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moonaages 's review for:
I Who Have Never Known Men
by Jacqueline Harpman
i don't think "forty women trapped in an underground cage" would've prepared me for what i was about to experience. it is that, but to me, the book at its core, is about survival, community, humanity and hope.
it is told by the unnamed narrator, "the child", that is being trapped in an underground bunker, in a cage with 39 other women. unlike the women, the child doesn't know if she has a life before the cage. all she remembered was the life in the cage. there are strict rules in the cage, including how they are prohibited to be too close to one another, both physically and mentally. it was hard to form connection when the ties to communicate has been cut off. but they learned to live with the situation. when at last, they managed to escape the cage, they form community and the child played an important role in their survival.
outside the cage, a strange and lonely world awaits them. surviving is no longer a matter with what to do but also to what extent do you want to hold on. with the community that they built, they keep on living despite it all.
this book also holds an important message of how crucial it is for human to communicate, to talk and share ideas. it keeps the mind alive and the soul tethered to the body. one of the scenes i remember vividly is when the child finally found a book and it delighted her so much she felt fatigue. i felt so happy for her too.
the book does have this post-apocalyptic, kind of otherworldly setting but it is to set up the story rather than to create a world around it. there are so many speculation, questions that went unanswered, and kept you from ever forgetting the book. some might find this unsettling, but i personally felt content with this direction, as i was able to make my own theory about the world they live in.
this is a powerful book that will haunt me for the rest of my life. the child will forever live in a corner of my mind, and heart.
it is told by the unnamed narrator, "the child", that is being trapped in an underground bunker, in a cage with 39 other women. unlike the women, the child doesn't know if she has a life before the cage. all she remembered was the life in the cage. there are strict rules in the cage, including how they are prohibited to be too close to one another, both physically and mentally. it was hard to form connection when the ties to communicate has been cut off. but they learned to live with the situation. when at last, they managed to escape the cage, they form community and the child played an important role in their survival.
outside the cage, a strange and lonely world awaits them. surviving is no longer a matter with what to do but also to what extent do you want to hold on. with the community that they built, they keep on living despite it all.
this book also holds an important message of how crucial it is for human to communicate, to talk and share ideas. it keeps the mind alive and the soul tethered to the body. one of the scenes i remember vividly is when the child finally found a book and it delighted her so much she felt fatigue. i felt so happy for her too.
the book does have this post-apocalyptic, kind of otherworldly setting but it is to set up the story rather than to create a world around it. there are so many speculation, questions that went unanswered, and kept you from ever forgetting the book. some might find this unsettling, but i personally felt content with this direction, as i was able to make my own theory about the world they live in.
this is a powerful book that will haunt me for the rest of my life. the child will forever live in a corner of my mind, and heart.