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mtstellens's review against another edition
5.0
I have not been able to stop thinking about this book. Exactly what I wanted it to be. I have never read a book where so much changes but still remains so stagnant. It's a short book, more of a novella and so much happens, yet nothing changes. If you're looking for a book with answers (literally any answers), this is not that book. I think any answers that could have been given may have been dissatisfying and distracted from the mood and themes Harmpan is crafting. An incredibly unique (if at times frustrating) meditation on time, mortality and humanity.
We join a group of 39 women and one child who are in this prison/bunker. They are guarded by 6 men. The women don't seem to remember much before the bunker, only blurry fire or some sort of event and then being in the bunker. The child and one of the other women begin to try to learn more about where they are. The child begins counting with her heartbeats and learn that they are on a different schedule from the guards and a normal sleep cycle. One day an alarm goes off while the guards are putting the keys into the doors of the jail to feed the women. The guards abandon the prison and by the time the women use the keys to get out, the guards are long gone. They find themselves in a mostly flat landscape with nothing else in sight. The women decide to walk until they find something. Eventually they stumble upon another bunker stocked in the same way theirs was, but the prison was not unlocked so the women in it are all dead. They continue to hike, finding several bunkers filled with both men and women. The women are aging so they decide to find a bunker near a river and build homes. One by one all of the women die, the child assisting in some of the deaths (a swift direct stab to the heart). Once the child is the last alive she decides to continue to walk to try to find something. She eventually finds a road and a bus. There are guards in the bus who are all dead. The child takes note of the contents of their bags (using a gardening book to teach herself to read). She follows the road, eventually losing it. She stumbles upon a bunker that is different than the other. It is hidden and the interior is luxurious; electricity, a kitchen, carpets, a nice bathroom, sitting room and bedroom. She decides to make this her home base. She is now aging and dying, deciding to end her life like she did to so many others but more dignified. Sitting upright in bed leaving her story behind.
Truly, The constant questions and the crumbs that were dolled out kept me reading every second I could; perfectly paced. Because we know that this book is being told by ‘the child’ when she is in a place with books we are constantly waiting for an explanation for that, it also allows for her to cut in and insert the fair of some women in a really eerie way (this is how x person died e.g.). The way that setting is used is also very effective. Everything is so familiar but wrong. There are no seasons, no pattern to the land. Everything is so unsettling and off. Time is at once meaningless and all important. There are no seasons, no place to be, but time is constantly bearing down on the child knowing that eventually she will be the last one alive, she cannot see herself age, only count heartbeats as a measure, but she sees everyone else aging and dying.
“And now, racked with sobs, I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering and that I was human after all.”
We join a group of 39 women and one child who are in this prison/bunker. They are guarded by 6 men. The women don't seem to remember much before the bunker, only blurry fire or some sort of event and then being in the bunker. The child and one of the other women begin to try to learn more about where they are. The child begins counting with her heartbeats and learn that they are on a different schedule from the guards and a normal sleep cycle. One day an alarm goes off while the guards are putting the keys into the doors of the jail to feed the women. The guards abandon the prison and by the time the women use the keys to get out, the guards are long gone. They find themselves in a mostly flat landscape with nothing else in sight. The women decide to walk until they find something. Eventually they stumble upon another bunker stocked in the same way theirs was, but the prison was not unlocked so the women in it are all dead. They continue to hike, finding several bunkers filled with both men and women. The women are aging so they decide to find a bunker near a river and build homes. One by one all of the women die, the child assisting in some of the deaths (a swift direct stab to the heart). Once the child is the last alive she decides to continue to walk to try to find something. She eventually finds a road and a bus. There are guards in the bus who are all dead. The child takes note of the contents of their bags (using a gardening book to teach herself to read). She follows the road, eventually losing it. She stumbles upon a bunker that is different than the other. It is hidden and the interior is luxurious; electricity, a kitchen, carpets, a nice bathroom, sitting room and bedroom. She decides to make this her home base. She is now aging and dying, deciding to end her life like she did to so many others but more dignified. Sitting upright in bed leaving her story behind.
Truly, The constant questions and the crumbs that were dolled out kept me reading every second I could; perfectly paced. Because we know that this book is being told by ‘the child’ when she is in a place with books we are constantly waiting for an explanation for that, it also allows for her to cut in and insert the fair of some women in a really eerie way (this is how x person died e.g.). The way that setting is used is also very effective. Everything is so familiar but wrong. There are no seasons, no pattern to the land. Everything is so unsettling and off. Time is at once meaningless and all important. There are no seasons, no place to be, but time is constantly bearing down on the child knowing that eventually she will be the last one alive, she cannot see herself age, only count heartbeats as a measure, but she sees everyone else aging and dying.
“And now, racked with sobs, I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering and that I was human after all.”
slizha's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
c_wilkinson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
oceanlucy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
5.0
Haunting. I know i will be digesting this book for a while to come. The main characters emotions became mine; i was frustrated, confused, giddy, disappointed. I really loved this book, but i wouldn’t recommend it to just any one.
futurememory's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What a powerful, powerful slim novel about existential dread, and a fine companion piece to The Memory Police.
I Who Have Never Known Men tracks an unnamed narrator who has been trapped in a bunker with 39 other women since she was a small child. She doesn't recall any other existence. She's guarded 24/7, not allowed to touch the other women in the bunker, not allowed to step out of line. And the story only unspools from there.
This is a bleak, bleak piece of fiction about the persistence of humanity, even in the throes of an almost cosmic horror level of unknowability. We are as in the dark as the narrator, and the only points of illumination and humanity seem far off in the distance.
A quietly harrowing and horrifying novel that refuses to compromise and refuses to reveal. I loved it. I could see people loathing it.
I Who Have Never Known Men tracks an unnamed narrator who has been trapped in a bunker with 39 other women since she was a small child. She doesn't recall any other existence. She's guarded 24/7, not allowed to touch the other women in the bunker, not allowed to step out of line. And the story only unspools from there.
This is a bleak, bleak piece of fiction about the persistence of humanity, even in the throes of an almost cosmic horror level of unknowability. We are as in the dark as the narrator, and the only points of illumination and humanity seem far off in the distance.
A quietly harrowing and horrifying novel that refuses to compromise and refuses to reveal. I loved it. I could see people loathing it.
pe_taa_'s review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jessicaemily's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
cellamar's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
chasejon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
This is an incredibly unique book. A fantastic blend of science and speculative fiction. The writing of this was excellent as well, so kudos to the author and the translator. The style fit the content perfectly, and the emotional weight carried on each page of this book was very striking. The author's background also provided the right perspective to write a book like this which uses hope as both the carrot and the stick. Overall, fascinating story and a quick read.
hannahp13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0