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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I felt it worth leaving a bit of a written review, given I am most definitely in the minority in my rating of this book. I am quite a few years (decades...) away from being the target audience for Erin's story and I have no doubt this influenced my engagement with the book. I really think this is a case of 'it's me, not the book' in terms of how irritating I found both the writing and the narrator.
Sarah Moss, in a Guardian review, summed up my thoughts beautifully:
"The novel displays wide reading, clever writing and amusing dialogue. It doesn’t really matter if middle-aged readers are annoyed by the ageism, teenspeak and reinvention of various political wheels – it’s not meant for us." (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/02/word-for-woman-is-wilderness-abi-andrews-review)
My main issues with book revolved around Andrews' reinventing of the wheel...well, many wheels and my expectation that a teenager as academically knowledgeable as Erin would be more accomplished in the articulation of her thoughts. Then again, maybe my own teenagers only rise to the challenge of complete sentences when they are speaking with mum :)
Sarah Moss, in a Guardian review, summed up my thoughts beautifully:
"The novel displays wide reading, clever writing and amusing dialogue. It doesn’t really matter if middle-aged readers are annoyed by the ageism, teenspeak and reinvention of various political wheels – it’s not meant for us." (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/02/word-for-woman-is-wilderness-abi-andrews-review)
My main issues with book revolved around Andrews' reinventing of the wheel...well, many wheels and my expectation that a teenager as academically knowledgeable as Erin would be more accomplished in the articulation of her thoughts. Then again, maybe my own teenagers only rise to the challenge of complete sentences when they are speaking with mum :)
Abi Andrews' novel, The Word for Woman is Wilderness, has been on my radar for quite some time, and I was so interested in the plot and somewhat unconventional structure. The novel takes as its focus a nineteen-year-old woman named Erin, who has never strayed too far from her Midlands home. She decides, however, to take an epic journey to the wilds of Alaska, travelling via Iceland, Greenland, and Canada to do so.
Throughout, Erin details her experiences of travelling and living in rather hostile
environments, and those who help her along the way. Inspired on her journey by the rather infamous Chris McCandless, she comments: 'Travelling by sea and land will be an Odyssean epic, only with me, a girl, on a female quest for authenticity.' She films her own documentary as she goes too, which was an authentic-feeling way for Andrews to shoehorn in a lot of cultural commentary.
The Word for Woman is Wilderness is a fascinating and thought-provoking piece of ecofiction, which held my attention from its very beginning. I loved the numerous different approaches used here, from transcripts from the documentary, to philosophical musings. Erin is a wonderful character, who comes to rely entirely upon herself, and does so with a great deal of realism. There are many moments of profundity throughout, and the originality which Andrews has managed to create in this, her debut, is quite astounding.
Throughout, Erin details her experiences of travelling and living in rather hostile
environments, and those who help her along the way. Inspired on her journey by the rather infamous Chris McCandless, she comments: 'Travelling by sea and land will be an Odyssean epic, only with me, a girl, on a female quest for authenticity.' She films her own documentary as she goes too, which was an authentic-feeling way for Andrews to shoehorn in a lot of cultural commentary.
The Word for Woman is Wilderness is a fascinating and thought-provoking piece of ecofiction, which held my attention from its very beginning. I loved the numerous different approaches used here, from transcripts from the documentary, to philosophical musings. Erin is a wonderful character, who comes to rely entirely upon herself, and does so with a great deal of realism. There are many moments of profundity throughout, and the originality which Andrews has managed to create in this, her debut, is quite astounding.
This will stay with me for a while. It's left a small but significant thought that I will and need to contemplate. I've been changed by this book.
Dear Erin,
I spent so much time with you over the past week, either reading your (fictional) words or thinking about them throughout the day, criticising some of your standpoints and being fully convinced by others. I loved the way you set out on your great journey, somewhat independent and prepared, somewhat open to whatever comes your way. Moreover, I loved accompanying you through Iceland, Greenland and Canada to Alaska and see you grow along the way. I appreciated being taken along your interpretation of Thoreau’s, Rachel Carson’s and other writer’s works; as well as Eskimo and Athabaskan culture. Your synthesis of all these worldviews and convictions was inspiring to me, especially because you develop your own ideas through them.
