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A review by mcfade28
The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf
3.0
Sadly this book was a bit of a letdown. It had an extremely interesting concept- what if mankind found a way to limit the female birth rate? As gradually fewer baby girls are born into the world, what happens to the gender imbalance and how does it affect humanity as a whole? The novel is titled The First Century After Beatrice, but it takes place within a 30 year period- not nearly enough for us to see the lasting impact on the world.
The writing style was dull too- The idea is we're reading some stuffy scientists memoirs, but it was tough going for me. The book felt too factual, and didn't have enough emotional impact.
Perhaps worst of all- This book explores the after effects of discrimination against women, but nearly all the main characters who achieve anything are men. The titicular Beatrice is pretty much a non entity, and I could not stand the main character's wife. Apart from that, the narrator and his male friends all sit around and talk about how to solve this birth rate problem.
In a word- Disappointing!
The writing style was dull too- The idea is we're reading some stuffy scientists memoirs, but it was tough going for me. The book felt too factual, and didn't have enough emotional impact.
Perhaps worst of all- This book explores the after effects of discrimination against women, but nearly all the main characters who achieve anything are men. The titicular Beatrice is pretty much a non entity, and I could not stand the main character's wife. Apart from that, the narrator and his male friends all sit around and talk about how to solve this birth rate problem.
In a word- Disappointing!