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A review by monitaroymohan
The Power by Naomi Alderman
1.0
I was aware of the tv adaptation but hadn’t watched it. Then a podcast recommended this book and I decided to give the book a try. I’m always interested in reading alternative realities and takes on humanity.
But this book isn’t the power fantasy I had expected it to be. It’s really bleak, to be honest. It’s distressing and disturbing. In a world where women suddenly sprout a superpower that enables them to protect themselves and become stronger in a physical sense, how would the world and society change? Well, it turns out, it wouldn’t. Seems to me like the author portends that people would maintain the status quo of an unequal society where the powerful oppress others, where violence is king, and where we will subjugate and sexually dominate anyone we can. So, really, it’s the same world we live in now, the only difference is that in the book, it’s women in the power position and men who are subjugated.
This line of thinking does no one any favours. The point is, whoever is in power will likely be corrupt and cruel and evil. But, with a change in management, something must be better in general, because then otherwise, why would anyone want a change. Men are anyway convinced that they’re being subjugated now, even though all the laws are made by them and most things that make their lives worse are made by men as well. But because women and people across the gender spectrum have a voice, suddenly the men feel like life is worse for them. Art is supposed to help us be better, but this book suggests that we will in fact not be any better.
It’s a strange choice to assume that if women had a superpower they’d still toe the line of an evangelical religion, that they’d be mob bosses who give no sway, that they’d rule countries with an iron fist that reduces and takes away the rights of their subjects. But these are the characters we follow in this book, and it’s impossible to get lost or invested in a story where absolutely no one is remotely likeable or trying to make the world better. I couldn’t enjoy it at all. This would be a horrid world to live in — as if the one we’re in now doesn’t suck enough.
Imagine you sprout a superpower and your first thought is to become a cruel dictator or to wage war? Vengeance, I understand, but why did the author choose to only follow characters who were cruel?
Let’s not even start by how binary this book is. What would happen to people who are transgender or non-binary. If chromosomal anomalies affect people, what about the rest of the gender spectrum? I’m aware this book was written in 2017, but still, this seems like a huge miss.
The other issue with this is that things neither start well nor end well for most of the main characters. What’s the takeaway then — get superpowers and life still sucks for you? As I said, really bleak.
There’s a salaciousness to the writing as well. So many of the female characters endure sexual or other forms of violence either before or after they gain power. There’s a lot of sexual assault instances against men in the book as well. And then there’s the lascivious way that the sole male main character, Tunde, is portrayed and observed as. It’s overly leery and creepy. If you’re hoping to feel like Captain America while reading this book, you will not. This book will give you a gross feeling.
The ending dragged on forever. I was like stop already, you’ve made your point. And the epilogue? That was trying to demonstrate forgotten and rewritten histories that erase one gender’s contributions, but it came across like a conversation a man and a woman would be having in the real world. She’s justifying and placating and he’s mansplaining.
I am so disappointed in this book. Granted, I have little faith in humanity, but I would hope that at least some of us would be above the oppressive behaviours of the current world if we got powers — even if for a little while. But this book really leans into all the horrid stuff — a smarter person would have drawn parallels to current society’s inequality, rape culture and sexism without Uno-reversing the matter. That’s not commentary on how much the world sucks now is it?
This is a hard pass for me. Kinda wish I hadn’t read it.
But this book isn’t the power fantasy I had expected it to be. It’s really bleak, to be honest. It’s distressing and disturbing. In a world where women suddenly sprout a superpower that enables them to protect themselves and become stronger in a physical sense, how would the world and society change? Well, it turns out, it wouldn’t. Seems to me like the author portends that people would maintain the status quo of an unequal society where the powerful oppress others, where violence is king, and where we will subjugate and sexually dominate anyone we can. So, really, it’s the same world we live in now, the only difference is that in the book, it’s women in the power position and men who are subjugated.
This line of thinking does no one any favours. The point is, whoever is in power will likely be corrupt and cruel and evil. But, with a change in management, something must be better in general, because then otherwise, why would anyone want a change. Men are anyway convinced that they’re being subjugated now, even though all the laws are made by them and most things that make their lives worse are made by men as well. But because women and people across the gender spectrum have a voice, suddenly the men feel like life is worse for them. Art is supposed to help us be better, but this book suggests that we will in fact not be any better.
It’s a strange choice to assume that if women had a superpower they’d still toe the line of an evangelical religion, that they’d be mob bosses who give no sway, that they’d rule countries with an iron fist that reduces and takes away the rights of their subjects. But these are the characters we follow in this book, and it’s impossible to get lost or invested in a story where absolutely no one is remotely likeable or trying to make the world better. I couldn’t enjoy it at all. This would be a horrid world to live in — as if the one we’re in now doesn’t suck enough.
Imagine you sprout a superpower and your first thought is to become a cruel dictator or to wage war? Vengeance, I understand, but why did the author choose to only follow characters who were cruel?
Let’s not even start by how binary this book is. What would happen to people who are transgender or non-binary. If chromosomal anomalies affect people, what about the rest of the gender spectrum? I’m aware this book was written in 2017, but still, this seems like a huge miss.
The other issue with this is that things neither start well nor end well for most of the main characters. What’s the takeaway then — get superpowers and life still sucks for you? As I said, really bleak.
There’s a salaciousness to the writing as well. So many of the female characters endure sexual or other forms of violence either before or after they gain power. There’s a lot of sexual assault instances against men in the book as well. And then there’s the lascivious way that the sole male main character, Tunde, is portrayed and observed as. It’s overly leery and creepy. If you’re hoping to feel like Captain America while reading this book, you will not. This book will give you a gross feeling.
The ending dragged on forever. I was like stop already, you’ve made your point. And the epilogue? That was trying to demonstrate forgotten and rewritten histories that erase one gender’s contributions, but it came across like a conversation a man and a woman would be having in the real world. She’s justifying and placating and he’s mansplaining.
I am so disappointed in this book. Granted, I have little faith in humanity, but I would hope that at least some of us would be above the oppressive behaviours of the current world if we got powers — even if for a little while. But this book really leans into all the horrid stuff — a smarter person would have drawn parallels to current society’s inequality, rape culture and sexism without Uno-reversing the matter. That’s not commentary on how much the world sucks now is it?
This is a hard pass for me. Kinda wish I hadn’t read it.