the i hotel
May. 4th, 2025 05:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
isunshowerbook post time! hello! its Been A Minute because the book ive been reading lately has been LONG. that book, i hotel by karen tei yamashita, is about... it's mostly about communism and other resistance in 1960s-70s san francisco, mostly focusing on and around a real hotel called the i hotel that serves as a site for some of those resistance movements/community building activities. it's a really interesting book for a lot of reasons - firstly, each section of the book focuses on a different theme or themes, style of storytelling, and set of characters. those characters and events appear as background in the other chapters sometimes, but most people get their very own chance to shine and you get to know everyone which is cool. (i will admit that some of the sections i liked more than others - nothing really beats out the first section except the one about ben and olivia and MAYBE the orpheus and eurydice bit). the author experiments with a variety of different styles, using film scripting format, outlines, visual art/comics, different narrative perspectives, and one bit that's laid out like a political manifesto. there was one part that was really hard to follow that was, like, choreography sheet meets house of leaves. so the experimenting of it all was cool.
it was interesting to learn about the history of asian american organizing in that way. like genuinely a very educational book! there were some things i knew about, like martial law in the philippines (thanks, hi nay podcast) or the section 504 sit-in, but other things i hadn't really heard of, so that was cool and i learned a lot. i also really liked yamashita's perspective on the whole thing, where it's like... there's no one ideological splinter that is Just And Correct. everyone has problems and the infighting only ever fucks them up because the main purpose isn't ideology, it SHOULD be community.
took me a long fucking time though lol. and because of the variety of voices and formats, there were lots of parts of the book that didn't click with me! but overall i enjoyed the experience of reading it. i read a lot of this while commuting, or in the park, but i also read a decent amount on the couch in my own house. i don't really read At Home anymore which is weird.
it was interesting to learn about the history of asian american organizing in that way. like genuinely a very educational book! there were some things i knew about, like martial law in the philippines (thanks, hi nay podcast) or the section 504 sit-in, but other things i hadn't really heard of, so that was cool and i learned a lot. i also really liked yamashita's perspective on the whole thing, where it's like... there's no one ideological splinter that is Just And Correct. everyone has problems and the infighting only ever fucks them up because the main purpose isn't ideology, it SHOULD be community.
took me a long fucking time though lol. and because of the variety of voices and formats, there were lots of parts of the book that didn't click with me! but overall i enjoyed the experience of reading it. i read a lot of this while commuting, or in the park, but i also read a decent amount on the couch in my own house. i don't really read At Home anymore which is weird.