I may not have agreed with everything that you wrote. Especially at the beginning I felt like some of your behaviour and thoughts regarding men fell a bit on the ‘overglorifying the female, shaming the male’ side that always leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, because it does not agree with my view of feminism and what it should be about. BUT I got reconciled by the fact that later on you start questioning yourself and your way of thinking. I think this added another layer to the book, seeing that nobody starts out with having perfect opinions that are free of contradictions. Usually they only develop into more mature understandings, and seeing this growth made me appreciate your story even more.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you, on your journey into the wilderness and to a deeper understanding of yourself and things around you. Your voice was eye-opening to me, made me curious about things, and fall in love with earth, science and literature all over again. Thank you for all of that. Farewell, dear Erin. (But I’m sure I’ll revisit you sometime from now, to let myself be ‘colonised’ by your thoughts again).
With love,
grass harp
I spent so much time with you over the past week, either reading your (fictional) words or thinking about them throughout the day, criticising some of your standpoints and being fully convinced by others. I loved the way you set out on your great journey, somewhat independent and prepared, somewhat open to whatever comes your way. Moreover, I loved accompanying you through Iceland, Greenland and Canada to Alaska and see you grow along the way. I appreciated being taken along your interpretation of Thoreau’s, Rachel Carson’s and other writer’s works; as well as Eskimo and Athabaskan culture. Your synthesis of all these worldviews and convictions was inspiring to me, especially because you develop your own ideas through them.
I may not have agreed with everything that you wrote. Especially at the beginning I felt like some of your behaviour and thoughts regarding men fell a bit on the ‘overglorifying the female, shaming the male’ side that always leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth, because it does not agree with my view of feminism and what it should be about. BUT I got reconciled by the fact that later on you start questioning yourself and your way of thinking. I think this added another layer to the book, seeing that nobody starts out with having perfect opinions that are free of contradictions. Usually they only develop into more mature understandings, and seeing this growth made me appreciate your story even more.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you, on your journey into the wilderness and to a deeper understanding of yourself and things around you. Your voice was eye-opening to me, made me curious about things, and fall in love with earth, science and literature all over again. Thank you for all of that. Farewell, dear Erin. (But I’m sure I’ll revisit you sometime from now, to let myself be ‘colonised’ by your thoughts again).
With love,
grass harp
Sometimes it can be so difficult to separate my emotional response to a book compared to my critical response. I don't think I necessarily have to which is one of the great things about a book blog! But reading Abi Andrews' debut novel “The Word for Woman is Wilderness” I was even more aware of this dilemma because it's inspired by and about subjects I'm really interested in and sympathetic towards. It's narrated from the perspective of nineteen year old Erin who has a passionate interest in the writing of Thoreau and the life of Christopher McCandless whose tragic journey led to his accidental death in the Alaskan wilderness. This was chronicled in Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book “Into the Wild” and a film with the same name directed by Sean Penn. Erin observes how the famous instances of individuals pioneering into the wilderness to establish a distance from the society whose values they question have all been directed through a men's perspectives. Certainly the experience and perspective of a woman who sets out on such a journey would be very different. So (against her parents' wishes) she ventures out from her home in England to the Alaskan wilderness and chronicles her journey on video with the plan to edit it into a documentary. She states: “if running into the wild is so often a wounded retreat from societal constraints and oppressions, then shouldn’t anyone but straight white men be doing it more?” Erin charts the mental and physical struggles she faces on her way while also contemplating both the dynamic distinctions and commonalities between the journey of mankind vs womankind.
Read my full review of The Word for Woman is Wilderness by Abi Andrews on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of The Word for Woman is Wilderness by Abi Andrews on LonesomeReader
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"After all, only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf"
The Word for Woman is Wilderness | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - -
If “wilderness” is feminine and womanly, if nature and all things wild have been consistently othered and associated with women, then how can a woman go forth and conquer it? This is what 19-year-old Erin sets out to discover.
This book feels like snow in a meadow, a crisp clear sky. It zooms in very closely on things and also out very, very far. It is told in short parts that move quickly and are thoughtful. I was interested in the parts about women and society, and the way other cultures view gender, death and the passage of time.
