Reading List: Five Books About The Body.
By Ella Monnerat
When I was packing my bags to go back home for this period of self-isolation, the first things I put into my suitcase were books. My friend asked me which ones I was taking, and when I read the titles to her, she said that “all of them are about bodies!” It was true. In this period of general uneasiness, reading about what ties us to the earth and the limitations and powers of our physical bodies helps in bringing me a sense of control and peace. If that sounds like you too, here is a list of five books about the body that you should read during quarantine.
When I was packing my bags to go back home for this period of self-isolation, the first things I put into my suitcase were books. My friend asked me which ones I was taking, and when I read the titles to her, she said that “all of them are about bodies!” It was true. In this period of general uneasiness, reading about what ties us to the earth and the limitations and powers of our physical bodies helps in bringing me a sense of control and peace. If that sounds like you too, here is a list of five books about the body that you should read during quarantine.
Particularly during this period of isolation, it is important to take a look inwards and reconsider the way we approach our physicality. Each of these books enables a different form of introspection, and hopefully one will fit your needs and desires during this quarantined period.
If you're looking for a paranormal approach to the body...
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
When I bought Her Body and Other Parties, all I knew about the book was a title. Then, as I started reading it, I realised it was very different from the books I am used to reading. As someone who mostly stays within the non-fiction field, I found Her Body and Other Parties a striking venture into science fiction, horror, and fantasy. It explored the realities of what it feels like to be a woman and all the violence that is often inflicted on female bodies. ‘The Husband Stitch,’ the short story that opens the book, is the most powerful. Throughout the whole book, Machado perfectly explores the constant fear of being a woman in a world where you are never truly safe from harm.
Favourite quote: If you are reading this story out loud, force a listener to reveal a devastating secret, then open the nearest window to the street and scream it as loudly as you are able.
If you're looking for a poetic approach to the body...
Tonight I’m Someone Else by Chelsea Hodson
Tonight I’m Someone Else is my all-time favourite book. In essay format, Hodson discusses her own personal history, giving the reader a startling exploration of desire, bodies, and relationships. One essay stands out from the viewpoint of the body: ‘Pity the Animal’. In it, Hodson talks about a time where she considered getting into the sex industry through the website Seeking Arrangements, contemplating: “I kept hearing the phrase 'that’s the price you pay' for living in New York, for dressing the way you do, for focusing on art. What would happen if I stopped paying the price? What if someone assigned a price to me? What if someone else paid that price?” The entire book is a beautiful exploration of human submission and the commodification of the female body, and it’s definitely worth a read.
Favourite quote: How much can a body endure? Almost everything.
If you're looking for a scientific approach to the body...
The Body Keeps the Score is a book about the ‘mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma.’ Filled with case histories, it is a breathtaking and insightful look into the effects of traumatic stress. Alexander McFarlane — who is the director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide — said that the book ‘will be a classic of modern psychiatric thought,’ so this one is especially worth the read if you are interested in those fields. Although psychiatry is not an academic interest of mine, I was still drawn to the book as someone who has been through numerous traumatic experiences. If you have suffered some kind of trauma and would like to gain insight into how it works on a larger scale, I definitely recommend this one, as reading it was very therapeutic for me.
Favourite quote: After trauma the world becomes sharply divided between those who know and those who don’t. People who have not shared the traumatic experience cannot be trusted, because they can’t understand it.
If you're looking for a biographical approach to the body...
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay is a force of nature. When I read her book Bad Feminist at sixteen, I came out with a much more comprehensive and intersectional view of feminism than I had when I entered it. So, when I picked up Hunger, I was expecting something similar - a straightforward book filled with relevant data and intelligent arguments. But what I found was a book that was powerful in a completely different way. There is bravery in being soft, and Hunger is full of soft vulnerability - it is no surprise that the author described it as being “by far the hardest book I've ever had to write.” Hunger is about weight loss and about weight gain, and the effects of being fat in a fat-phobic world. It is worth reading for anyone who has ever felt like their bodies did not live up to societal expectations.
Favourite quote: I buried the girl I had been because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. She is still small and scared and ashamed, and perhaps I am writing my way back to her, trying to tell her everything she needs to hear.
If you're looking for a philosophical approach to the body...
A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women by Siri Hustvedt
A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women is by far the most academic book on the list. If you’re looking for an easy read, this is not it. In fact, Hustvedt herself highlights in the introduction that parts of the book might not make sense unless you have highly specialised knowledge of neuroscience and art history. I don’t have specialised knowledge in either, and yet it is one of my favourite books. It is interdisciplinary in all the best ways and offered me an entirely new vocabulary of how to think and talk about bodies. I am particularly drawn to the art history section, which analyses artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Almodovar, and Mapplethorpe. The neuroscience section and philosophy sections are also very compelling, with essays such as ‘I wept for four years and when I stopped I was blind,’ which explores an epidemic of hysterical blindness among Cambodian refugees living in the U.S.
Favourite quote: In order to be accepted, women must compensate for their ambition and strength by being nice. Men don't have to be nearly as much as women. I do not believe women are natively nicer than men. They may learn that niceness brings rewards and hat names ambition is often punished. They may ingratiate themselves because such behaviour is rewarded and a strategy of stealth may lead to better results than being forthright, but even when women are open and direct, they are not always seen or heard.
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