Mizora; A Prophecy

bailed

I started this because I'm interested in early radical feminist lit, & this one is about a women-only utopia. First published serially in 1890-1891, I was hoping for Herland vibes. As it turns out, this is a classist, racist utopian ideal of Aryan supremacy, where "dark races" have been bred out & people don't eat in public(?!) like "savages". A wet dream of eugenics. No thanks; you can take your utopia & stick it where the sun don't shine ???

erzascarletbookgasm 😒 boo to the book, then. Your first bail this year? 7y

batsy @erzascarletbookgasm Yes! Good riddance to it, I say. 7y

Weaponxgirl Thanks for the heads up, I'm always interested in feminist literature and now I know to give this one a miss. 7y

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batsy @Weaponxgirl You're welcome! I just can't find anything good to say about it. It was also incredibly dull. 7y

Billypar Wow, so creepy and weird. I guess it's a good lesson that being more enlightened in one area of politics or thinking doesn't always translate to others. 7y

saresmoore Bahahaha! I ♥️ this review. But seriously? That‘s horrible! And ridiculous. If I‘m living in a world with only ladies and no pressure to procreate or perpetual potential violence, I‘m eating where I want, when I want, with whom I want...naked. I think I would have been very depressed, had I lived in the late 1800‘s. 7y

saresmoore @Billypar That‘s an excellent point. It‘s difficult to see one‘s own context, sometimes, even for writers of fiction. I often recognize my own unenlightened leanings when it comes to U.S. partisan politics. Believing all Republicans to be idiots is just as bad as believing something similar about any other people group. This is probably too tangential. I‘ve probably had too much coffee this morning. ☕️🤩 7y

Graywacke Good grief! .... ( @saresmoore - I try to correct this belief, but then I read some news and it gets reinforced all over again...) 7y

saresmoore @Graywacke I read the news, or have a chat with my neighbors, or run into a racist stranger who assumes I‘m going to sympathize with their hate-speech because I‘m a ginger?!?! Yeah, it‘s hard to stay open-minded and compassionate. 7y

Ms_T Sounds like an awful book but your review is wonderful! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y

Tamra Yes, wonderful review of what sounds like a disgusting book. 🤢 Thanks for trying it for us! 7y

Billypar @saresmoore So true- everyone knows their 'team' or ideology isn't always right, but it's hard to identify those exceptions in the middle of a busy and chaotic news cycle. I think too of other authors (clearly not this one) who write great novels but have questionable personal views and make offensive public statements. It leaves you questioning which is a better representation of the author. 7y

batsy @Billypar @saresmoore This is always so hard for me, to separate the great art from the questionable politics of the author. I always think about Dostoevsky, who ended with a more conservative or reactionary politics that I might personally disagree with, but then his books contained *everything*. 7y

batsy @Ms_T @Tamra Thank you! Honestly, I don't think anyone is missing much by skipping this one 😆 7y

Tamra @batsy so true. I often think it is best not to personally know or know much about an artist in order to enjoy a work for itself. Obviously with some pieces and art forms that can‘t be avoided, since what is objectionable is front & center. 7y

batsy @Tamra I know what you mean. I'm always arguing with myself about this! Sometimes I think it's best not to know; other times I think it can't be separated from the art. But it helps when the work itself makes, it clear for you 🙃 7y

arubabookwoman I‘m surprised you managed to read as much of this as you did. 7y

rabbitprincess Yeeeikes! *deletes this one from Read Later list* 7y

batsy @arubabookwoman Me too! I think I kept going hoping it would redeem itself somehow, at least on the level of the story or writing. 7y

batsy @rabbitprincess 😆 I don't want to dissuade people if they're interested in this, but I had to make it clear that this is far from intersectional feminism 🤢 7y

Centique That sounds awful. Boo hiss. Interesting thoughts in the comments though. I agree that it‘s hard with some authors to seperate the good from the bad. (I‘m thinking historical works too, no flex for people writing now) But at least we‘re thinking about it, weighing it up - rather than being blind to it - whatever call we make at the end. 7y

Centique I‘m thinking about Dickens - so bad at writing women but what he did in terms of class and poverty and story writing was wonderful. 7y

RohitSawant @Centique That's so true about Dickens! @batsy, love what you said about it being best not to know much about the author sometimes, but how it's unavoidable. I remember being bummed out when I read Dickens had said he'd have loved to 'exterminate all Hindus from the face of the earth' 😒 after the people rebelled against colonial atrocities. 7y

RohitSawant Makes you reconsider the 'God bless everyone' line from A Christmas Carol. Clearly non-white people didn't factor into his idea of 'everyone.' 7y

Centique @rohit-sawant man that‘s horrendous! I only saw one tiny bit about his attitude to colonised peoples in that biography I read, and that was bad. Man it‘s hard to be a fan of so many historic authors (hopefully Emily Dickinson hasn‘t let me down! 🤞) 7y

batsy @Centique That's a great point! I was just going to say that I'm not too familiar with Dickens' work or his life; not sure how I got an English degree without knowing more, tbh 😂 But @rohit-sawant that is awful. I shouldn't be surprised but I'm really angry and sad to hear that, especially since he was keen on labour and working class issues. How limited people's view can be even when they're supposedly progressive. 7y

Suet624 @saresmoore I think you‘re right about Republicans though. 7y

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