Sign in with Facebook
Roman Clodia's Reviews > I Who Have Never Known Men
I Who Have Never Known Men
by
by
An enigmatic book, haunting and mysterious but ultimately frustratingly open-ended: if you're the kind of reader who needs to have things tied up and explained by the end then step away now - we have no idea why these women have been incarcerated in a bunker, who their male guards are, why the siren goes off, what has happened to the outside world, even whether they're still on earth...
What starts out with a dystopian feel turns into a kind of existentialist meditation as 'the girl', our nameless narrator, ends up as possibly the only woman left alive - without companions or much purpose other than staying alive in her threatless existence, the book asks what is human life? Ultimately more 'Waiting for Godot' than 'The Handmaid's Tale' I found this weirdly compelling. 3.5 stars as I would have liked a bit more material to work with.
What starts out with a dystopian feel turns into a kind of existentialist meditation as 'the girl', our nameless narrator, ends up as possibly the only woman left alive - without companions or much purpose other than staying alive in her threatless existence, the book asks what is human life? Ultimately more 'Waiting for Godot' than 'The Handmaid's Tale' I found this weirdly compelling. 3.5 stars as I would have liked a bit more material to work with.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
I Who Have Never Known Men.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
March 26, 2019
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Cecily
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Apr 29, 2025 12:43PM
It's certainly enigmatic - the word I was search for. Personally, I enjoyed all the unanswered and unanswerable questions, but I understand many would find it frustrating.
reply
|
flag
Sorry, only just seen your comment, Cecily - even though I love an open-ended text as much as anyone, this one felt a little too mysterious for me!
They're definitely not on Earth. Walking 6 hours a day over more or less even terrain, you could circumnavigate this entire globe in about 4 years. They walk for years over terrain that never changes. They never come to a mountain, a lake, an ocean. It's not Earth.
