Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Cita con Rama

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Cita con Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

9 reviews

febrvaryfriday's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

Content Warnings

kappafrog's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

There I was, reading along with interest about the scientific puzzles facing our heroes, when I got slapped out of the story. The main character opines that people like me shouldn't be allowed in space because our bodies are sexual distractions to our co-workers. What a disgusting display of misogyny. This is why the sci-fi landscape was so hostile to women 50 years ago, and its echoes haven't all died out today. It is a horrible experience to be engrossed in a story only to be reminded with crude language that you are not seen by the author as a fully human participant in the world he has imagined, but as a sex object first and foremost. How sad that Arthur C. Clarke could imagine a future where humans live on Mercury, but not one where men face any repurcussions for sexualizing their colleagues.

The only woman with any authority in the novel has, of course, become a sexual conquest of the commander, neutralizing any threat she might pose to this very male-dominant world.

He even gets to have sex with her as a reward for finishing his mission! At the very same time one of his anonymous wives is being impregnated by his frozen sperm.

Then there is one woman on the Rama Committee whose only line was followed by a swift correction from a male colleague; the unnamed wives of the men on the ship, who exist offscreen and only to serve the "joke" that the commander has a hard time keeping track of which wife is which while they nag him for neglecting his families; the one bright spot of a trained sailor who gets to sail on the Cylindrical Sea; and a female monkey named Goldie because she is blonde. The rest of the cast is a mostly undifferentiated sea of men. Oh, and the captain venerates the genocidal Captain Cook as his hero because he showed so much humanitarian spirit to the hostile savages he met in his adventures around the world. You can't make this up.

So yeah, this book shows its 50 year age in all its ugliness. I kept reading because I was interested in unraveling the mystery of Rama and seeing this particular vision of first contact unfold. But I can't recommend this book - the scientific intrigue and moments of thoughtfulness it offers up just aren't worth the dehumanization I felt while reading it.

Content Warnings

misty_kb's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

apageinthestacks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging hopeful medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

janenx01's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Even though there are parts that haven't aged well (entire paragraphs of how breasts float around in zero G - UGH) this is one of my fave SF books because Rama itself is the main character.

For a book by one of SF's "greats", Rama does have weirdly abandoned subplots. Pages about "super chimps" (aka "simps") who never come into the story, ACC just wants to talk about them for some reason? And there was another I wanted to talk about while I was listening to this but now I've forgotten it, just like Clarke did. All that aside, Rama is absolutely worth a read, and despite its unevenness there's a reason it's a classic!

Super sexist like most SF from the time. Avert your eyes from the floating breasts and expect most of the talking to be done by men. The human characters are uninteresting and unmemorable, but Rama saves the story. The descriptions and concepts of the ship are brilliant.

Clarke thought this should be a standalone and I agree. I feel like the later (co-written) sequels got increasingly desperate and were ultimately not as interesting.

Content Warnings

adorabug's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Content Warnings

getglitchd's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

b_caligari's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

mar's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

obsessed obsessed absolutely OBSESSED w Rama. this is literally just solid 200 pages of people exploring a huge ass alien spaceship and yeah the characters are flat and boring but that's fine I was too busy completely losing my mind abt the sick spaceship anyway. the last line made me YELL

Content Warnings

More...