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ameliasbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
As much as I appreciate and enjoyed the ideas in this book, the execution didn't really click for me. Even without knowing the author's professional background, it would be quite obvious to notice that there was some psychoanalysis stuff going on.
The writing was okay, but nothing to write home about, which I probably expected more of, because of all the praise this book received lately.
There were some interesting questions raised to think about and I am reading a lot of bleak and depressing books, so I had no problem with this story being as plotless as it was.
I can also love an apocalyptic book in which the reason for it all is not explained (looking at you The Road), if this is not really what the book is about.
You could argue that this is also not what this story is about and you could just read everything as a metaphor for misogyny and patriarchy and to raise some big questions about resilience and the surving of the human race (women in particular).
However the way the story is build, it is a weakness of the book that not at least some of the questions are answered, because this would have only made the novel stronger. And I couldn't help but think that the author simply didn't want us to know, but that she didn't know herself, because that wasn't the focus of the story she wanted to tell. But authors should always have all the answers to their stories, even when they are holding them back from the reader, because otherwise it always shows.
The writing was okay, but nothing to write home about, which I probably expected more of, because of all the praise this book received lately.
There were some interesting questions raised to think about and I am reading a lot of bleak and depressing books, so I had no problem with this story being as plotless as it was.
I can also love an apocalyptic book in which the reason for it all is not explained (looking at you The Road), if this is not really what the book is about.
You could argue that this is also not what this story is about and you could just read everything as a metaphor for misogyny and patriarchy and to raise some big questions about resilience and the surving of the human race (women in particular).
However the way the story is build, it is a weakness of the book that not at least some of the questions are answered, because this would have only made the novel stronger. And I couldn't help but think that the author simply didn't want us to know, but that she didn't know herself, because that wasn't the focus of the story she wanted to tell. But authors should always have all the answers to their stories, even when they are holding them back from the reader, because otherwise it always shows.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Deportation
Moderate: Mental illness, Excrement, and Dementia
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
In the realm of #speculativefiction I've read a lot of ambiguous endings. In this book, the ending is crystal clear, but the beginning... The beginning is one of the most ambiguous I've ever encountered
The unnamed protagonist is the youngest of 40 women in a cage. None of them remembers how they got there, and while most of them have some recollection of their life before, she was only a child when she was taken and has no memory if anything before the cage
One day, an alarm goes off and their captors flee
The door to the cage is ajar
The child and her companions must then navigate the surface world, which none of them recognize, and build amongst themselves a small society of women
They find other cages, but no survivors
The world Harpman creates is bleak, but it's fascinating to view it through the protagonist's eyes. She has a lot to say about what it's like to exist in a female body, but she (who has never known men) has no conception of gender beyond the limited view of the 39 women she was imprisoned with
She knows nothing of love, either familial or romantic, except what she sees in glimpses
It's important to note that the book was written in the 90s, and the conversations about gender identity that predominated then we're not as nuanced as they are today. Still, I find Harpman's exploration to be both thoughtful and thought provoking
Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, near my mom's hometown, in 1929 to a Jewish family that fled to Casablanca during WWII
Knowing the personal impact of the Holocaust on Harpman and her family makes the dystopian vision she constructed hit even harder
It wasn't always a pleasant book to read, but it will stick with me forever
The unnamed protagonist is the youngest of 40 women in a cage. None of them remembers how they got there, and while most of them have some recollection of their life before, she was only a child when she was taken and has no memory if anything before the cage
One day, an alarm goes off and their captors flee
The door to the cage is ajar
The child and her companions must then navigate the surface world, which none of them recognize, and build amongst themselves a small society of women
They find other cages, but no survivors
The world Harpman creates is bleak, but it's fascinating to view it through the protagonist's eyes. She has a lot to say about what it's like to exist in a female body, but she (who has never known men) has no conception of gender beyond the limited view of the 39 women she was imprisoned with
She knows nothing of love, either familial or romantic, except what she sees in glimpses
It's important to note that the book was written in the 90s, and the conversations about gender identity that predominated then we're not as nuanced as they are today. Still, I find Harpman's exploration to be both thoughtful and thought provoking
Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, near my mom's hometown, in 1929 to a Jewish family that fled to Casablanca during WWII
Knowing the personal impact of the Holocaust on Harpman and her family makes the dystopian vision she constructed hit even harder
It wasn't always a pleasant book to read, but it will stick with me forever
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, and Grief
Minor: Fatphobia
blanketenjoyer's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Death
Minor: Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, and Suicide attempt
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