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3.5 stars
The concept of this book captivated me. A world where women have gained some kind of physical advantage over men? That could be intriguing. Five stars for the concept.
It's the execution that leaves something to be desired. In Naomi Alderman's vision, if women were to gain a physical advantage over men, they would treat men exactly how men treat women. They'd rape, they'd murder, they'd start wars, they'd subjugate men and come up with rules decreeing that men cannot drive, they'd mandate that men must have a female guardian, they'd engage in male genital mutilation in the cruelest ways imaginable, etc. They'd be paternalistic and condescending and sexualize men left and right. I guess Alderman is from the "women are just men with different plumbing" school of feminism. I'm not, and in my view, this conclusion is boring and unimaginative, and is usually how these "what if women ran the world" speculative fiction pieces go.
That isn't to say that the book is boring and unimaginative. It's clever in many places (especially the ending), and packs a few emotional punches. It has some compelling characters, and is probably the best version of "women acting like men" that I've ever read. But in the end, it's still "women acting like men," and could have been much better.
Also, Mother Eve was entirely unconvincing as a controversial religious figure. Let's have a major religious founder with no original theology or insights who rises to power for no discernible reason and seldom says anything theological apart from "God is with you." It came off as how a person who knows little about religion might write a religious figure.
The concept of this book captivated me. A world where women have gained some kind of physical advantage over men? That could be intriguing. Five stars for the concept.
It's the execution that leaves something to be desired. In Naomi Alderman's vision, if women were to gain a physical advantage over men, they would treat men exactly how men treat women. They'd rape, they'd murder, they'd start wars, they'd subjugate men and come up with rules decreeing that men cannot drive, they'd mandate that men must have a female guardian, they'd engage in male genital mutilation in the cruelest ways imaginable, etc. They'd be paternalistic and condescending and sexualize men left and right. I guess Alderman is from the "women are just men with different plumbing" school of feminism. I'm not, and in my view, this conclusion is boring and unimaginative, and is usually how these "what if women ran the world" speculative fiction pieces go.
That isn't to say that the book is boring and unimaginative. It's clever in many places (especially the ending), and packs a few emotional punches. It has some compelling characters, and is probably the best version of "women acting like men" that I've ever read. But in the end, it's still "women acting like men," and could have been much better.
Also, Mother Eve was entirely unconvincing as a controversial religious figure. Let's have a major religious founder with no original theology or insights who rises to power for no discernible reason and seldom says anything theological apart from "God is with you." It came off as how a person who knows little about religion might write a religious figure.