I read I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz for the book about a cult prompt from the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge for the year.
Our unnamed narrator tells us about her life. She and thirty-nine women live in an underground bunker. Men guard them and occasionally discipline them with whips and orders, but her life is just her and the other women. Then one day there is a siren and the guards leave the women and they escape out of the bunker. We then follow the narrator as she discovers the world she lives in.
This is not the book for people who complain that Harry and Hermione just wander around the woods forever in the last Harry Potter book (it was only a couple of chapters, yo). It's a quiet book. There is some plot, but it's a character-driven introspective look at what this woman is facing in a life in which all her choice are limited. It's a desolate examination of the very meaning of life. Why do we continue on in the midst of hopelessness? What is the point of it all?
Because I am now apparently just giving you reviews from other Goodreads users, let's all enjoy these two.
Bleak, harrowing, unbearably sad. But it's also meditative, important, and maybe hopeful. Maybe not hopeful. I'd love to read this in a book club and discuss it with other people.
4.5/5 stars
Lines of note:
Whether it was their fault or not, they’d gone mad by force of circumstance, they’d lost their reason because nothing in their lives made sense any more. (location 475)
I am waiting for the day when I lose my reason.
I must be lacking in certain experiences that make a person fully human. (location 1591)
86% of American women in my age bracket are mothers. I am not. This is by choice, but sometimes I wonder if I am actually not fully embracing humanity since I do not feel a biological urge to reproduce.
Title in the book:
...felt a surge of grief, I, who had never known men, as I stood in front of this man who had wanted to overcome fear and despair to enter eternity upright and furious. (location 1921)
Hat mentions:
None
*******************
Does anyone else here love reading dystopian novels as much as I do?
I am SO intrigued, Engie. I am #56 on the holds list (for 5 copies) so this will take a while, but I will report back!
ReplyDeleteExcellent. I like that I sold it so well.
DeleteI do not read dystopian novels as a rule. I just don't enjoy them! But I have seen some buzz around this and I was thinking I might, I love a character-based book.
ReplyDeleteIt is very character-based which is why I was a bit surprised that I liked it so much. I'm not saying nothing happens in this book, but I did summarize the plot in like three sentences.
DeleteIn general I don't love dystopian novels. I'm intrigued by this one, but also deeply suspicious because it's "character driven." Again, not my favorite. But- it actually does sound super interesting.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is character driven. It was a bit of a surprise to me how much I liked it.
DeleteOkay, I love harrowing. Bleak, I can do. Unbearably sad, I avoid. But also... cults??? Dystopia???? Those reviews????? I have to read this book. It is now on hold.
ReplyDeleteI love that I have sold it well enough to make you question your own reading choices.
DeleteYeah, I’m in, and just put it on hold. There’s something about an internal book about the meaning of life that I love. Thanks for putting it on my radar, I hadn’t heard of it.
ReplyDeleteIt is an older book (1995, but originally published in French) and I am surprised it doesn't come up in more discussions about end of the world books.
DeleteI do not enjoy dystopian novels. This one does not sound like it is The One that will convert me. Those reviews you screen shotted are hilarious.
ReplyDeleteGoodreads for the win, right?
DeleteI don't seek out dystopian novels, but I sure liked The Handmaid's Tale and Station Eleven.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd love to read it in a book club and discuss with other people...you run an online bookclub and there are an awful lot of "I put this on hold" comments...CBBC!!!
It does sound like she has a good opportunity, right?
DeleteI will add to the CBBC list. It's short and I think it could spark an interesting discussion.
DeleteIf you do a book club for this book--I'm in, Engie!
ReplyDeleteNoted!
DeleteYou know I like dystopian tropes so this does sound interesting. I've put it on my neverending TBR list. I am all in for a book club discussion.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like it if dystopian is your jam.
Delete