I found I was more interested in what was happening to Erin rather than some of the more scientific theory (talking about cells and Darwin makes my brain switch off unfortunately) but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes feminism and climate change fiction. I’ve never read anything like it before! The word I will use is “innovative.”
If “wilderness” is feminine and womanly, if nature and all things wild have been consistently othered and associated with women, then how can a woman go forth and conquer it? This is what 19-year-old Erin sets out to discover.
This book feels like snow in a meadow, a crisp clear sky. It zooms in very closely on things and also out very, very far. It is told in short parts that move quickly and are thoughtful. I was interested in the parts about women and society, and the way other cultures view gender, death and the passage of time.
I found I was more interested in what was happening to Erin rather than some of the more scientific theory (talking about cells and Darwin makes my brain switch off unfortunately) but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes feminism and climate change fiction. I’ve never read anything like it before! The word I will use is “innovative.”
3-stars. Poetically written, beautiful descriptions, but a bit too meandering. Big content warning for child sexual abuse and there's a lot of cisnormativity ("woman = person with a womb" type of stuff). Also, includes use of the n-word by a white author (I think it's used in reference to HP Lovecraft's cat, if memory serves me), so that's another strike against it. Makes some good points against the colonialist lens of Kerouac's ideology and the like, but didn't fully convince me the main character is doing something all that different--but maybe that's the point? I'd love to read reviews of this book by women of color, and particularly Indigenous folks, given the scenes on the reservation/living with the family just before Alaska.
Erin has been watching the likes of Bear Grylls having some wonderful adventures in some rugged and beautiful parts of the world for a few years now. Even though she is 19, she has hardly left the shores of England, but the call of the wild is too much to resist and why should all the men have the fun in the wild.
Her journey will take her from the comfortable life that she has known. Deciding not to fly and instead travel by sea and land, she heads off to Iceland, before heading across wild seas where she will see whales for the first time, across Greenland and then the vast continent of America before finding a cabin in the wilds of Denali, Alaska. Along the way she contemplates subjects as different as physics and mutually assured destruction as well as meeting some wonderful and the occasional slightly creepy person.
The isolation she has whilst living in her cabin means that she sometimes not sure what is real and what is her imagination, but she manages to survive and feed herself. The natural world flows all around her every day and occasionally spooks her, such as when she sees a bear's footprint near her cabin. It gives her time to contemplate the mostly male and occasional female writers who have sought the same isolation.
There are a lot of things that I liked about this debut; Erin has a strong voice and sense of purpose and is a teen who questions the male hierarchy and vested interests. It was refreshing to have this type of adventure told from the perspective of a modern day earth mother. I didn't think that the plot was that strong, but then this is a very focused journey to a particular place. Erin's character does come across as naïve and quite vulnerable given the place where she is staying. Another thing that I thought was really good was Andrews descriptions of the land and seascapes that Erin crosses on her journey to the cabin. They are quite something else, especially when you consider she wrote them after countless hours of watching videos and youtube videos of the places in the book. Looking forward to reading more of her work in the future.
Her journey will take her from the comfortable life that she has known. Deciding not to fly and instead travel by sea and land, she heads off to Iceland, before heading across wild seas where she will see whales for the first time, across Greenland and then the vast continent of America before finding a cabin in the wilds of Denali, Alaska. Along the way she contemplates subjects as different as physics and mutually assured destruction as well as meeting some wonderful and the occasional slightly creepy person.
The isolation she has whilst living in her cabin means that she sometimes not sure what is real and what is her imagination, but she manages to survive and feed herself. The natural world flows all around her every day and occasionally spooks her, such as when she sees a bear's footprint near her cabin. It gives her time to contemplate the mostly male and occasional female writers who have sought the same isolation.
There are a lot of things that I liked about this debut; Erin has a strong voice and sense of purpose and is a teen who questions the male hierarchy and vested interests. It was refreshing to have this type of adventure told from the perspective of a modern day earth mother. I didn't think that the plot was that strong, but then this is a very focused journey to a particular place. Erin's character does come across as naïve and quite vulnerable given the place where she is staying. Another thing that I thought was really good was Andrews descriptions of the land and seascapes that Erin crosses on her journey to the cabin. They are quite something else, especially when you consider she wrote them after countless hours of watching videos and youtube videos of the places in the book. Looking forward to reading more of her work in the future.