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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I suppose some day I will reread and reassess my rating.
Abandonado
La verdad es que en un primer momento me gustó el tono que tenía la novela pero a medida que he ido leyendo he perdido el interés. El libro en sí está bien pero creo que el final no ha sido lo que me esperaba para un libro tan crudo.
La verdad es que en un primer momento me gustó el tono que tenía la novela pero a medida que he ido leyendo he perdido el interés. El libro en sí está bien pero creo que el final no ha sido lo que me esperaba para un libro tan crudo.
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like most women’s utopias, Woman on the Edge of Time is profoundly anarchist and aimed at integrating people back into the natural world and eliminating power relationships.”
I’ve read a fair few women’s utopias recently and this similarity struck me often as I read this book. A common view in these utopias seems to be that we, globally, are careening toward disaster, and after the disaster those who are left will learn from our mistakes in what they rebuild—and what they leave out. The society here is one that I have a hard time imagining ever coming to be, but there’s so much good to learn from it. I hope we can learn.
And why is it that these anarchist, nature-oriented, power-tearing-down visions are women’s visions?
“Suddenly she thought that these men believed feeling itself a disease, something to be cut out like a rotten appendix. Cold, calculating, ambitious, believing themselves rational and superior, they chased the crouching female animal through the brain with a scalpel.”
I didn’t enjoy having to read Connie imprisoned but it did serve a powerful message. Also an absolute banger of an ending.
I’ve read a fair few women’s utopias recently and this similarity struck me often as I read this book. A common view in these utopias seems to be that we, globally, are careening toward disaster, and after the disaster those who are left will learn from our mistakes in what they rebuild—and what they leave out. The society here is one that I have a hard time imagining ever coming to be, but there’s so much good to learn from it. I hope we can learn.
And why is it that these anarchist, nature-oriented, power-tearing-down visions are women’s visions?
“Suddenly she thought that these men believed feeling itself a disease, something to be cut out like a rotten appendix. Cold, calculating, ambitious, believing themselves rational and superior, they chased the crouching female animal through the brain with a scalpel.”
I didn’t enjoy having to read Connie imprisoned but it did serve a powerful message. Also an absolute banger of an ending.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The only reason this book isn’t 5 stars is because I’m not sure how to feel about a non-Hispanic person writing about racism from a Hispanic person’s point of view. I think it was well done, but I’m white and also don’t know what it’s like, so I can’t exactly tell how accurate it is.
This reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but fleshed out in a way I could have never imagined. The ideas of racism, sexism, classism, and the patriarchy of our current world (even if it was based in the 1970s) were so strongly contrasted against this utopian future that there was absolutely no subtlety, and I love that. This book may have been written in the 70s, but it was way ahead of its time. There was so much social consciousness of us as humans, the hierarchies we unfortunately uphold, and the future of this planet, that I genuinely double-checked when this was written. There were even neo-pronouns!
Connie was a character that grew and developed in extraordinary ways, and I wish more people could grow to understand the power struggles people face in day-to-day life.Connie’s conclusion that there is a war going on, where the underprivileged and minorities are more than just the downtrodden, but causalities of the current societal structure, made me feel like standing up and trying harder in the war to change it.
I truly love this book, and, while I have qualms about the author writing from this particular point of view, I know I don’t have the right to judge on that aspect as it’s not something I have experienced. But I have experienced being AFAB, queer, and mental illness, and the way this book spoke to me on these aspects will probably stick with me.
This reminded me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but fleshed out in a way I could have never imagined. The ideas of racism, sexism, classism, and the patriarchy of our current world (even if it was based in the 1970s) were so strongly contrasted against this utopian future that there was absolutely no subtlety, and I love that. This book may have been written in the 70s, but it was way ahead of its time. There was so much social consciousness of us as humans, the hierarchies we unfortunately uphold, and the future of this planet, that I genuinely double-checked when this was written. There were even neo-pronouns!
Connie was a character that grew and developed in extraordinary ways, and I wish more people could grow to understand the power struggles people face in day-to-day life.
I truly love this book, and, while I have qualms about the author writing from this particular point of view, I know I don’t have the right to judge on that aspect as it’s not something I have experienced. But I have experienced being AFAB, queer, and mental illness, and the way this book spoke to me on these aspects will probably stick with me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical trauma
Minor: Abortion
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed reading this book but in a more scholarly vein it’s super interesting. Piercy’s novel is rather strange and messy—it’s sometimes difficult to tell what’s real, but that adds to Connie’s confusion about the turn her life is taking. The most interesting parts are definitely the time traveling bits, although Connie’s attempts to escape her situation are also great.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I first listened to this book in April, 2020. I was in a mental space of lookin for hope, beauty, and the better world I aspired toward. Coming off years of loving the work of Ursula K. Le Guin, I was thrilled to find a different, but similarly flavored vision of a feminist, ecological utopia. I loved the casual use of neopronouns, incredible for a book of its time and popularity. I named myself in the footsteps of Luciente's light-themed path. I loved this book, but over time felt I needed to revisit it - something in my memory of it seemed to be missing.
The relevance of this book to me in 2024 was thoroughly different. I still found solace, beauty, and joy in the vision of the future it holds. But the omnipresence of Connie's life in the present, and the constant threat of the return of that violence as a pervasive motivation for the future to be organized as it is, held much more power for me. The keen awareness that Connie was never as free as she felt when visiting the future, and that at some point this would come to a head as doctors became entitled to her body and mind, never slipped away. The 2016 audio edition contains a forward which points to the difference between the hopeful, winning, world-changing feminism of the 70s and the nihilistic feminism-on-the-back-foot of today. Hell, some "feminists" today might decry the use of neopronouns in a gender-essentialist, hierarchy-reinforcing twisting of the power relations which steal our selves and equality from us. I find the knowledge of this possibility contained within the original text a telling sign of our responsibility to make the choice that Connie makes at the end of the book.
I'm sure that I will come back to this book again and reflect on something new in it. I was actually reminded to read it when it came us in The Future is Disabled as an example of a book which does not flinch from madness, but which genetically eliminates physical disabilities. Discussions of race, economic relations, sexual violence, and conflict resolution also all have a touch point in this book, and I know I'll be seeking out the perspectives of many others as I move forward from it. It's dearly beloved to me and I highly recommend placing yourself and your current world between Connie and 2137.
The relevance of this book to me in 2024 was thoroughly different. I still found solace, beauty, and joy in the vision of the future it holds. But the omnipresence of Connie's life in the present, and the constant threat of the return of that violence as a pervasive motivation for the future to be organized as it is, held much more power for me. The keen awareness that Connie was never as free as she felt when visiting the future, and that at some point this would come to a head as doctors became entitled to her body and mind, never slipped away. The 2016 audio edition contains a forward which points to the difference between the hopeful, winning, world-changing feminism of the 70s and the nihilistic feminism-on-the-back-foot of today. Hell, some "feminists" today might decry the use of neopronouns in a gender-essentialist, hierarchy-reinforcing twisting of the power relations which steal our selves and equality from us. I find the knowledge of this possibility contained within the original text a telling sign of our responsibility to make the choice that Connie makes at the end of the book.
I'm sure that I will come back to this book again and reflect on something new in it. I was actually reminded to read it when it came us in The Future is Disabled as an example of a book which does not flinch from madness, but which genetically eliminates physical disabilities. Discussions of race, economic relations, sexual violence, and conflict resolution also all have a touch point in this book, and I know I'll be seeking out the perspectives of many others as I move forward from it. It's dearly beloved to me and I highly recommend placing yourself and your current world between Connie and 2137.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Drug use, Rape, War