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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I am blown away by this one. It should sit on the shelf after Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale" and Yukanvitch's "The Book of Joan". There is a passage, it appears two or three times, about a plastic bag that beats the shit out of that paper bag scene in "American Beauty." Zumas' novel is brutal, brilliant, brave, and occasionally bonkers. The first great read of the year.
A little too close to reality to work as entertainment. Too many pov characters, making them a bit shallow. Some interesting bits, just not enough for me to finish.
I bought and read this as part of my teeny little three-person book club. It was not my choice and it is not my favourite of the books we've read thus far, but I am glad it was selected. It has been touted as the "modern day Handmaid's Tale" and I can see why, though I don't think this is anywhere near as good as Atwood's classic. In a nutshell, Red Clocks looks at life in a US (specifically, in Oregon) where abortion has been outlawed and a bill is looming which would "require" children to be raised by two parents. It is written from multiple perspectives, which I tend to enjoy in a book. And while some interesting concepts were brought up, I found the work lacking in several ways, though overall I am glad I read it.
The four women involved in the work are all different, though their lives overlap convincingly. MILD SPOILER: Also convincingly, the author did not take the easy, happy-ending way out, which provided a much more interesting, believable read, I thought.
I ended the book with a great many questions. If children must be raised by two parents - thereby making single parent adoption illegal - what happens when people divorce? Does divorce itself become illegal if children are involved? What about a homosexual couple; would they be allowed to adopt?
Also, one of the characters is working on a biography of a female polar explorer. There are frequent passages from the book she is working on throughout. While I understand some of the parallel (the explorer's sexuality is an issue), overall I didn't get it. I feel like the author was trying for some metaphor that went right over my head, and that of my fellow book group readers.
I have read complaints that there are no people of color in the book. My response to that is - maybe there are. With a setting of Oregon it is unlikely, but the author does not address race that I remember. I do not think this is a fault of the book. There has been a big push for racial diversity in every literary work these days, but oftentimes when an author attempts it, it comes across as forced. I feel it is sometimes better to just write the book and let people envision the characters to be whatever race they identify with.
Overall, I would say I was moderately happy with the read. I think I would have enjoyed it more without all the hype; it's always hard for a book to live up to that kind of thing.
The four women involved in the work are all different, though their lives overlap convincingly. MILD SPOILER: Also convincingly, the author did not take the easy, happy-ending way out, which provided a much more interesting, believable read, I thought.
I ended the book with a great many questions. If children must be raised by two parents - thereby making single parent adoption illegal - what happens when people divorce? Does divorce itself become illegal if children are involved? What about a homosexual couple; would they be allowed to adopt?
Also, one of the characters is working on a biography of a female polar explorer. There are frequent passages from the book she is working on throughout. While I understand some of the parallel (the explorer's sexuality is an issue), overall I didn't get it. I feel like the author was trying for some metaphor that went right over my head, and that of my fellow book group readers.
I have read complaints that there are no people of color in the book. My response to that is - maybe there are. With a setting of Oregon it is unlikely, but the author does not address race that I remember. I do not think this is a fault of the book. There has been a big push for racial diversity in every literary work these days, but oftentimes when an author attempts it, it comes across as forced. I feel it is sometimes better to just write the book and let people envision the characters to be whatever race they identify with.
Overall, I would say I was moderately happy with the read. I think I would have enjoyed it more without all the hype; it's always hard for a book to live up to that kind of thing.
I wanted this to be better but I don’t feel it went far enough. Needed to be more dramatic. It was kind of boring and could have had much more happen for the topic it was about.
3.5 stars. Dystopia????i wish! All gets a fit scary in light of recent events #nogagrule #plannedparenthood
Ironic that I finish the book the day of another Rally For Reproductive Rights
Ironic that I finish the book the day of another Rally For Reproductive Rights
The story was somewhat similar to The Handmaid’s Tale and was different. At times, it was interesting and then lagged. None of the characters were really engaging. I have a lot of questions at the end instead of wrapping up the story. Too open ended.
Read the full review at http://www.karlajstrand.com/2018/01/27/a-review-of-red-clocks-by-leni-zumas/ !
