THIS GREAT HEMISPHERE
By Mateo Askaripour
I didn’t know this book would take me through what it did. I will share my thoughts, and leave the spoilers out (but don’t tempt me….and if you ask me about this book in person, I’m telling it all!).
The prologue made me feel a type of way, and even then it barely scratched the surface of what Mateo did throughout this book. So many symbols, of which you don’t need me to tell you of, but you may need a second listen to grasp them all. While it initially gave me Avatar vibes, that feeling quickly dissolved…the words and imagery literally created a new space within my mind, one that I couldn’t wait to escape to, to find out what happens next. I don’t know if this type of imagery could be accurately depicted on film (but if they tried, I’d be there opening night). This world, this hemisphere (see what I did) was overwhelming to my senses, but in a way that drew me closer to it.
Minks was one of my favorite places in the story, and it felt like a place that Mercutio (Harold Perrineau’s version, the best of course) would’ve felt right at home in. And the Rainbow girls…with all their…um…colors, were like the red pepper flakes on a pizza; spicy and may irritate your throat a bit, but you need them….they bring an element of flavor you would lack otherwise.
Some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Chaos is convenient for those who can control it.”
“I would turn this entire world into a garden for you…and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
“She understood, because being here, in this room, with so much information, history, and solutions to their present problems, made her afraid. Afraid of what it would mean to learn and unlearn everything, from the beginning. Afraid of what she’d discover about herself, her people, her world. Afraid because once you obtained knowledge, you were forced to make a choice: act with courage, or remain a coward. And no one wanted to view themselves as a coward, including her.”
“A lie is not a thing that survives on its own; like a sapling, it needs to be sustained and cultivated.”
The last two hours of this book (around chapters 41-50, but DO NOT SKIP TO THEM, because if you don’t know the backstory, you won’t appreciate the full story) had me at the edge of my seat. This book is layered so heavy, it could’ve easily been split into two parts. But friend…..best friend…the last 20 minutes of this book, I was swinging my fists in the air, HOLLERING!
You see how I wanted to tell you what happened, but didn’t?! Do you see how hard this is for me?
My feelings are all up in this book…there is so much to reflect on. I was sad, I felt resolve and a call to action, I was angry, I was…am…still processing. If you have the space in your life to sit and dwell, get the hard copy and curl up with it…if not, download it and get in on your device, and in your ear.
Plotitude 