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A review by fedelikeslego
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Writing this is very hard because I can’t really point out what did not convince me.
It is definitely amazingly written, but still, I don’t really like the message? I would except much more for a book written fourty years ago.
The title is amazing but I don’t really understand it. First of all, it’s not right, she knew men, even if she didn’t talk to them or had a relationship with them. So, what’s the point of the title? Second of all. Why is there this obsession of relationship with men? I do understand the 39 women because they did leave a normal life in the past. But like? Friendship is still a thing and they basically never talked about it??? Even if some of them were great friends?? Why would you want to write a book about relationships between people and then, you just don’t do it.
It doesn’t tell anything about womanhood. Neither in a good or bad way. It’s just stream of consciousness. It was a nice read, I would still recommend it, but… don’t expect anything revolutionary. It’s advertised everywhere as a revolutionary womenhood book, and no, it isn’t at all. It would have been if it was written at the beginning of 1900, but not at the end of it! That’s all we know and think about womanhood in 1995? It’s a bit embarrassing…
I don’t mind the fact that we don’t know anything about what happened. But if you choose to do that, give us less details about this world and give us more about the relationships between the characters. It feels like it wasn’t finished neither way. I’m a bit disappointed.
Still going to give 3 stars (really heartbroken by this) because it is really well written. Nice read, but nothing more
It is definitely amazingly written, but still, I don’t really like the message? I would except much more for a book written fourty years ago.
The title is amazing but I don’t really understand it. First of all, it’s not right, she knew men, even if she didn’t talk to them or had a relationship with them. So, what’s the point of the title? Second of all. Why is there this obsession of relationship with men? I do understand the 39 women because they did leave a normal life in the past. But like? Friendship is still a thing and they basically never talked about it??? Even if some of them were great friends?? Why would you want to write a book about relationships between people and then, you just don’t do it.
It doesn’t tell anything about womanhood. Neither in a good or bad way. It’s just stream of consciousness. It was a nice read, I would still recommend it, but… don’t expect anything revolutionary. It’s advertised everywhere as a revolutionary womenhood book, and no, it isn’t at all. It would have been if it was written at the beginning of 1900, but not at the end of it! That’s all we know and think about womanhood in 1995? It’s a bit embarrassing…
I don’t mind the fact that we don’t know anything about what happened. But if you choose to do that, give us less details about this world and give us more about the relationships between the characters. It feels like it wasn’t finished neither way. I’m a bit disappointed.
Still going to give 3 stars (really heartbroken by this) because it is really well written. Nice read, but nothing more