What do a polar explorer, a teenage girl, an aging teacher and writer, an unfulfilled wife and mother, and an eccentric healer have in common? A lot, surprisingly enough. Their intertwining experiences are calculatingly uncovered in Red Clocks, the third book by Leni Zumas.
I say “calculatingly” because the uncovering of the relationships felt just as deliberate as the development of the individual characters themselves. On both counts, I was puzzled at first, trying to figure out what these seemingly disparate characters have to do with one another and what story Zumas was trying to tell through them. But it didn’t take long before all the pieces fell into place to make a mosaic of women’s lives that was poignant and honest. Zumas is unafraid to shine a light on the imperfections and complexities of women’s inner voices and relationships.
Zumas masterfully switches voices among the four main characters, who are referred to in chapter headings as The Daughter, The Biographer, The Wife, and The Mender. I appreciated the statement Zumas makes by referring to them by these labels, as so often women are relegated to simple characterizations that do not represent the depth and fullness of our lives.
So adept is Zumas at identifying the unique voices of her characters, that the reader is taken inside their thoughts, is privy to their secrets, and bears witness to the repetitive and often destructive tapes that most women have playing incessantly inside their heads. The characters really come to life and more than once or twice reminded me of my own inner critic, especially The Biographer.
...
In the end, I found Red Clocks a call to action. “They started talking about this thing called the Personhood Amendment, which for years has been a fringe idea, a farce.” This is how these things can happen, right? We think that the threat will never actualize and we become complacent. We stop being shocked, we don’t take the threats seriously, we stop fighting, and we stop supporting one another. Red Clocks may be a work of fiction but its messages hit much too close to home to ignore. While each of us is stronger than we think, we are even stronger together. Red Clocks gives us a glimpse into what the near future could be like if we don’t stand together and resist the forces that attempt to disenfranchise and diminish us.
What do a polar explorer, a teenage girl, an aging teacher and writer, an unfulfilled wife and mother, and an eccentric healer have in common? A lot, surprisingly enough. Their intertwining experiences are calculatingly uncovered in Red Clocks, the third book by Leni Zumas.
I say “calculatingly” because the uncovering of the relationships felt just as deliberate as the development of the individual characters themselves. On both counts, I was puzzled at first, trying to figure out what these seemingly disparate characters have to do with one another and what story Zumas was trying to tell through them. But it didn’t take long before all the pieces fell into place to make a mosaic of women’s lives that was poignant and honest. Zumas is unafraid to shine a light on the imperfections and complexities of women’s inner voices and relationships.
Zumas masterfully switches voices among the four main characters, who are referred to in chapter headings as The Daughter, The Biographer, The Wife, and The Mender. I appreciated the statement Zumas makes by referring to them by these labels, as so often women are relegated to simple characterizations that do not represent the depth and fullness of our lives.
So adept is Zumas at identifying the unique voices of her characters, that the reader is taken inside their thoughts, is privy to their secrets, and bears witness to the repetitive and often destructive tapes that most women have playing incessantly inside their heads. The characters really come to life and more than once or twice reminded me of my own inner critic, especially The Biographer.
...
In the end, I found Red Clocks a call to action. “They started talking about this thing called the Personhood Amendment, which for years has been a fringe idea, a farce.” This is how these things can happen, right? We think that the threat will never actualize and we become complacent. We stop being shocked, we don’t take the threats seriously, we stop fighting, and we stop supporting one another. Red Clocks may be a work of fiction but its messages hit much too close to home to ignore. While each of us is stronger than we think, we are even stronger together. Red Clocks gives us a glimpse into what the near future could be like if we don’t stand together and resist the forces that attempt to disenfranchise and diminish us.
This book was amazing. Relevant to our current political climate and written with compelling and artistic prose, the novel is the story of five women who lead different lives and make different life, career, and relationship choices. The book is set in an America where Roe v. Wade has been overturned, abortion is illegal nationwide, IVF is banned, and single people aren’t eligible to adopt children. The author gives a stark sense of what happens when society fails to support a spectrum of womanhood—there is no one right way to be a woman. I could barely put this book down and highly recommend it.
Takes ages to get started. I actually needed to read someone else’s review to decide whether to stick with the book. I’m glad I did.
It has a dystopian perspective on bodily autonomy that isn’t very far from reality. But it’s not at all obvious from the first few chapters that that is the subject matter.
