I Who Have Never Known Men

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: A friend recommended this book based on my love for Margaret Atwood's THE HANDMAID'S TALE....completely engrossing and somehow triumphant, despite the depressing subject matter...definitely worth a try - I recommend it to everyone, knowing that most people don't always hear about small translations like this.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Read!
Review: A friend sent this book to me to read, she had gotten from one of her friends and I just have to say I was skeptical at first. I am more the type to read Jackie Collins and such so this was a nice change of pace. I started reading this book and was instantly hooked! I read it with warp speed and was left wanting more, not wanting it to end just yet. I highly reccomend this book!!! Read it, you'll be glad you did!

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: A sad and truly beautiful book, I Who have Never Known Men is a journey of a child who has no past, present, or future. The loneliness is palpable as she tries to find her place in the universe. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing! One of my favoriate books!
Review: I bought this book on a whim, and sat down one night to read it. I found myself unable to put it down. Remarkably there were moments that I had to put the book down to collect myself, and was surprised to find myself where I was, and not locked in a bunker, or trying to make sense out of an unapoligetic and bleak life. To think of life that was marred so early and so deeply is shocking. The empathy I felt for the narrator, although almost foreign, as her experiences and thoughts were also foreign, was tangible. The haunted feeling I had while reading it, and the emotions it creates are intense and unforgettable. I loved this book. It is one that I know will stay with me, and I can only look forward to future english translations from this immensely talented writer. I cannot reccommend it enough!

Rating:
Summary: A BEAUTIFULLY written, interesting novel. . .
Review: I first came across this book almost two years ago at work. I work for a publishing company and we get many sample books. The title and the cover both caught my eye so I brought it home with me and I finally read it this week. Not surprisingly, I could not put this book down. It was beautiful, haunting, and sad. There were quite a few loose-ends that never get resolved, but the story is so interesting and deep that it doesn't matter. I can't believe I let it sit on my bookshelf for so long. I'm glad I decided to save it and read it. It was worth it. This book definitely touched me. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book.
Review: I read I Who Have Never Known Men over a year ago and it still swims around in my head. It is a succinct, quiet, feminist version of Stephen Kings lengthy soap-opera, The Stand. Although set on a dusty, barren planet, I was left with a feeling of lushness and complexity that the most intricate of settings lack. I enjoy books by women authors of Science Fiction and this my favorite find.

Rating:
Summary: Original, unexpected and clever novel by gifted writer.
Review: It was high time Jacqueline Harpman got translated into English. Her novel is very original and innovative, and needless to say thought provoking. I was overwhelmed by the sense of desolation and solitude conveyed by the narrator. It will make you reflect about your own life and mortality. Ms. Harpman's insight into human nature is griping and unpretentious in its simplicity: without others we are nothing. I could not put this book down. This novel reminds me of a Ray Bradbury work, the title of which I do not remember, in which all of the human race is turned into vampires with the exception of a man who is waiting for his fate. For the francophones among you, I recommend another of Ms. Harpman's novels, "Orlanda," as of yet untranslated, which narrates the experience of a woman who temporarily leaves her body to posses that of a young man.

Rating:
Summary: Solid but already done
Review: Ms. Harpman's novel is a solid piece of fiction. It brings to live the fundamental questions we ask when given the opportunity to be reborn into this world - what are the hinges of socialization? What is our purpose? What's the value of freedom? What is freedom? And while these questions get explored superficially, they are questions that have surfaced over and over in literature. Furthermore, the answers and approaches provided by Ms. Harpman do not take us somewhere new. The one differentiating factor of her story is the absence of men. I wish she had delved more into this one, as the title might suggest, and explore the concept of men vs. woman in a truly autocratic world. Overall, a solid story, but nothing new has been explored or answered.

Rating:
Summary: Still don't get it
Review: OK, I do have to admit that I read it in one sitting, and it is true that this book will stay with me for a long time to come, but the reason is that the book was so darned uninformative. I would hardly liken it to 'The Handmaiden's Tale' as that book had a PLOT! This one seems to meander all over the place (just as the main character does) and manages to reveal absolutely nothing at all. Yes it's horrible, yes it's compelling. The lack of emotion in the main character is obviously a literary tool, but certainly not one that appealed to me. My biggest complaint is the fact that when I completed the novel, I felt as if I still knew nothing about the story. You should have heard me trying to explain it to people! Maybe it lost something in the translation, but I would say that you should wait until 'I Who Have Never Known Men' shows up in a used book store, or yard sale.

Rating:
Summary: Uncategorical and gorgeously crafted
Review: Recently translated, Harpman's disturbing existential novel recalls the more terrifying moments from Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" and the novels of Franz Kafka. "I Who Have Never Known Men" depicts a stark, room-sized cage in which a group of amnesiac women attempt a semblance of dignity while overseen by nameless, whip-wielding guards. How did they get here? What is going on? Harpman denies us answers. Even after the women manage a fluke escape, their freedom is ambiguous at best, and we can only watch as they wander an uncompromising landscape (that may or may not be Earth...) and ultimately succumb to exhaustion and death.

That this is not a cheerful novel goes without saying. Its triumph is Harpman's unerring eye for the absurd and tragic. Above all, this is an engagingly strange book that refuses to pigeonhole itself into any specific sub-genre. I highly recommend this odd and uncategorical tale.