Name: alice's review of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Item: I Who Have Never Known Men
Rating: 4
Author: alice

Jacqueline Harpman

A haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic tale of female friendship and intimacy. 'A small miracle' The New York Times 'For a very long time, the days went by, each just like the day before, then I began to think, and everything changed' Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, MAN BOOKER PRIZE-LONGLISTED AUTHOR OF THE WATER CURE

I Who Have Never Known Men

Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes

han ˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ

It is strange that I am dying from a diseased womb, I who have never had periods and who have never known men.

But if that person comes, they will read them and I will have a time in their mind. They will have my thoughts in them. The reader and I thus mingled will constitute something living, that will not be me, because I will be dead, and will not be that person as they were before reading, because my story, added to their mind, will then become part of their thinking. I will only be truly dead if nobody ever comes, if the centuries, then the millennia go by for so long that this planet, which I no longer believe is Earth, no longer exists. As long as the sheets of paper covered in my handwriting lie on this table, I can become a reality in someone’s mind. Then everything will be obliterated, the suns will burn out and I will disappear like the universe.

It all seemed incredibly strange, sinister and moving. I felt the burden of the inexplicable, of my life, of that world to which I was the sole witness.

They’d been custodians of the absurd, carrying out orders whose purpose they were unaware of, themselves having to submit to incomprehensible rules, and perhaps they had no more idea of our identity than we did of theirs.

I do not know whether I am still able to speak. Of course, all I have to do is try, but I don’t seem to want to. And what does it matter if I’ve become mute in a world where there is no one to talk to?

We had survived the prison, the plain and the loss of all hope, but the women had discovered that survival is no more than putting off the moment of death.

Sometimes, as I returned to the group around the fire, I’d feel a rush of emotion; I was moved by the flickering of the flames in the night, the silhouettes of the women resting, the interplay of words or Denise’s reedy voice carrying the laments of another era across the plain, and I understood what Anthea called beauty, which apparently had been so abundant in their world.

Perhaps, somewhere, humanity is flourishing under the stars, unaware that a daughter of its blood is ending her days in silence. There is nothing we can do about it.

You’ve never seen a child, you don’t know what it means – their vulnerability, their trust, the love you feel for them, the anxiety, being ready to lay down your life to save them, and it’s unbearable to imagine a child’s pain.

‘But it’s all so ordinary, it’s the same as everybody else!’

As if she wasn’t aware that for me, nothing was ordinary, since nothing had ever happened to me.

‘We come from a world where it wasn’t necessary, everything was ready-made and we never asked how things were produced,’ replied Frances.

I thought it was unfair, and then I understood that, alone and terrified, anger was my only weapon against the horror.

I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering and that I was human after all.

i read this an actually said “oophf” out loud. to yearn is to be human.

Madelaine Jarcew

She may not have the learned behaviours of dances and marriages, but even a person raised in captivity learns to want, yearns to see beyond their cage.

I must have been fourteen or fifteen when we got out, and Laura had died twenty-three years later. I’d walked for two years before arriving here, in this place which I call my home: so then I was just over forty. That was twenty-two years ago. I suppose I am an old woman, but I still love looking at my face. I don’t know if it’s beautiful or ugly, but it is the only human face I ever see. I smile at it and receive a friendly smile back.

It’s true I know nothing of all that and I have no memories of my own childhood. Perhaps that’s why I’m so different from the others. I must be lacking in certain experiences that make a person fully human.

THESE KINDS OF LINES KEEP COMING UP AND I DONT LIKE IT. if these women get no justice, i’ll tear my throat out.

‘We must remain human beings. I want to know where we are, who imprisoned us and why. I don’t want to die sitting on a chair in the middle of I-don’t-know-where.’

Curiously, she had just described her fate.

plantdad

Krystal

If someone spoke to me, there would be time, the beginning and end of what they said to me, the moment when I answered, their response. The briefest conversation creates time. Perhaps I have tried to create time through writing these pages. I begin, I fill them with words, I pile them up, and I still don't exist because nobody is reading them. 

aywen

It was only at the moment of death that they admitted their despair and rushed headlong towards the great, dark doors that I opened for them, leaving the sterile plain where their lives had gone awry without a backward glance, eager to embrace another world which perhaps didn't exist but they preferred nothingness to the futile succession of empty days. And I know that at that moment, they loved me. 

