throughout the whole thing. I finished it and felt inspired and excited for 2017.
It's also a great book for our generation because unlike so many other social texts it's written by a real digital native - someone who, like me, grew up on forums and journal sites and chatting to internet friends. She really captures the spirit of those days and combines it with her time in Occupy and other social movements. I fucking love this book and would recommend it to anyone hoping for a better world.