If Not the Complete Reality
by Claire Arbogast
Style: Literary Fiction / Coming of Age
ISBN: 9798990301801
Print Size: 374 pages
Reviewed by Erica Ball
A girl’s quest to outline herself towards a kaleidoscope of Sixties countercultures
If Not the Complete Reality begins within the turbulent yr of 1969 when college-age Connie hears the decision for change. Compelled into secretarial college by her overbearing, illiberal father and submissive mom, she rejects their course. As an alternative, she units out for her dream life in California among the many newly dubbed Woodstock Nation.
She feels in her intestine that her life must be basically completely different than the one her mother and father need for her, however she doesn’t know precisely what that appears like. Regardless of having aimed for California, some mates persuade Connie to strive Chicago. This begins a sample of transferring from metropolis to metropolis, and new concept to new concept, in an try to search out what she’s in search of. Alongside the best way, she tries out lots of the new methods of dwelling that American counterculture was experimenting with on the time.
Amongst these are the LSD-laced psychedelic music scene, free love, back-to-the-land collectives, social change actions, and organizations just like the Black Panthers, and the Younger Lords combating for Puerto Rican independence.
Connie dives in headfirst, strolling in history-making marches, protests, and riots. This contains being a witness to, and part of, the violence that’s typically discovered with such widespread unrest. However it additionally contains studying to start out a fireplace, backyard, farm, and prepare dinner in collective kitchens and eating places.
As such, she comes up towards all the massive social points delivered to gentle in the course of the social upheaval of that point (and which might be very a lot nonetheless within the limelight at the moment) together with racism, sexism, feminism, and reproductive rights.
The writer’s vivid descriptions of the setting and historian’s grasp of the time convey all of it to life. The writer has even included intensive footnotes for added context and knowledge on all the pieces from food and drinks manufacturers to politics and historic occasions.
This permits the reader to obviously see the complexity of the time with all of the completely different concepts swirling round and the way they’re mirrored within the folks Connie meets. Like Connie, they’re all imperfect folks, however they’re (virtually) all attempting to make the modifications they see as desperately wanted (though they get in one another’s approach as typically as they discover methods to work collectively). After all, like with so many teams, there are these people who search to discover a option to exert energy over others and exploit what they should get it.
As a result of historic veracity of the small print and the writer’s ability with characters, this e book is extremely advisable for these within the lived expertise of this time, particularly inside these countercultures. It might additionally make nice studying for these fascinated by alternate methods of structuring society on the whole. Its discussions are nonetheless well timed, as lots of the points grappled with at the moment (racial, illustration, self-determination, freedom, bodily autonomy) are nonetheless very a lot current to a terrific many individuals throughout the US and the world.
Learn If Not the Complete Reality if you need a narrative a couple of younger girl looking for and hold management over her personal life and stay in a approach that doesn’t make her compromise herself or her values. That’s what this story is about most. However it’s additionally about how two folks can see the identical factor in vastly other ways and make room for these two methods to each be true. And it’s about how the battle for freedom and self-determination can look completely different by means of the many years but in addition stays the identical. And lastly, it’s about how historical past repeats itself except an precise effort is made to cease it.
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