Only now, I tell myself that what I'd felt for her, the trust that slowly built up, the constant preference for her company and the joy each time I was reunited with her after an expedition were probably what the women called love. 

I read and reread the book. I acquired a perfectly useless knowledge, but I enjoyed it. I felt as if I had embellished my mind and that made me think of jewels, those objects which women used to adorn their beauty, in the days when beauty had a purpose. 

nhu ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹

alice

Not at all what I was expecting to read. Not a whole lot going on in terms of story as it's sort of just a decimated apocalyptic place that you don't have much context on, but neither does the character. I enjoyed the concept and I found myself thinking what I would do in the same situation or even if I could put myself in the same shoes as the character since I didn't grow up in the same way, didn't have the same feelings, thoughts and lack of context. It was an interesting book if not a little bit underwhelming at some junctures.

BC Hark

beautiful book. so many unanswered questions, but i guess that’s the point. it took me a while to fully get invested in the story, and i will definitely need to reread it but i can see why i see recommendations for this book so often 

Esther Marie Mann 

Barely had a plot but enjoyed the writing!

Germaine Lee

Discover the haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic tale of female friendship and intimacy set in a deserted world.

Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus?

Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner.

Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. The woman who will never know men.

Brynn Sklar

ridiculously bleak but with occasional moments of tenderness and hope… so many people said this was a ‘sci-fi feminist novel’ so I approached this with that in mind but the novel just descends into nihilism by the second half (not necessarily in a bad way)

Taira Robles

Tender yet cold. Bleak yet inspiring. A thought experiment that Harpman handles with elegance. She leaves you both profoundly desperate for more and yet settled fully in the understanding that you need nothing else. I am excitedly anticipating a time when I shall get to reread this.

Acadia

Left me with more questions than when I began. Slow burn, curious, thoughtful. Enjoyed her pov on life and the world. 

Amalie

A young woman is kept in a cage underground with thirty-nine other females, guarded by armed men who never speak; her crimes unremembered...if indeed there were crimes. The youngest of forty--a child with no name and no past--she survives for some purpose long forgotten in a world ravaged and wasted. In this reality where intimacy is forbidden--in the unrelenting sameness of the artificial days and nights--she knows nothing of books and time, of needs and feelings. Then everything changes...and nothing changes. A young woman who has never known men--a child who knows of no history before the bars and restraints--must now reinvent herself, piece by piece, in a place she has never been...and in the face of the most challenging and terrifying of unknowns: freedom. A young woman is kept in a cage underground with thirty-nine other females, guarded by armed men who never speak; her crimes unremembered...if indeed there were crimes.The youngest of forty--a child with no name and no past--she survives for some purpose long forgotten in a world ravaged and wasted. In this reality where intimacy is forbidden--in the unrelenting sameness of the artificial days and nights--she knows nothing of books and time, of needs and feelings.Then everything changes...and nothing changes.A young woman who has never known men--a child who knows of no history before the bars and restraints--must now reinvent herself, piece by piece, in a place she has never been...and in the face of the most challenging and terrifying of unknowns: freedom.

I Who Never Known Men

i loved it, couldn’t put it down after picking up 

Love the ambiguity and the questions you have after.

Raadeem Pierre

If you are looking for a book that gives you an answer, nope, this book gives you existential crisis instead.

I finished this book and actually? this book just left me staring at nothing, contemplating everything. 

Maybe because reading this book give you a first point of view of the narrator and her dialogue and thought was so internal and personal, I felt like I was so immersed that I also feel like becoming one. I kept wondering whether the child question, which is also my question, will eventually get an answer. 

This book is also especially depressing at certain point. I also believe this book brings some sense/degree of metaphor and philosophy about humanity.

In my opinion it might about like the endless pursuit of answer, reason, and knowledge because the world is too absurd or the lifetime isn't even enough. Like when the child, and me myself, thinking that she found a big finding about something that could answer all of this but it just end up leaving you with even bigger question.

I think this book more circling about question and meaning rather than a plot, it's thought-provoking at best.

The book wasn't so bad but I can see why it's not for everyone. One thing, when people said this is a feminist book, I think I'll dissent, sure it showed women in building a community but nevertheless I don't think I got any feminist sentiment from this book.

