Mark Machi Bluets

Bluets is a very unique read. I found that it was somewhat difficult to grasp what exactly was going on at first, however as I progress through the pages themes started to become evident. Nelson’s writing seems fragmented and disjoined at times, but it is all connected around one center point, the color blue. But it is more than just about the color blue. It is about meaning, or “what it means to me, apart from meaning”, as Nelson puts it. I believe one specific passage does a good job of addressing the larger aspects of the book. The passage reads as follows, “I’ve heard that a diminishment of color vision often accompanies depression, though I do not have any idea how or why such a thing is neurologically possible. So what would it be a symptom of, to start seeing colors—or, more oddly, just one color—more acutely? Mania? Mono- mania? Hypomania? Shock? Love? Grief?” This passage manages to encompass the main themes and meanings that Nelson repeatedly addresses throughout the book, specifically, the overarching relationship with the color blue and love. Nelson seems to indicate that she might be in love with the color blue, which is why she is so fascinated with it, and she beings to question the reasons why she is obsessed with the color. Is it because of love, or is it some sort of sickness that she has somehow managed to obtain? This connects to the other themes of the book dealing with pain and grief.