febeschoemaker's review against another edition
Incredibly vague, no sort of obvious plotline, I was unable to follow what was happening.
mathew's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Feminist science fiction from the 1970s. It'll be dated, because things are so different now, right? Well, not so much. At one point a man mansplains his vision of feminist equality to a woman, before smoothly continuing that of course biological differences mean that men and women won't actually have the same jobs - but they'll still be equals, at least notionally.
The title comes from one of the characters' observations that if "man" is the term for all humans, as people used to insist in the 70s and 80s, then a woman is by definition a man.
One detail I really appreciated is that the author breaks the fourth wall to critique the inevitable patronizing and dismissive comments that she knew the book would get. In fact, ultimately it's a book that practically begs to be laughable and irrelevant — but sadly, it still isn't.
The title comes from one of the characters' observations that if "man" is the term for all humans, as people used to insist in the 70s and 80s, then a woman is by definition a man.
One detail I really appreciated is that the author breaks the fourth wall to critique the inevitable patronizing and dismissive comments that she knew the book would get. In fact, ultimately it's a book that practically begs to be laughable and irrelevant — but sadly, it still isn't.
sillypunk's review against another edition
2.0
Mostly confusing and weird: http://blogendorff.ghost.io/book-review-the-female-man/
amy_hobbs's review against another edition
Couldn’t keep track of what was going on.
yeahnaar's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The political and thematic messaging in the book are really interesting, funny, and still relevant 50 years after the book was written (unfortunately). The book does suffer from being a bit too modernist - with the cutting wit of the author, it would have been an amazing book if it had some clear narrative structure or coherence throughout. Unfortunately the book was more experimental and lacked real narrative structure. It did have a lot of interesting ideas and was a good concept overall, but despite this it wasn’t the most enjoyable read
booksmellers's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
foulone's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
bookbean92's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25