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I who Have Never Known Men
I who Have Never Known Men: A Novel | Jacqueline Harpman
30 posts | 43 read | 54 to read
A prize-winning, "womanist" novel--part thriller, part science-fiction fantasy--traces the emotional and sexual awakening of one woman, the youngest of a group imprisoned in a world of men who attempt to dehumanize them. IP.
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review
deirdrebeecher
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Pickpick

Wow that book is something. A bucket of cold water into the face, but in a bracing and energizing way. Was absolutely hypnotised by the writing and protagonist. It is not fun, but it asks some really interesting questions.

This is more litfic than genre SF, and some of the worldbuilding feels fudged. But that is not the point of the book. Also the ending leaves you dangling. Intentionally and I loved it, but I know some ppl hate that.

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Nessavamusic
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Pickpick

A striking, beautifully written book that leaves you with more questions than answers but said a lot about what it is to be human. 5⭐️

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DogMomIrene
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Pickpick

Saw @TrishB & @BarbaraBB posts, so read over 2 days. Talk about a character study on what it means to be human.

The part where the women keep finding the same results over & over, but with variations on how things look, whoa! Some of those scenes felt very Lord of the Flies to me, but others definitely not. Gave me perspective on how broadly humans react to same situation.

Would have loved to know more plot details, but those aren‘t the point.

TrishB It definitely makes you think! In a plot basis- I mean where is the electricity coming from 🤷‍♀️ 2w
DogMomIrene @TrishB And why does the electricity keep going for 40ish years? I‘m all in on “not Earth” but why so many cages? And the guards with the gas masks? I thought …aliens? Human abduction? But then the bodies at the bus sounded like human anatomy, so who were the guards? So many plot questions… 2w
BarbaraBB And somehow I loved being left behind with all those questions 2w
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DogMomIrene
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Thought I‘d be reading either a #NFN pick or cozy fantasy next. After that devastating election, though, the tagged book showed up in the mail and I decided to go all in on the dystopian outlook. No idea where this book is going, but I‘m here for the ride.

This quote really hit me, especially when I think of all the people who voted for Trump, and all the people who sat this election out. Being human rests on very little indeed😢

Suet624 Did you read Heather Cox Richardson‘s post from today? She talks about voters just now being shocked that tariffs are not what they thought they were. 2w
DogMomIrene @Suet624 I haven‘t. I avoid Substack. I had too many subscriptions & wasn‘t reading them. Just too overwhelming. But I‘m not surprised that people don‘t understand a whole bunch of what Trump will implement. The public education system in the US has been gutted, too many people can‘t make ends meet even though they‘re working multiple jobs, and there‘s a general distrust of govt so they‘re ripe for Trump to enrage all over again. Change takes time 2w
Suet624 There is also a concerted effort to misinform. We were done in by those who refuse to accept that you need to do your own research and stop blaming 'the libs' for being educated. (There's so much more to say of course for the reasons we're here now...) 2w
DogMomIrene @Suet624 Yes! Exactly. So many problems that all take time to solve. And compromise. Moving the mark toward the light and progress. Not easy. Not quick. And demonizing education just aggravates me. More really, but public forum. I‘ll keep my language in check. So much to say! Indeed! 2w
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TrishB
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Pickpick

Brilliant, short, dystopian novel. I have so many questions. Really thought provoking.
And that last sentence 🥲
Thanks Barbara 😘

Centique This one sounds so interesting! 3w
IndianBookworm Been meaning to read this since so long! 3w
Balibee146 Had this on my radar recently - sounds great 3w
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TrishB @Centique @IndianBookworm @Balibee146 I would definitely recommend. 3w
BarbaraBB Great review Trish. I felt the same and expected you to react like I did. That ending indeed 3w
DogMomIrene Your review has my full attention. Will be purchasing. 3w
TrishB @BarbaraBB so many things to think about. I mean, just on a basic level - where is the electricity from 🤷‍♀️ 3w
TrishB @DogMomIrene I look forward to your thoughts! 3w
BarbaraBB Yes and what had happened? Why guard those women? Where did the men go so fast? 2w
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BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

“I have understood nothing about the world in which I live “.

