tofu-weenie t1_j0uh1yi wrote on December 19, 2022 at 2:48 PM

I had a very similar experience with 'The Silence of the Girls' which I had every reason to believe I'd enjoy, but which fell completely flat for me. For a book which sold itself as a feminist retelling, all the female characters seemed very one-dimensional. I felt like I was expected to relate to them by default but wasn't given any actual reason to. There was no interesting perspective on the female experience - all the female characters' stories were told through their relationships to the main male characters. As you said, it read like a list of various types of abuse.

I thought that the female characters in Song of Achilles were infinitely more interesting and better written, despite the story not explicitly focusing on them.

It's validating to hear you feel the same, as so many people have recommended Pat Barker to me. I wonder if perhaps they haven't actually read the books themselves, and are just aware of the associated buzzwords.

Bridalhat t1_j0v39ph wrote on December 19, 2022 at 5:21 PM

Hot take: it’s not “feminist” to make a bunch of male characters the worst possible versions of themselves. I wasn’t overly fond of TSOA either, but making the characters misunderstood goody two shoes with modern morals is no worse than “they are all monsters.”

tofu-weenie t1_j0vcdu1 wrote on December 19, 2022 at 6:20 PM

I think I mostly agree with that.

I like it when characters feel so real that I imagine them having a life and motivations off the page - good or bad or whatever the author needs to tell a good story. I didn't get that at all with The Silence Of The Girls.

It left like a story in which the women were victims without also being people.