Rating: 
Summary: Crud
Review: The only women who likes this book is man-hating, hairy-legged bi-bi--well you know the word. These ladies should just do the dishes and shut up!
Rating: 
Summary: An Increditable story that overwhelms me tremendously.
Review: The whole time I was reading it makes me feel very much ashame to belong to my sex. The realization of women's struggle against the society and the established system overwhelm me as a human being. Every page I turned I read of something that I could have not known just by own experience. This book is an essential read for everyone
Rating:
Summary: AWFUL! AWFUL! AWFUL!
Review: This book is not only badly written (I just could not plough my way through the whole dreary thing) but also unbelievably irritating. Each and every character in it needs the biggest slap imaginable. All right, the men are awful - but the women are even worse. (And I'm a woman.) Why did stupid Mira take up with her stupid husband in the first place? This book would have you believe that any sort of valuable and precious relationship between the sexes cannot exist. Even in 1950 I refuse to believe that some men were not intelligent, interesting and compassionate. Stupid Mira should have had the sense to wait for one of them. Although she sure as hell didn't deserve one.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent account of women's triumphs and tribulations!
Review: This book is powerful in describing the pressures many women of the 50,60,70's had to deal with. It serves to enlighten many confusing and frustrating emotions which many women still deal with in the 90's. Although at times the text becomes wordy and elitist, and even seems overtly feminist, even to the point of male-bashing, Marilyn French does succeed to create superb characters and truly believable stories. I recommend this book to anyone who feels they could benefit by learning more about people and the relationships around them.
Rating:
Summary: Insulting, disapointing, borring book!
Review: This book was insulting to me because it was trying to tell me that all relationships between men and women are simply so that a woman can get what she wants or the worst most painful experience of her life. Reading only the first 8 chapters of this book was one of the hardest most maddening reading experience I have ever had.
Rating:
Summary: All women should read this and men too
Review: This is the only book I've read by Marilyn French, but I am eager to read more. It is well written and engrossing. The story is an interweaving of the lives of several different women, set, of all places, at Harvard University. I saw something familiar and comfortable in each of the characters. I laughed until I cried at some points, and cried until I laughed at one. It is certainly worth the money, and more importantly, the time spent on it.
-Happy reading
Rating:
Summary: Well Worth the Effort
Review: This is the only book I've read by Marilyn French, but I am eager to read more. It is well written and engrossing. The story is an interweaving of the lives of several different women, set, of all places, at Harvard University. I saw something familiar and comfortable in each of the characters. I laughed until I cried at some points, and cried until I laughed at one. It is certainly worth the money, and more importantly, the time spent on it.
-Happy reading
Rating:
Summary: A Definite Must Read
Review: This novel is absolutely essential. The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex are necessary to understand feminist theory, but presented in a fiction form, this is relatable, understandable, tangible feminism in the form of women you can easily identify parallels with in your own life. I think every man and woman should read this if they are serious about the needs for social, political, and economical equality in this country--and who aren't kidding themselves that it exists--this novel does a great job pointing out the subliminal programming and acceptance of sexism we still readily endure in our daily lives.
Rating:
Summary: Profound and Revealing
Review: This novel really opened my eyes. It was a mammoth and challenging read in the sense that it contained over 600 pages of unhappy marriages, unhappy lives, due to people who married out of tradition rather than love. Even the word love itself had a different meaning in this setting. Love between a man and woman apparently had nothing to do with respect or friendship. The relationships were degrading, unequal, unfair.I had to keep reminding myself that this was published in 1977, because frankly (I know this may sound naive), I was shocked at the illustration of Mira's childhood/college years/married years, as well as those of her contemporaries. I was moved by her descriptions of the ignorant and sexist attitudes of the middle class, of men and how they viewed not only women at large, but even their own mothers, wives, and daughters. One of the issues I had while reading this book was dealing with the fact that my own experience was nothing like this, nor was my mother's, nor was even her mother's. In any case, reading this made me feel so lucky to be a part of the present generation. It answered a lot of questions as to how the women's movement was born and evolved. However, it's so sad because you see this group of women: Mira, Val, Kyla, Clarissa, (not Iso--she knew she was different and therefore never expected to have a normal mainstream life, so she probably came out the least unscathed!), these women fought and clawed their way to a free independent life, only to find themselves hardened, wounded, bitter and in some cases, alone...because although they successfully changed their own lives for the better, society wasn't ready to accept this change in women, and wouldn't for another decade at least. Of course this is a novel about the women's movement, so I guess it's no surprise that every single man in this book is completely one-dimensional and shallow (with perhaps the exception of Mira's sons and Chris's friend Bart). I have to assume that this was the writer's experience even though it seemed extreme, unfair, and inaccurate. Of course, it wasn't hard to hate men who basically believed that raping his wife was his right, and that lesbianism was not to be taken seriously, or that women who want to do something other than take care of the home and raise kids were selfish, ridiculous or even crazy. The author was a master at creating this feeling. I think that Marilyn French also illustrates pretty clearly, that we all ultimately make our choices, and live with them. However, society plays such a huge role in how we decide. Society brainwashes from childbirth how one should live his/her life, and perhaps we need to think for ourselves a little more. It's our choice, do we do what society expects us to do? Or do we decide for ourselves, and deal with society's "raised eyebrows?" What's it worth? The narration was great. I like the fact that the entire experience was told in the third person, causing the reader to wonder, "Who is this telling the story? Who is this speaking?" To some it's obvious. To me, I didn't figure it out until the end. Oh well! Either way, I think it was necessary for the story to be told in third person, to maintain that sense of honest objectivity. Mira was a wonderful character: On a voyage of self-exploration, meeting all sorts of people who influenced her and taught her one aspect of life or another. Another strong character of course was Val, the ultimate martyr. She was almost too much to handle, but in a way her excessiveness forced people to see the corruption in the world. She had her classic flaws, but she was the true passionate voice of women, speaking only the truth, never accepting any less. There's a LOT of philosophical discussions throughout the book (what else would a bunch of brandy-drinking Harvard grad students talk about in the 60s/70s?!) The writing could easily provoke feelings of exasperation at Val's hatred, for example, her passionate disdain at the social "norms." In addition, all the women, Mira, Kyla, Lily, Adele's blind acceptance of their religion, their parents' traditions, their husbands' behaviors, their passivity--is enough to appaul even the most understanding reader. But let's face it, I cared enough about these characters to keep trudging through the muck, and in the end, I'd say that this novel was profound. In 1977, it must've had a gigantic effect on our culture.
Rating:
Summary: A Thought Provoking Read
Review: When my (female) friend sent this to me I was initially highly skeptical, and in fact the first time I picked it up I had to put it down after about ten pages because I couldn't get into it. However, I found that once I got into the story a little bit more I was sucked in and I just read and read. This was definately one of the most thought proviking novels I have ever read, and while it is very dense and thus not for the light reader, if you can make it forty pages in you'll be hooked. I can't promise it will change your life, but it may change your perspective on your mother, her mother, and the entire feminist revolution.
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