Up Front: Well, Read Women
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Apparently she took up writing as she decided she could do a better job than many of the books that were available back then.
That's a very good reason for writing anything -- if nobody else is writing what you want to read, why not give it a poke? :)
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Hilary Stace, in reply to
Yes, and I have a copy somewhere. There was also a documentary about her a few years ago. I have a friend who collects Moomin things (mainly from Japan) and gives them for presents so I have a lovely Moomin calendar in the kitchen.
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Stephen R, in reply to
Not to say that Moon hasn’t done fantastic research – the soldiering is incredibly true-to-life.
Elizabeth Moon was an officer in the US Marines.
She tells a story on one of her blogs about why she joined the Marines. Coming out of University, she decided to join the military, and went to a recruitment day somewhere. The Airforce said "We'd love to have you", the Army said "We'd love to have you" and the Marine recruiting sergeant said "You'd never pass basic training..."
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Carol Stewart, in reply to
That's a very good reason for writing anything -- if nobody else is writing what you want to read, why not give it a poke? :)
Indeed, although the results are not always as fabulous as was the case for Munro. The same motivation also applied to Agnes-Mary Brooke, who took to writing her own books for children as she was so dismayed what she saw as the left-wing agenda in NZ children's authors (warning: contains a reference to Investigate magazine).
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This Buzzfeed article is both hilarious and frustrating:
Author posted a personal ad saying she wasn't interested in guys who don't read books by women. She got lots of messages from guys either criticising her, or asking for recommendations. Yep. Completely unable to find one book by a woman on their own. For rage-laughs, read the comments which explain she is giving feminism a bad name and she should educate these poor men.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/accio-soulmate#.yidXLajwn -
Emma Hart, in reply to
This Buzzfeed article is both hilarious and frustrating:
That's it! That's the column I read, didn't bookmark, and then couldn't find again. And as usual, the comments justify the article.
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:). I was expecting you to mention it in your original article, it definitely seemed like you'd read it or something similar.
If we're still adding recommendations, I enjoyed Elizabeth Knox's Wake a lot (sci-fi/horror set near Nelson).
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Emma Hart, in reply to
Someone in the comments is all "I only read Pratchett and Gaiman", and I've had EXACTLY that conversation with someone I know.
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I'm genuinely shocked that people would avoid women writers. How is that even a thing?
Classic books by women I love, "Passing" by Nella Larsen, anything by Sigrig Undset,I love Rumer Godden. Virginia Woolf of course.
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Joe Wylie, in reply to
If we're still adding recommendations, I enjoyed Elizabeth Knox's Wake a lot (sci-fi/horror set near Nelson).
Wake struck me as the kind of thing Neil Gaiman might just manage if he gets over pandering to 'inner kids'.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Elizabeth Knox’s Wake a lot (sci-fi/horror set near Nelson).
Her Dreamhunter duet is in similar geography - but wider...
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
I was well aware of Alice Munro when I lived in Victoria, British Columbia, for a couple of years, as there was a magnificent local bookstore (Munro’s books) which was founded by Munro and her then-husband in 1963.
And still going strong! I wish I could find the link again, but there was a rather amusing piece about how after she won the Nobel the staff found themselves explaining they really couldn’t put the owner’s first wife on the phone since she hasn’t worked there for over forty years. :)
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Someone in the comments is all “I only read Pratchett and Gaiman”, and I’ve had EXACTLY that conversation with someone I know.
I've also had that kind of conversation with someone who claims to be a serious crime/mystery reader. I was literally lost for words -- and everyone here should know how rare that is. FFS, I just can't take anyone seriously who claims to be a fan of this genre but says with a straight face they've never read Christie, Sayers, Marsh and Allingham. Or Patricia Highsmith. Ruth Rendell and P.D. James? Anne Rule -- the 'Queen of True Crime' who died earlier this week? Closer to home: How about Kerry Greenwood, Anne Perry and Vanda Symon? Margaret Millar? Gladys Mitchell? Marina Cole? Gillian Flynn? Patricia Cornwall and Sara Paretsky, who (IMO) aren't at the top of their game anymore but still productive? Susan Hill?
That's just the names I've pulled out of the air -- and none of whom are hard to find in any decently stocked public library or bookstore (new or secondhand).
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Andrew Stevenson, in reply to
Someone in the comments is all “I only read Pratchett and Gaiman”
That, and not reading anything by a woman writer just because of who they are, does not make any sense to me.
It's like a part of the reasoning process is missing, leaving me going "What?". More, its as if this part was not even simply overlooked but wilfully ignored - WTF? -
Joe Wylie, in reply to
none of whom are hard to find in any decently stocked public library or bookstore (new or secondhand).
Probably a bit late to happen upon any copies that were "enhanced" by rogue borrower Joe Orton. Dorothy Sayers seems to have been a favourite target.
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Harper Lee? Have just finished Go Set a Watchman, and was pleased to find the world didn't end.
It's hard to say that I 'liked' it. I didn't hate it, and it was an easy read in the sense the characters were familiar, if a little disappointing. Scout spends a lot of time reminiscing, and internalising complicated situations in her head, and I would end it differently. But hey, this was never supposed to be published, so we take what we can get, right?
Interested if others have read it, and what your thoughts are.
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Risking derailing the thread, but I'm curious to know if anyone has ever read any good depictions of women in literature written by men.
Thoughts?
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Thomas Hardy's
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Rerailing – Roy and Woolf are two of my favourite authors.
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Joe Wylie, in reply to
good depictions of women in literature written by men.
Patrick White.
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Carol Stewart, in reply to
good depictions of women in literature written by men
Michael Cunningham, The Hours.
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Carol Stewart, in reply to
Thomas Hardy
Bathsheba Everdene, sure. Tess of the D'Urbervilles? Hmm. I remember finding her very insipid when I read the book at high school but my adult self might be a bit more sympathetic to poor Tess.
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How awesome is this news, which no doubt you've all heard by now? NZ poet Anna Smaill makes Booker long list with her fiction debut. Being on the same list as Anne Tyler, Anne Enright, Marilynne Robinson - just WOW.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Well, yes. Was very pleasantly surprised to find I'd not only read nine of the longlisted titles this year (including The Chimes), but liked them all. Hasn't happened for years. But with all due and sincere respect to Smaill, Marilynne Robinson's Lila is leading the pack by a considerable margin. This, along with Gilead and Home was well worth waiting two-and-a-half decades for.
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Thanks again – I can hardly say it enough – for the recommendations of Elena Ferrante's 'Neopolitan Novels'. Just finished the final book. The whole series has been the most compelling reading I’ve done for years. Just staggeringly good!
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