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chrisljm's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Can’t really say I understood at all what Maggie Nelson was talking about most of the time, but what I can say is that there were moments in her description of the color blue that truly resonated with me.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to love all colors and the way each hue has such a special shade that I’ve fallen in love with, and it’s what makes it difficult for me to say I have a favorite. And yet, I occasionally come across reminders why my favorite will always be blue whenever I see the most beautiful vivid shades of midnight blue (such as the tones of the cover of this book). There are descriptions in this book that puts into words exactly what it feels for me when seeing those shades of blue.
“2. And so I fell in love with a color- in this case, the color blue as if falling under a spell, a spell I fought to stay under and get out from under, in turns.”
“6. The half-circle of blinding turquoise ocean is this love's primal scene. That this blue exists makes my life a remarkable one, just to have seen it. To have seen such beautiful things. To find oneself placed in their midst. Choiceless.”
“212. If I were today on my deathbed, I would name my love of the color blue and making love with you as two of the sweetest sensations I knew on this earth.”
As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to love all colors and the way each hue has such a special shade that I’ve fallen in love with, and it’s what makes it difficult for me to say I have a favorite. And yet, I occasionally come across reminders why my favorite will always be blue whenever I see the most beautiful vivid shades of midnight blue (such as the tones of the cover of this book). There are descriptions in this book that puts into words exactly what it feels for me when seeing those shades of blue.
“2. And so I fell in love with a color- in this case, the color blue as if falling under a spell, a spell I fought to stay under and get out from under, in turns.”
“6. The half-circle of blinding turquoise ocean is this love's primal scene. That this blue exists makes my life a remarkable one, just to have seen it. To have seen such beautiful things. To find oneself placed in their midst. Choiceless.”
“212. If I were today on my deathbed, I would name my love of the color blue and making love with you as two of the sweetest sensations I knew on this earth.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Medical content and Ableism
cass_lit's review against another edition
2.0
As I was reading, before about the halfway mark, I thought maybe this just wasn’t for me. I liked the concept, but the execution wasn’t doing anything for me personally. I liked the exploration of blue and all of its meaning across various media, but I slightly disagreed with some of her takes. Possibly because Maggie Nelson came off as so pretentious, but we’ll never know. And then the “essays” (it’s really one long essay) became very focused on a friend of hers who became disabled in an accident. Like, borderline fetishly focused, which I thought was weird. And then, if that weren’t enough, Maggie Nelson throws out the r-word completely unnecessarily to reference Andy Warhol’s sexual tendencies. I was completely taken out of the collection and never brought back in.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism
alyssapusateri's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Grief, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Animal death
stephen_reads's review against another edition
fast-paced
2.0
Unpleasantly vulgar, unexpectedly racist, and randomly (suddenly) ableist.
Why has everyone been recommending this book as the pinnacle of creative non-fiction?
It even reminded me that I could be reading a much better book that aimed to accomplish a similar goal (Derek Jarman’s ‘Chroma’).
Not a 1 star simply because the language was gripping enough to keep me reading, but otherwise this was such a miss.
Why has everyone been recommending this book as the pinnacle of creative non-fiction?
It even reminded me that I could be reading a much better book that aimed to accomplish a similar goal (Derek Jarman’s ‘Chroma’).
Not a 1 star simply because the language was gripping enough to keep me reading, but otherwise this was such a miss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Grief
Minor: Ableism
thedisabledreader's review against another edition
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
use of cripple/crippling by a nondisabled authorlrl06's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
I find this book to be captivating and a five-star read for many people, however for me it was too intelligent. One who is knowledgeable on art and pop culture would be more intrigued but as someone who read this book in the hopes that it being under one hundred pages and therefore lightweight, it was the wrong choice on my part.
It is a read that will make you question many things about your life, my favourite being that the comedown of crack can be related to a heartbreak of a great lover and ergo, do you reject that love or accept the consequence that one day it might leave you? It is also filled with quotes like "why bother with a diagnoses at all, if a diagnosis is but a restatement of the problem" which really do leave you thinking.
Wold have been a higher rating if I read in a different context and, like I stated, if I was more educated on the topics discussed.
It is a read that will make you question many things about your life, my favourite being that the comedown of crack can be related to a heartbreak of a great lover and ergo, do you reject that love or accept the consequence that one day it might leave you? It is also filled with quotes like "why bother with a diagnoses at all, if a diagnosis is but a restatement of the problem" which really do leave you thinking.
Wold have been a higher rating if I read in a different context and, like I stated, if I was more educated on the topics discussed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Ableism and Fatphobia
kers_tin's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Chronic illness
Minor: Suicide and Ableism
penofpossibilities's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
“but I can say this: in watching her, sitting with her, helping her, weeping with her, touching her, and talking with her, I have seen the bright pith of her soul. I cannot tell you what it looks like, but I can say that I have seen it."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Animal death, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Suicide and Grief
Minor: Ableism
kaitsarago's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
The study of the color blue throughout philosophy, art, movies, songs, books, and just normal life. Also a study of grief and love and sex.
Really beautiful concept, very pretentious execution.
Really beautiful concept, very pretentious execution.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
librarymouse's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Bluets is a collection of 240 essays, ponderings, notes, and reflections on Maggie Nelson's relationship to the color blue and the emotions and history to which she relates the color. Some are connected, others are disjointed and read like a list of fun facts. I won't say this was terrible, but I also won't say that I got much out of reading it. There was much more description of the act of "fucking", and use of that word as a noun to describe the actions of sexuality intercourse than I expected when I started reading. It jarred whatever tenuous grip the essays had on me because in our current vernacular in the are I grew up, "fucking" is more often used as a modifier than a noun in it's own right. Near the middle of the book, sections Nelson wrote about her paralyzed friend were uncomfortable to read. She fetishizes and excoticises the blue hue her friend's limbs have taken on due to their disuse. She acknowledges that her obsession with her friend's paralyzed body is weird, but continues documenting her fascination. Close after that section, Nelson uses the R-slur in reference to Andy Warhol's opinions on sex.
I feel like I read through someone else's diary with the hope of getting to know them better, but I really just feel is a little icky.
I think I just don't really like essays this short. 240 essays in 100 pages doesn't give each essay enough space.
Nelson's writing style is academic, but conversational enough to be easily consumable.
I feel like I read through someone else's diary with the hope of getting to know them better, but I really just feel is a little icky.
I think I just don't really like essays this short. 240 essays in 100 pages doesn't give each essay enough space.
Nelson's writing style is academic, but conversational enough to be easily consumable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Drug use and Ableism