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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This book was many things: validating, empowering, realistic, unimaginable, horrifying, heartbreaking, visceral, and very human. I often felt like, "there's no way it would go this way" and then the other part of me was saying "wouldn't it?"
Provoked many thoughts. Also the audiobook narrator was phenomenal.
Warning, very graphic and a lot of serious themes
Provoked many thoughts. Also the audiobook narrator was phenomenal.
Warning, very graphic and a lot of serious themes
I remember finishing this book in 2019 and being so embarrassed liking it bc the review were insanely bad. Time for a reread :)
“They do it because they can.”
This is as close to a thesis statement as exists in The Power, Naomi Alderman’s beautiful, thoughtful, often cruel and periodically frustrating novel.
Alderman explores what social constructs would be upended if women became the physically powerful gender (a favorite is the news anchor replaced with a younger, hotter man who marvels at the complexity of the stock market).
Alderman depicts power in this setting as compulsive and amoral, often returning to the imagery of a forked bolt of lightning. Lightning does not strike to satisfy an objective, it does so because lightning exists to strike -- it is defined by its expression. Likewise, power demands its use. It only exists if it is used, and the characters that cannot or will not apply their power at critical moments generally have it stripped from them, regardless of the morality of inaction.
The culprit then is the existence of power itself -- of the dominion of one group over another -- rather than the identity of the gender in power, or the process by which they came to be there. This is a somewhat unsatisfying and certainly bleak take that borders on nihilism, and the muddled epilogue gives the sense of Alderman herself struggling with the novel’s diagnosis. The Power left me, too, with a bit of a void where a takeaway should have been, but it was forceful and deftly written getting there.
This is as close to a thesis statement as exists in The Power, Naomi Alderman’s beautiful, thoughtful, often cruel and periodically frustrating novel.
Alderman explores what social constructs would be upended if women became the physically powerful gender (a favorite is the news anchor replaced with a younger, hotter man who marvels at the complexity of the stock market).
Alderman depicts power in this setting as compulsive and amoral, often returning to the imagery of a forked bolt of lightning. Lightning does not strike to satisfy an objective, it does so because lightning exists to strike -- it is defined by its expression. Likewise, power demands its use. It only exists if it is used, and the characters that cannot or will not apply their power at critical moments generally have it stripped from them, regardless of the morality of inaction.
The culprit then is the existence of power itself -- of the dominion of one group over another -- rather than the identity of the gender in power, or the process by which they came to be there. This is a somewhat unsatisfying and certainly bleak take that borders on nihilism, and the muddled epilogue gives the sense of Alderman herself struggling with the novel’s diagnosis. The Power left me, too, with a bit of a void where a takeaway should have been, but it was forceful and deftly written getting there.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know what to rate this!! I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it much either, as much as I wanted to.
On one hand, the ideas were awesome; the skein thing is really creative and the ways in which the roles were reversed were so clever. It was very disturbing and thought-provoking. As a woman, it was satisfying to read about some assholes getting a taste of their own medicine. I liked reading about all the women and the freedom they had once they discovered the power and the sisterhood they began to share. I liked the message that all of us have a power to stand up for ourselves more.
But then on the other hand, something about the writing or the characters/their stories didn't really keep my attention. I felt like the writing was too "telling" and needed more dialogue perhaps... I'm not a huge fan of war, religion and political stories, which doesn't help. And as another reviewer mentioned, nothing really surprised me about the development of the story.
I feel like the characters can make this kind of story more interesting, but I didn't really care for them or their stories; I even confused them sometimes. Also, the 5000-year gap thing was not that believable to me. I mean, one of the characters actually said "Welp" at some point and referred to memes and forums and John Travolta...
Furthermore, this may just be an opinion but I don't think women would abuse of their power as much as men have in the past... Not for a few centuries, at least? We know what it's like to be discriminated against, I like to believe that most of us wouldn't want to impose that on innocent men. I would have liked to see more stories about the nice women who actually thought things through and weren't power crazy. But, I guess this makes a bigger impact if it shows the role reversal.
Honestly I'm not sure exactly how the whole thing ended because I skimmed through the last part.
In general, an interesting and different book but something about the execution didn't really suit me. As Emily May said, I think I would have liked this better if it had been a short story.
Oh! I LOVED the last sentence, it made me laugh out loud.
On one hand, the ideas were awesome; the skein thing is really creative and the ways in which the roles were reversed were so clever. It was very disturbing and thought-provoking. As a woman, it was satisfying to read about some assholes getting a taste of their own medicine. I liked reading about all the women and the freedom they had once they discovered the power and the sisterhood they began to share. I liked the message that all of us have a power to stand up for ourselves more.
But then on the other hand, something about the writing or the characters/their stories didn't really keep my attention. I felt like the writing was too "telling" and needed more dialogue perhaps... I'm not a huge fan of war, religion and political stories, which doesn't help. And as another reviewer mentioned, nothing really surprised me about the development of the story.
I feel like the characters can make this kind of story more interesting, but I didn't really care for them or their stories; I even confused them sometimes. Also, the 5000-year gap thing was not that believable to me. I mean, one of the characters actually said "Welp" at some point and referred to memes and forums and John Travolta...
Furthermore, this may just be an opinion but I don't think women would abuse of their power as much as men have in the past... Not for a few centuries, at least? We know what it's like to be discriminated against, I like to believe that most of us wouldn't want to impose that on innocent men. I would have liked to see more stories about the nice women who actually thought things through and weren't power crazy. But, I guess this makes a bigger impact if it shows the role reversal.
Honestly I'm not sure exactly how the whole thing ended because I skimmed through the last part.
In general, an interesting and different book but something about the execution didn't really suit me. As Emily May said, I think I would have liked this better if it had been a short story.
Oh! I LOVED the last sentence, it made me laugh out loud.
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book really impressed me. It balanced four protagonists with connected stories really well, and obviously the plot was really compelling. I liked the fact that it was a flip of modern society, with women in power and sexism going the other way, and I liked that it felt more realistic, with men desperately grasping for what power they can hold and several women abusing their power. Reminded me of the phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. I like that this book wasn’t optimistic, it felt realistic. A great read that had me gripped, but lost a star due to general uncomfortable scenes related to SA. Not unrealistic, but uncomfortable and sometimes felt unnecessary.