runner4019 's review for:

The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin

4.25

informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I’ve been reading a lot of Levin’s work recently and i really love his books. However, I did notice something different about this book compared to Levins other works. Don’t get me wrong, The Boys from Brazil was still very good, I just didn’t understand why the author included so many misogynistic comments in the dialog and thoughts. It seemed every male character had something to say or think about a female character’s body or voice. It was very odd to me. This book is about Nazis so racist and offensive language makes sense I suppose. But the comments about women’s bodies were widespread among all the characters: Jew, nazi, American, Dutch, etc. To me, the objectification of women felt unnecessary to the plot, and as a female reader they seemed very inappropriate.  (Examples: Barry thought the telephone operator had a “cute sexy voice.” Liebermann thought Mrs. Doiring had very nice legs for her age. A paragraph of writing was wasted describing a 65 year old man staring at a young woman’s tits. And Dr. Mengele grabbed pregnant Miss Nazi’s “marvelous ass” while they were dancing.) why did Levin feel the need to include these words? What did it add to the story? I’d argue nothing.