If you are looking for a book that gives you an answer, nope, this book gives you existential crisis instead.

I finished this book and actually? this book just left me staring at nothing, contemplating everything. 

Maybe because reading this book give you a first point of view of the narrator and her dialogue and thought was so internal and personal, I felt like I was so immersed that I also feel like becoming one. I kept wondering whether the child question, which is also my question, will eventually get an answer. 

This book is also especially depressing at certain point. I also believe this book brings some sense/degree of metaphor and philosophy about humanity.

In my opinion it might about like the endless pursuit of answer, reason, and knowledge because the world is too absurd or the lifetime isn't even enough. Like when the child, and me myself, thinking that she found a big finding about something that could answer all of this but it just end up leaving you with even bigger question.

I think this book more circling about question and meaning rather than a plot, it's thought-provoking at best.

The book wasn't so bad but I can see why it's not for everyone. One thing, when people said this is a feminist book, I think I'll dissent, sure it showed women in building a community but nevertheless I don't think I got any feminist sentiment from this book.

A perfectly unique and creative story. This book resonates with me. I like the way there is no resolution. It creates a simultaneous urgency and disinterest in all of the questions asked. What’s the point? What’s around the corner? Is it a coincidence or is it purpose? What if I went left instead of right? The curiosity of asking these questions, seeking an answer, and then never finding one is such a human experience to me. If our narrator never experienced love, what made her human? Curiosity, a pursuit for knowledge, and a respect for the dead and for beauty is my answer for now.

Liz Hunsaker

 a book that refuses to give away it’s secrets 

B.A. Bacigal

Unlike anything I've ever read, a true sci fi book made to make you question what it means to be human. An extremely well crafted novel!

Max Riley

i've found my niche in feminist last-person-on-earth-style contemporary literature

gripping, easy to follow plot which had me turning each page as quick as possible. maybe food for nihilism. more nihilist than feminist i think. 

soochie

‘You are the only one of us who belongs to this country.’

‘No, this country belongs to me. I will be its sole owner and everything here will be mine.’

When I first started this book it took me a long time to settle into it, I even thought about DNF'ing for a moment there. The way this is written makes it a very difficult read, and not just because of the dark, horrifying topic but also because of the style. There are no chapters, this is 175 pages of pure rambling memory as our nameless FMC recounts her life story. You can tell she is writing from a place of ignorance and lack of education, and in the beginning I found that hard to follow, but as the story unfolds you start to understand why, see that this is intentional and it is part of what makes this story so much more profound. I am so glad I continued. Even if I cannot say I enjoyed this story, because I did not, it was horrible, despairing, bleak and depressing, I can say that this was an experience and one that I am glad to have taken. This novel explores what it means to be human when stripped of society, culture, and of most relationships, it investigates isolation, identity, and finding yourself and sisterhood. It is truly a unique read.

"It is impossible to predict what might happen in a world where you don’t know the rules."

I read the Afterword at the end of this book by Sophie Mackintosh and found that it is perfect in summing up exactly what I was thinking. I have never read something that so masterfully balances horror, hopelessness and hopefullness all in such a short amount of pages. Somehow, despite the lack of what we would know as "life" and an actual plot, as such, this story manages to weave together world building, setting, character development, exploration of many deep themes, and delivers a story that makes you want to keep reading. The mentions throughout this story of a "refuge" and indications that our FMC is somewhere where she can write down her story gives you hope that everything will be alright, and isn't that just so human of us? That in the face of pure desolation we still grasp onto those tiny moments of wishful thinking, of compassion and connection, and that is what drives us forward even when we feel like giving up. We see our FMC come of age, explore sexuality, learn to be a person as the only child amoung adult women, battle those feelings of isolation even when surrounded by others because you're not quite the same as they are, but also knowing you are exactly the same as them at a base level, too. The exploration of love, death, curiosity, dignity, femininity and gender was truly amazing - this world is devoid of men, yet not idealised as a utopia but shows both the peace and limitations of this existence. This is really going to stick with me for a long time.

