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Indlæser... The Fortress
Work InformationThe Fortress af S. A. Jones
Indlæser...
Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. This was a fairly slow read for me, but I think it's best described by the intro on the blurb jacket: "The Handmaid's Tale meets Herland at a party thrown by Anais Nin." I'm truly not a fan of The Handmaid's Tale, but I enjoyed Herland and I love Nin's writing; plus, this book simply sounded fresh and interesting, so I thought it might be for me. I suppose... it was? The thing is, reading this book feels like labor, gorgeous as the prose may be and believable as the characters are. The book is itself an experience that, in many ways, comes across as a mental exercise in thinking about what a reversed Handmaid's Tale could look like, set against an otherwise patriarchal society in a corner of the world. I cannot say that I enjoy reading it, and yet, in some ways, I'm glad to have experienced it. I'd say it's for readers who want to engage in the intellectual exercise of exploring a book/world like this, and/or who enjoy those authors/works I mentioned above. It's not a book that I'd say you'll sink into and enjoy... but you might find it worth reading. After being caught cheating by his wife, Jonathon, a high powered professional, will do whatever it takes to win her back. Even giving up a year of his life to live in the Fortress. The Vaik, a society ran and populated entirely by women, are in charge of the Fortress. The Vaik believe primarily in four tenants - work, history, sex, and justice. Within, they demand complete and unyielding obedience from the supplicants. This was an absolutely fascinating book. I found the Vaik and their culture to be particular interesting. I wish the author had went into more detail about their existence, but perhaps that is grounds for a sequel. Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
Jonathon Bridge has a corner office in a top-tier law firm, tailored suits and an impeccable pedigree. He has a fascinating wife, Adalia, a child on the way, and a string of pretty young interns as lovers on the side. He's a man who's going places. His world is our world: the same chaos and sprawl, haves and have-nots, men and women, skyscrapers and billboards. But it also exists alongside a vast, self-sustaining city-state called The Fortress where the indigenous inhabitants -- the Vaik, a society run and populated exclusively by women -- live in isolation. When Adalia discovers his indiscretions and the ugly sexual violence pervading his firm, she agrees to continue their fractured marriage only on the condition that Jonathon voluntarily offers himself to The Fortress as a supplicant and stay there for a year. Jonathon's arrival at The Fortress begins with a recitation of the conditions of his stay: He is forbidden to ask questions, to raise his hand in anger, and to refuse sex. Jonathon is utterly unprepared for what will happen to him over the course of the year -- not only to his body, but to his mind and his heart. This absorbing, confronting and moving novel asks questions about consent, power, love and fulfilment. It asks what it takes for a man to change, and whether change is possible without a radical reversal of the conditions that seem normal. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.4Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Post-Elizabethan 1625-1702LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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But I never liked the main character. I'm not sure if I was supposed to? I think this is a sort of, man leans his lesson tale, but I wasn't convinced by the end. I wasn't super bothered by that though because I was more interested in the viewpoint of how this society works and what they are trying to teach the men, even if I don't think the main character was really redeemed. Maybe I'm not even supposed to think that. It's possible this book has some higher themes that I'm just not grasping.
If it sounds interesting to you, give it a whirl - it was a pretty quick read for me. But I'm not going to run around singing it's praises.
Of note, I did buy this because it's written by a woman (per the bio) - it was important to me when I was reading the blurb because, honestly, I'm tired and would not have wanted to read this book from a male perspective at this particular time. ( )