The narrator is a young girl locked up in a cabin with 39 other women. No one knows how or why they are there and who the men are who guard them. One day they can escape and what follows is what is described as “a hollow freedom”. A poignant story that leaves me with many questions and that will stuck with me.

squirrelbrain Sounds really interesting. 1mo
Leniverse That's another one of those books that I really want to read but keep forgetting about because it's on my kindle 😅 1mo
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @Leniverse it‘s worth reading!! 1mo
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Gleefulreader Oh I‘m glad you liked it! It has really stuck with me. 1mo
sarahbarnes Excited to get to this one. Great review! 1mo
Hooked_on_books I thought you‘d like it! I found it so thought provoking. It‘s deceptively simple. 1mo
Suet624 Oooh….. how interesting. 1mo
youneverarrived This is one of those books that keeps popping up for me. Great review. Shall move it up the tbr 🖤 1mo
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

A girl with no name is imprisoned with 39 women. The male guards never speak to them. We watch her grow older in this cage, trying to navigate this unusual life. I found this book fascinating. There are unanswered questions in it that I think will drive some readers crazy, but I really liked it. @BarbaraBB I think you would like this, too.

BarbaraBB Thank you Holly! I literally bought this one two days ago! I will read it soon. 1mo
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Gleefulreader
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Pickpick

After seeing @BarbaraBB post about this book, I realized I had never reviewed it even though I continue to think about it months after I read it. A group of women has been imprisoned below ground by men. The youngest does not remember the before times and a sudden incident has the women released into a world where it seems everyone has perished. > more in comments.

Gleefulreader Cont‘d The book does not focus on the whys or hows of the initial conceit - why are the women there and what happened to their jailers. Instead, it is a deeper look at humanity and community in the face of privation, and how humanity can be rebuilt after it has been suppressed. What does it mean to be the last person alive? How do you go on? This is a book I will definitely read again as I find myself returning to it. 1mo
LiteraryinPA Wow, that sounds really impactful. 1mo
BarbaraBB Thank you for this wonderful review. Can‘t wait to read it. 1mo
IndianBookworm Have it on my TBR since years, can't wait to read it. 1mo
Anna40 Wow! Great review 1mo
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notreallyelaine

I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering, and that I was human after all…After all, if I was a human being, my story was as important as that of King Lear, or of Prince Hamlet that William Shakespeare had taken the trouble to relate in detail.

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Bookbuyingaddict
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Mehso-so

Well that was depressing ! If you love dystopian fiction it‘ll be a winner if not you‘ll hate it . Short novella which can be read in a day . It is very well written but still think I‘m being generous giving it a so so

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currentlyreadinginCO
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Pickpick

I am reading it with my girlfriend ... I'm excited to hear someone else's take on this because I found it fascinating and philosophical - but so, so dark.

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RedHeadReader
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Pickpick

This was fantastic. It's so atmospheric, with a masterful balance of hope and despair. I loved the central mystery of why the woman are being held captive. Are they even on earth? What has happened to the guards? Harpman explores the themes of love, womanhood, loneliness, community, and what it means to be human from the point of view of someone who has only experienced captivity. I know it will stay with me for a long time.

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Kazzie
Pickpick

Fantastic! Great bookclub read. So many interesting themes from hope and love and sex and humanity. Highly recommend

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JanuarieTimewalker13
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Pickpick

One of the most unique books I‘ve ever read. At first I was bored to tears, yet the premise kept me hanging on…once an event happened, I was intrigued. I‘m not going into more detail than that. I will say one thing: what if you knew nothing of your past but being in a cage with 39 women…you were a child and had no reference for anything they spoke about…how would that form you as a human?
If you are into character more than plot, read this.

JanuarieTimewalker13 2/10/24 book was written in 1995 but not translated until 2019. Translation by Ros Schwartz. 9mo
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blurb
Oryx
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Daisy judges you.

This book is so good so far

Cupcake12 Love this photo x 10mo
JenReadsAlot Omg that face! 😍 10mo
Gissy I want to read that one🙋🏽‍♀️ 10mo
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RaeLovesToRead I swear, Daisy, I don't know why books keep showing up at the house! Someone must keep ordering them!!! I'm INNOCENT 😇 10mo
Ruthiella @RaeLovesToRead That‘s not what Pickles is telling me ! 😂 10mo
Leniverse I keep meaning to read that one! I need to... idk clone myself so I can read more books simultaneously 😆 10mo
squirrelbrain Love it, Daisy! 10mo
RaeLovesToRead @Ruthiella 😅😅😅 10mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 10mo
LeahBergen 😂😂 10mo
Hooked_on_books Daisy serves excellent side eye! 10mo
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batsy
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Pickpick

This was hypnotic & quietly compelling. A speculative dystopian novel about a woman who tells us her story of having grown up in captivity in a group of 40 women. I found the images of the barren inner & outer landscape quite surreal, like a Dali painting that was transforming in front of our eyes. Through the young narrator's circumstances the novel asks deep questions about the purpose of personhood, womanhood, existence. Are we always waiting?

