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shona_reads_in_devon 's review for:
I Who Have Never Known Men
by Jacqueline Harpman
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆? 𝑌𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔.
𝑵𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑵𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.
𝜤 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍.
_____________________
This book was INCREDIBLE. I am going to come back to it again and again and I am going to take away different things every time I read it.
40 women, locked in a bunker. Given everything they need to survive but nothing more. No privacy, no culture, no freedom, no men.
This book is full of layers. There's a plot, but there's no explanation. There are no conclusions, no reasons, no easy answers. We don't know where these women are, why they are.
During my reading I've thought about feminism and misogyny, capitalism, fascism. I've thought about the prison system, about space travel. I've considered notions of time and identity, of culture. The nature of womenhood and masculinity. I've mulled over morality and assisted suicide. Religions and systems of ritual. Social hierarchies and constructions of social conditioning. The THEMES in this book are all over the place in the best way possible.
And it isn't delivering you any answers, both literally and metaphorically. You're not going to walk away from the book with answers to anything relating to the plot or how you see the world. But it's going to make you think about all of this and more.
This isn't a must read by any means. But if you like to think about how you move through the world, how you gain meaning from life and how you relate to others, this one will have you thinking.
𝑵𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑵𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.
𝜤 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝜤 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍.
_____________________
This book was INCREDIBLE. I am going to come back to it again and again and I am going to take away different things every time I read it.
40 women, locked in a bunker. Given everything they need to survive but nothing more. No privacy, no culture, no freedom, no men.
This book is full of layers. There's a plot, but there's no explanation. There are no conclusions, no reasons, no easy answers. We don't know where these women are, why they are.
During my reading I've thought about feminism and misogyny, capitalism, fascism. I've thought about the prison system, about space travel. I've considered notions of time and identity, of culture. The nature of womenhood and masculinity. I've mulled over morality and assisted suicide. Religions and systems of ritual. Social hierarchies and constructions of social conditioning. The THEMES in this book are all over the place in the best way possible.
And it isn't delivering you any answers, both literally and metaphorically. You're not going to walk away from the book with answers to anything relating to the plot or how you see the world. But it's going to make you think about all of this and more.
This isn't a must read by any means. But if you like to think about how you move through the world, how you gain meaning from life and how you relate to others, this one will have you thinking.