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A review by debchan
In the Shadows of Men by Robert Jackson Bennett
5.0
i usually hate the phrase but here it's incredibly apt, bennett you feminist king. also, only someone from texas could truly capture the essence of it, the desolate aloneness of it, the awful secrets and history of it, the hope for something better, and the resolve to move forward and be better.
shoutout to the woodlands and dfw mentions.
bennett knows how to create an atmosphere, and this one is surely creepy af. the setting actually reminds me so much of In the Path of Falling Objects or just andrew smith's books in general. everything was so unsettling and you know something is wrong from the first page.
choosing the main character's voice as it is, was so genius, too. we don't even know his name. but maybe that doesn't matter. he's a vehicle to impose a sense of familiarity or understanding. maybe we can put ourselves in his shoes. someone who wanted more in life, and has suddenly found that domesticity didn't quite work out, generational rage and toxic masculinity is extremely prevalent, and the awful things that men can do that other men turn a blind eye towards happens everywhere and in every time.
now i'm always wary of male authors handling such topics as these. but bennett did it so carefully. he even manages to discuss "boys will be boys" as that excuse: the perpetrators weren't boys, they were men and they were grown adults with no excuse. he doesn't shy away from the pain of the women nor does he overdo it in its description. it's horror because it's all to familiar. it's horror because it's reflected so clearly in reality. it's horror because it happens all the time and no one finds out about it.
there's a dilemma, too, about generational trauma. is bear the way he is because he grew up in that environment? was it nature or nurture? is our main character spared because he's a better person or simply because he grew up outside of that? can men escape the actions and brutality of their fathers? is that an excuse for the atrocities they commit? there's a scene in the show brooklyn 99 where a drug addict kills a man. and the detective is like "addiction is genetic and i would be sympathetic if you hadn't killed a guy." could i understand how bear grew up and suffered what he did? i could. but i won't excuse his actions or remove the burden of responsibility from him. what he did was awful and there's no excuse for that.
i saw someone say there was no hope or happiness in this book. i think that's completely wrong, especially that last couple of passages. our main character feels himself what feels like a hole within, ripped out. and that violent men begets violent men if left unchecked. what a perfect way to put the setting in texas then, where the dichotomy of people is so apparent. who is going to make sure these young boys grow up without "boys will be boys" excuses? who is going to tell them that talking about their emotions isn't weak or unimportant? how has society failed generations of men and thus every single woman who become nothing more than objects or victims? our main character understands this and comes to realize what he has to do, even if it's in the most heart-breaking way. he knows he has no template or model for who he should be. he knows all the awful things men have done, are doing, and are continuing to do. but he knows he needs to change and he will ask. that's the first step: to ask for help and be willing to learn.
He has no one esle. There is no one else, for those who grew up in the shadows of such men.
shoutout to the woodlands and dfw mentions.
bennett knows how to create an atmosphere, and this one is surely creepy af. the setting actually reminds me so much of In the Path of Falling Objects or just andrew smith's books in general. everything was so unsettling and you know something is wrong from the first page.
choosing the main character's voice as it is, was so genius, too. we don't even know his name. but maybe that doesn't matter. he's a vehicle to impose a sense of familiarity or understanding. maybe we can put ourselves in his shoes. someone who wanted more in life, and has suddenly found that domesticity didn't quite work out, generational rage and toxic masculinity is extremely prevalent, and the awful things that men can do that other men turn a blind eye towards happens everywhere and in every time.
now i'm always wary of male authors handling such topics as these. but bennett did it so carefully. he even manages to discuss "boys will be boys" as that excuse: the perpetrators weren't boys, they were men and they were grown adults with no excuse. he doesn't shy away from the pain of the women nor does he overdo it in its description. it's horror because it's all to familiar. it's horror because it's reflected so clearly in reality. it's horror because it happens all the time and no one finds out about it.
there's a dilemma, too, about generational trauma. is bear the way he is because he grew up in that environment? was it nature or nurture? is our main character spared because he's a better person or simply because he grew up outside of that? can men escape the actions and brutality of their fathers? is that an excuse for the atrocities they commit? there's a scene in the show brooklyn 99 where a drug addict kills a man. and the detective is like "addiction is genetic and i would be sympathetic if you hadn't killed a guy." could i understand how bear grew up and suffered what he did? i could. but i won't excuse his actions or remove the burden of responsibility from him. what he did was awful and there's no excuse for that.
i saw someone say there was no hope or happiness in this book. i think that's completely wrong, especially that last couple of passages. our main character feels himself what feels like a hole within, ripped out. and that violent men begets violent men if left unchecked. what a perfect way to put the setting in texas then, where the dichotomy of people is so apparent. who is going to make sure these young boys grow up without "boys will be boys" excuses? who is going to tell them that talking about their emotions isn't weak or unimportant? how has society failed generations of men and thus every single woman who become nothing more than objects or victims? our main character understands this and comes to realize what he has to do, even if it's in the most heart-breaking way. he knows he has no template or model for who he should be. he knows all the awful things men have done, are doing, and are continuing to do. but he knows he needs to change and he will ask. that's the first step: to ask for help and be willing to learn.
He has no one esle. There is no one else, for those who grew up in the shadows of such men.