Men writing women
Mar. 3rd, 2010 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skull_bearerOne thing I have noticed in the books I've been reading recently is the role of women. It sort of came to a head this evening when I started reading Sabastian Faulk's Birdsong, and I finally realised something that has been bugging me.
It was one of the first scenes in the novel, where the main character and this woman he's fallen for (I can't remember her name) are having sex for the first time. It's from her point of view, and I couldn't get very far because it was screamingly obvious this was written by a man.
Now, I'm not saying men can't write women, I read Bulogakov's Master and Margarita recently and the titular Margarita marvellous. But Faulks is not bulgakov, unfortunately, and his description of the main female 'coming to life' under the main male minstrations was a complete fail for me. Firstly, I can't empathise, this isn't a woman's experience, its what a man would like a woman's experience to be. It is phenomenally sexist because even here, from her point of view, she is little more than a reflection of the male character.
Secondly, the characters are all completely bland. Now, maybe its my fault for being spoiled, what with Bulgakov, Pride and Prejudice, and Sherlock Holmes coming in quick succession, but grief, I thought this book was meant to be good. As it was I put the book down and prefered to spend the last few stops on my tube listening to music rather than read another word.
Maybe I've been spoiled and gotten snobby about literature, but to be honest after Austen's deliciously dense prose (the only writer who can make me slow down and take a minute for each page) and lovable flawed characters, Bulgakov's insane romp through Stalinist Moscow at the elbow of the devil and his retinue, and Doyle's cheerful and throughly likable stories, Faulk's insipid characters, dull basic prose, and slavish following of cliches went down like wallpaper paste.
Please, feel free to talk me out of abandoning it if it does get better, but frankly I can't take 500 pages of this and will just have to find something else to tide me over until I can buy Gormenghast
It was one of the first scenes in the novel, where the main character and this woman he's fallen for (I can't remember her name) are having sex for the first time. It's from her point of view, and I couldn't get very far because it was screamingly obvious this was written by a man.
Now, I'm not saying men can't write women, I read Bulogakov's Master and Margarita recently and the titular Margarita marvellous. But Faulks is not bulgakov, unfortunately, and his description of the main female 'coming to life' under the main male minstrations was a complete fail for me. Firstly, I can't empathise, this isn't a woman's experience, its what a man would like a woman's experience to be. It is phenomenally sexist because even here, from her point of view, she is little more than a reflection of the male character.
Secondly, the characters are all completely bland. Now, maybe its my fault for being spoiled, what with Bulgakov, Pride and Prejudice, and Sherlock Holmes coming in quick succession, but grief, I thought this book was meant to be good. As it was I put the book down and prefered to spend the last few stops on my tube listening to music rather than read another word.
Maybe I've been spoiled and gotten snobby about literature, but to be honest after Austen's deliciously dense prose (the only writer who can make me slow down and take a minute for each page) and lovable flawed characters, Bulgakov's insane romp through Stalinist Moscow at the elbow of the devil and his retinue, and Doyle's cheerful and throughly likable stories, Faulk's insipid characters, dull basic prose, and slavish following of cliches went down like wallpaper paste.
Please, feel free to talk me out of abandoning it if it does get better, but frankly I can't take 500 pages of this and will just have to find something else to tide me over until I can buy Gormenghast
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Date: 2010-03-05 06:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-05 07:51 pm (UTC)