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booksonawednesday 's review for:
I Who Have Never Known Men
by Jacqueline Harpman
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It blows my mind that this book was written in the 1990s, and for many years from its publication, it had been under-appreciated and under-loved. As a lover of dystopian fiction, this is such an original and unique book with a concept that will forever stay with you.
The narrator (unnamed) has grown up in a cage with 39 other women. They have only vague memories of their time before imprisonment, and no explanation of why they’re here, or why the guards won’t speak to them.
The titular book should be more aptly named, I who have never known society - even though the narrator has never spoken to a man, she barely knows and understands the women in the cage either.
If you are someone who desperately needs answers and explanations, I wouldn’t recommend this book. You don’t get any. But what you do get is an insight in what it means to a human, specifically a woman, with all of the mechanisms of society stripped away. It’s about hope, loneliness and the journey of seeking answers.
I was expecting more of a feminist undertone to the short novel (because of the man), but there wasn’t an explicit one, more of an implied one.
I would absolutely recommend this book - and I’m so grateful that it found its audience so long after publication!
The narrator (unnamed) has grown up in a cage with 39 other women. They have only vague memories of their time before imprisonment, and no explanation of why they’re here, or why the guards won’t speak to them.
The titular book should be more aptly named, I who have never known society - even though the narrator has never spoken to a man, she barely knows and understands the women in the cage either.
If you are someone who desperately needs answers and explanations, I wouldn’t recommend this book. You don’t get any. But what you do get is an insight in what it means to a human, specifically a woman, with all of the mechanisms of society stripped away. It’s about hope, loneliness and the journey of seeking answers.
I was expecting more of a feminist undertone to the short novel (because of the man), but there wasn’t an explicit one, more of an implied one.
I would absolutely recommend this book - and I’m so grateful that it found its audience so long after publication!