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A review by mafiabadgers
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
First read 08/2024
Once I'd got to grips with it, I thought this book would be an impressive four stars, maybe bumped up to a five if it handled itself well. It was slow, yes, but marvellously unsettling, with a real sense of significant discovery as the mystery unfolded. I thought it would develop ideas about domestication, using it as a jumping off point for a wider discussion of behavioural modification and free will. Unfortunately, it did not do this.
It turned out that Tepper thought she was writing a book about how badly religion treats women, although the book takes it as a matter of course that Christianity is the only meaningful religion, and is unwilling to acknowledge the existence of any others. I might have been more receptive to the feminism if the book hadn't been so disdainful of all the female characters who weren't mothers, notably Eugenie (protagonist Marjorie's husband's mistress), who the book insists is vapid and stupid and useless.And then she dies, and nobody is all that upset. In addition, Marjorie's Big Moral Revelation was that... you shouldn't 'forgive' people and then let them go on harming others? That it's important to take meaningful action rather than merely feeling holier-than-thou? This is something that would work as a theme, but not as an explicitly stated realisation.
It also tried to throw in some action at the end to give it a dramatic finish, which felt very jarring in relation to the rest of the book. Its cack-handed attempts to ensure the roster of major characters were central to the action at all times didn't help. The book had so much potential, but was ultimately disappointing.
Once I'd got to grips with it, I thought this book would be an impressive four stars, maybe bumped up to a five if it handled itself well. It was slow, yes, but marvellously unsettling, with a real sense of significant discovery as the mystery unfolded. I thought it would develop ideas about domestication, using it as a jumping off point for a wider discussion of behavioural modification and free will. Unfortunately, it did not do this.
It turned out that Tepper thought she was writing a book about how badly religion treats women, although the book takes it as a matter of course that Christianity is the only meaningful religion, and is unwilling to acknowledge the existence of any others. I might have been more receptive to the feminism if the book hadn't been so disdainful of all the female characters who weren't mothers, notably Eugenie (protagonist Marjorie's husband's mistress), who the book insists is vapid and stupid and useless.
It also tried to throw in some action at the end to give it a dramatic finish, which felt very jarring in relation to the rest of the book. Its cack-handed attempts to ensure the roster of major characters were central to the action at all times didn't help. The book had so much potential, but was ultimately disappointing.