batsy Reading up on Harpman we learn that she was born in Belgium and that her father was Jewish, and that the family had to flee to Morocco to escape the Nazis. I feel like that adds to the profound sadness, about the novel wrestling with the idea of captivity; how it is imposed, how it can become a state of mind, and what is the cost and value of freedom and why must it come at the expense of others? How is freedom truly measured and valued? 10mo
Chelsea.Poole I‘ve wondered about this one. Fantastic review! 10mo
batsy @Chelsea.Poole Thank you! It's the kind of book that lingers. 10mo
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Aimeesue Excellent review! Compelling. 10mo
sarahbarnes Oh wow, sounds very intriguing. 10mo
batsy @Aimeesue Thank you! 10mo
batsy @sarahbarnes Yes, this and The Wall are two speculative dystopian novels that will stick with me 10mo
BarbaraBB I loved the wall too so I really need to read this! And that cover 😍 10mo
TrishB This looks interesting 👍🏻 10mo
tpixie What a great review! 10mo
sarahbarnes I bought a copy of The Wall this summer (I think based on your review) and hope to read it soon. Good to know you loved it too @BarbaraBB ! 10mo
batsy @BarbaraBB The Wall has become one of my all-time favourites. 10mo
batsy @TrishB Yes, a really intriguing concept. Particularly of aloneness. 10mo
batsy @tpixie Thank you! 10mo
MemoirsForMe Wow! Wonderful review! 👏🏻👏🏻 10mo
batsy @UwannaPublishme Thank you 😊 10mo
Rissreads I have this and The wall on my tbr shelf looking at me. Think I‘ll get to them sooner than later! Great review ♥️ 10mo
batsy @Rissreads Thank you! I hope you like it. Lots of food for thought. 10mo
Cathythoughts Love your review, stacked. X 10mo
batsy @Cathythoughts ❤️ 10mo
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LeticiaToraci
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Pickpick

This was out of my comfort zone dystopia, but I couldn't put it down.

batsy I'm reading it right now and feel the same. Can't tell where it's going. 10mo
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Littlewolf1
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Pickpick

4.2⭐️ this book may be under 200 pages but it doesn‘t change how powerful it is. I went through some feels with this one, and while I would not call it a tearjerker, some parts left me feeling a little raw.

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Night_Reader
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Pickpick

5/5 🌟

Wow!!! An interesting and sad book that will forever be etched in my mind. 💕

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Night_Reader
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Best type of mail. 📚 📬

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fv.reads
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Panpan

I had high expectations when I borrowed this book because it was a whopping 4.23 average rating on Goodreads. When I started the book, it definitely piqued my interest and curiosity. I wanted so badly to know what is outside the bunker.

It could have been a good book if the writer altered the ending. A lot of the writings became repetitive and circled around the same idea. If I could put it into a phrase, it'll be Eat Sleep Work Repeat.

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LaraS
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Listen, I understand this pink band is what‘s keeping an RFID in place, and that, in turn, is the reason I can benefit from Inter Library Loans but, c'mon people can we not come up with a better placement?!

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Bertha_Mason

"Perhaps you never have time when you are alone? You only acquire it by watching it go by in others, and since all the women have died, it only affects the scrawny plants growing between the stones and producing, occasionally, just enough flowers to make a single seed which will fall a little way off–not far because the wind is never strong–where it may or may not germinate."

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loz1327

“I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering and that I was human after all."

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Ellohcin
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AbstractMonica
Pickpick

This story is about 40 women, the youngest being a child. The women are imprisoned in a large cage surrounded by guards. None of the women can recollect what has happened or how they ended up there. This book may not be for everyone as it‘s not very climactic, but you become invested in the characters and their quest to find answers -which pulls you through to the very end.

Garabrandtreviews Sounds interesting 2y
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AbstractMonica
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Starting this one this morning. I‘m only a few pages in, and I‘m already intrigued 📖

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Emilymdxn
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Pickpick

Flawless in so many ways - the writing, the concepts, the structure. It was a masterclass in so many things that a lot of dystopian fiction gets wrong. Yet at the same time the bleakness really got to me and it was quite hard to make myself read because I found myself dreading turning the pages. The amount of absurdity and how futile so many things here were, and how the moments of tenderness got swallowed up by the bizarre world was hard to read.

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dariazeoli
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I got this great package in the mail today! Thanks @Eyelit - I love the socks and the pins and thank you for the book and the candy. I‘ll be sending a return package in the next couple of weeks 😉

#litsypenpals

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Very cute! 💙💚 6y
Leniverse Omg, that herbivore pin is perfect for my cousin. @Eyelit could you please just stealthily tell me where you got it? 😁 6y
Eyelit Yay!! So glad it got there so fast and that you like it 😁 6y
Eyelit @Leniverse the name of the company is I heart avocado and they have a website and an Etsy story - I think their website has the pins tho 6y
Leniverse @Eyelit Thanks! 😃 6y
57 likes5 comments