Scan barcode
A review by albyatross
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
challenging
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I read this for the hype, and tbh, I don't think I absorbed any of it before the last 10-15 pages or so. Maybe in the future it'll have a different translator and that'll be better for me, idk.
The afterward gave it all some context, but for a book that's literally titled "I Who Have Never Known Men" it is WILDLY obsessed with men in parts.
Also probably needs a note that "knowing" = "sex", bc the Narrator DOES know what men are conceptually and interacts with them to a limited degree. So???
Like I only figured the "knowing" = "sex" bit out bc A DIFFERENT BOOK I was reading had a definition for "knowing" as a sex-related thing. And I spent that first 30% before that conclusion ANNOYED AS F, bc girl you DO KNOW WHAT A MAN IS, YOU'RE LOOKING AT ONE AND USING HIS SHIFTS AS A TIME MEASUREMENT??? Anyway, yeah.
I do like the cheeky little implied reference to (or at least, what sounds like prior to translation could have been a stand in for) Initiation à la Cosmonautique near the end. I think that says a lot about the work as well as far as explanations and philosophy go.
The afterward gave it all some context, but for a book that's literally titled "I Who Have Never Known Men" it is WILDLY obsessed with men in parts.
Like I only figured the "knowing" = "sex" bit out bc A DIFFERENT BOOK I was reading had a definition for "knowing" as a sex-related thing. And I spent that first 30% before that conclusion ANNOYED AS F, bc girl you DO KNOW WHAT A MAN IS, YOU'RE LOOKING AT ONE AND USING HIS SHIFTS AS A TIME MEASUREMENT??? Anyway, yeah.
I do like the cheeky little implied reference to (or at least, what sounds like prior to translation could have been a stand in for) Initiation à la Cosmonautique near the end. I think that says a lot about the work as well as far as explanations and philosophy go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Death and Suicide