Overall, this is an extremely tough read, at points you will feel bored, and the story will seem monotonous and so dreary, but for me this helped form a connection with these women, because they were feeling the same thing 100x more deeply. I felt such an array of emotions reading this, I laughed, I cried, I was angry, I was exhausted, I wanted to put the book down and never continue, and I also couldn't tear my eyes away from the page. This is a journey, and it's a hard road, and it will leave you wanting just as it tells you in the beginning, but for me, I felt it was worth it. It was one of those stories that makes you sit and stare at a wall for hours after finishing it. I had dreams about this book last night. Going into it I didn't expect it to impact me like it did, but it sure did. The imagery is lonely, surreal, and haunting, the prose is basic and yet also lyrical and heartwrenching. The ambiguity is so evocative - why were they caged in a bunker? What was the disaster? Where are they? Is she really all alone, or is the fact the story is being told as if it's a journal a hint that there was someone else who found it? What the heck is going on? This is a study in pure human existence that blends science fiction with philosophy, and while it certainly won't resonate or connect with everyone, I think you should at least try to give it a read.

‘Lord, if you’re up there somewhere, and you aren’t too busy, come and say a few words to me, because I’m very lonely and it would make me so happy.’

Genevieve 

‘You are the only one of us who belongs to this country.’
‘No, this country belongs to me. I will be its sole owner and everything here will be mine.’

4.5⭐

Oh my. Holy shit.

When I first started this book it took me a long time to settle into it, I even thought about DNF'ing for a moment there. The way this is written makes it a very difficult read, and not just because of the dark, horrifying topic but also because of the style. There are no chapters, this is 175 pages of pure rambling memory as our nameless FMC recounts her life story. You can tell she is writing from a place of ignorance and lack of education, and in the beginning I found that hard to follow, but as the story unfolds you start to understand why, see that this is intentional and it is part of what makes this story so much more profound. I am so glad I continued. Even if I cannot say I enjoyed this story, because I did not, it was horrible, despairing, bleak and depressing, I can say that this was an experience and one that I am glad to have taken. This novel explores what it means to be human when stripped of society, culture, and of most relationships, it investigates isolation, identity, and finding yourself and sisterhood. It is truly a unique read.

"It is impossible to predict what might happen in a world where you don’t know the rules."

I read the Afterword at the end of this book by Sophie Mackintosh and found that it is perfect in summing up exactly what I was thinking. I have never read something that so masterfully balances horror, hopelessness and hopefullness all in such a short amount of pages. Somehow, despite the lack of what we would know as "life" and an actual plot, as such, this story manages to weave together world building, setting, character development, exploration of many deep themes, and delivers a story that makes you want to keep reading. The mentions throughout this story of a "refuge" and indications that our FMC is somewhere where she can write down her story gives you hope that everything will be alright, and isn't that just so human of us? That in the face of pure desolation we still grasp onto those tiny moments of wishful thinking, of compassion and connection, and that is what drives us forward even when we feel like giving up. We see our FMC come of age, explore sexuality, learn to be a person as the only child amoung adult women, battle those feelings of isolation even when surrounded by others because you're not quite the same as they are, but also knowing you are exactly the same as them at a base level, too. The exploration of love, death, curiosity, dignity, femininity and gender was truly amazing - this world is devoid of men, yet not idealised as a utopia but shows both the peace and limitations of this existence. This is really going to stick with me for a long time.

Overall, this is an extremely tough read, at points you will feel bored, and the story will seem monotonous and so dreary, but for me this helped form a connection with these women, because they were feeling the same thing 100x more deeply. I felt such an array of emotions reading this, I laughed, I cried, I was angry, I was exhausted, I wanted to put the book down and never continue, and I also couldn't tear my eyes away from the page. This is a journey, and it's a hard road, and it will leave you wanting just as it tells you in the beginning, but for me, I felt it was worth it. It was one of those stories that makes you sit and stare at a wall for hours after finishing it. I had dreams about this book last night. Going into it I didn't expect it to impact me like it did, but it sure did. The imagery is lonely, surreal, and haunting, the prose is basic and yet also lyrical and heartwrenching. The ambiguity is so evocative - why were they caged in a bunker? What was the disaster? Where are they? Is she really all alone, or is the fact the story is being told as if it's a journal a hint that there was someone else who found it? What the heck is going on? This is a study in pure human existence that blends science fiction with philosophy, and while it certainly won't resonate or connect with everyone, I think you should at least try to give it a read.