I also am not sure why we didn’t just get names for the characters. Instead, they’re known by their professions/ relations. I found that confusing for too long.
But it’s a surprisingly astute book, if overly lyrical at times. I’m glad I read it.
It has a dystopian perspective on bodily autonomy that isn’t very far from reality. But it’s not at all obvious from the first few chapters that that is the subject matter.
I also am not sure why we didn’t just get names for the characters. Instead, they’re known by their professions/ relations. I found that confusing for too long.
But it’s a surprisingly astute book, if overly lyrical at times. I’m glad I read it.
Summary:
Red Clocks follows five women living in a near-future United States where embryos are given rights to person and property from the moment of conception, making abortion and IVF illegal. We follow the Biographer, a women desperate to have a child, the Mother, a woman desperate to leave her husband, the Daughter, a girl desperate to terminate her pregnancy, and the Mender, a woman who provides healing and terminations in secrecy to the town. I listened to Red Clocks on audiobook via Scribd.
Characters 5/5:
Every character in this novel was absolutely fascinating. They were all flawed and complicated and messy but they all had such soul and vibrancy that they jumped off the page. I cared so much about all their conflicting goals and problems and I was so invested that I listened to this pretty quickly.
Plot 5/5:
The plot was horrifyingly realistic, and there were many moments were my jaw was absolutely on the floor. It was well crafted, carefully thought out, with the interconnections between the characters drawing parallels and complications in a very artful way. I don't really know how to say much more about the plot without spoiling it, but it was incredibly well done.
Setting and atmosphere 4/5:
The setting is very clever, with its subtle changes from current times in a way that is so realistic and poignant that it really sticks with you. It relies somewhat on the reader having knowledge of some current political events, but its also easy to understand and well develops what it would be like to live in this time period.
Writing style 5/5:
Sometimes very horrifying and invasively detailed, the writing style really builds the feeling of helplessness experienced by these characters in a world where people should theoretically have autonomy. The sentences are often short and very lyrical but not necessarily in a beautiful way, but in a way that sometimes leaves you feeling violated, very much like the characters. Some people may find the writing style off-putting, but I definitely believe it is meant to leave you ill at ease and it achieves that goal.
I think this book is an important read, even if it might be confronting or hard to get through at times. It's very poignant and explores a lot of different perspectives in this scenario which I really appreciated. I think it was incredibly well done and I would definitely recommend it.
Red Clocks follows five women living in a near-future United States where embryos are given rights to person and property from the moment of conception, making abortion and IVF illegal. We follow the Biographer, a women desperate to have a child, the Mother, a woman desperate to leave her husband, the Daughter, a girl desperate to terminate her pregnancy, and the Mender, a woman who provides healing and terminations in secrecy to the town. I listened to Red Clocks on audiobook via Scribd.
Characters 5/5:
Every character in this novel was absolutely fascinating. They were all flawed and complicated and messy but they all had such soul and vibrancy that they jumped off the page. I cared so much about all their conflicting goals and problems and I was so invested that I listened to this pretty quickly.
Plot 5/5:
The plot was horrifyingly realistic, and there were many moments were my jaw was absolutely on the floor. It was well crafted, carefully thought out, with the interconnections between the characters drawing parallels and complications in a very artful way. I don't really know how to say much more about the plot without spoiling it, but it was incredibly well done.
Setting and atmosphere 4/5:
The setting is very clever, with its subtle changes from current times in a way that is so realistic and poignant that it really sticks with you. It relies somewhat on the reader having knowledge of some current political events, but its also easy to understand and well develops what it would be like to live in this time period.
Writing style 5/5:
Sometimes very horrifying and invasively detailed, the writing style really builds the feeling of helplessness experienced by these characters in a world where people should theoretically have autonomy. The sentences are often short and very lyrical but not necessarily in a beautiful way, but in a way that sometimes leaves you feeling violated, very much like the characters. Some people may find the writing style off-putting, but I definitely believe it is meant to leave you ill at ease and it achieves that goal.
I think this book is an important read, even if it might be confronting or hard to get through at times. It's very poignant and explores a lot of different perspectives in this scenario which I really appreciated. I think it was incredibly well done and I would definitely recommend it.