‘Lord, if you’re up there somewhere, and you aren’t too busy, come and say a few words to me, because I’m very lonely and it would make me so happy.’

An intriguing opening, a profound ending, and a whole lot of plodding in between, after a provocative reveal. 

Her penchant for hinting at what's ahead works really well.

c0up

An intriguing opening, a profound ending, and a whole lot of plodding in between, after a provocative reveal. 

Wish the middle resonated more.

Her penchant for hinting at what's ahead works really well.

I loved this book. I have had this in my kindle library for so long and I wish I had read it sooner. Such a well written story and full of emotion, despite so much of the story including minimal dialogue. I have already recommended this to people and can't see myself stopping

Soph

Never been so hopeless and hopeful at the same time. This book scares me lol  

Marsh

thought provoking, monstrous, in a way. delved into the book expecting more of a suspense storytelling, bringing me to the depths of this dystopian world, but instead was left with a lingering thought of humanity and what it's like to be stripped away from it.

finished this book yesterday but needed some time to sit with it. honestly thought this was the kind of book that brings you into this immersive storytelling of the dystopian world, but instead the quite opposite happened, author not really giving any answers, but a solitude of feeling of what it's like to be stripped away from freedom, and even if you do earn it, you're back into another world of an endless string of humanity that sees no way out. the idea that the narrator was never content, and always wanted to know more somehow thought of her as more 'human' than the others. these weren't humans, they were more like animals.

its retention of femininity, the essential almost minimalist world-building, the characterisation of the youngest child, the almost eulogy-like style and tone, it was a wonderful read, i think if the author were to go into this direction in writing, i would've liked the writing to be more impactful and personal, it just seems the writing in the end was trying to make it look like there was a lot going on physically, instead of actually trying to put into words the mental feelings of what humanity being stripped away feels like before actually leaving it. i liked it, but i expected more of an impact, not like in terms of storytelling, but feelings. still beautiful, a wonderful world building story built on the world of womanhood and building yourself a personality wishing for a world where you would have known men, in the sense that you never will.

thought provoking, monstrous, in a way. delved into the book expecting more of a suspense storytelling, bringing me to the depths of this dystopian world, but instead was left with a lingering thought of humanity and what it's like to be stripped away from it.

finished this book yesterday but needed some time to sit with it. honestly thought this was the kind of book that brings you into this immersive storytelling of the dystopian world, but instead the quite opposite happened, author not really giving any answers, but a solitude of feeling of what it's like to be stripped away from freedom, and even if you do earn it, you're back into another world of an endless string of humanity that sees no way out. the idea that the narrator was never content, and always wanted to know more somehow thought of her as more 'human' than the others. these weren't humans, they were more like animals.

its retention of femininity, the essential almost minimalist world-building, the characterisation of the youngest child, the almost eulogy-like style and tone, it was a wonderful read, i think if the author were to go into this direction in writing, i would've liked the writing to be more impactful and personal, it just seems the writing in the end was trying to make it look like there was a lot going on physically, instead of actually trying to put into words the mental feelings of what humanity being stripped away feels like before actually leaving it. i liked it, but i expected more of an impact, not like in terms of storytelling, but feelings. still beautiful, a wonderful world building story built on the world of womanhood and building yourself a personality wishing for a world where you would have known men, in the sense that you never will.

talks about existential crisis, loneliness, womanhood, maybe could also be stretched into sense of community. about how a person would experience the vastness of life without ever known what is humanity. bleak as hell, but somehow hopeful.

Thariq Fauzan

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I started it, not knowing anything about the tone and only knowing the premise of the women underground. This is utterly bleak, and reeks of quiet despair. It is the resounding silence of loneliness and like being in the vacuum of an entirely differently world. Very depressing, I would never reread this because I was so scared/nervous something terrible would happen but it was already happening from the first page. 

Xiang

the census on this book is divided, but i personally love it! packs a punch in a short amount of pages. i love these thought-provoking and reflective novels. also, a world without men sounds nice. 

nattie

Many post-apocalyptic or dystopian novels revolve around questions being answered; this one answers hardly any and is so rewarding for its lonely, introspective journey. What does it mean to be human, to be a woman, in a world post-humanity?

alice &
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

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