Saturday, April 02, 2011

Review: Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

A powerhouse of a read, something I didn't expect from a book I'd never heard of with tulips on the front cover; a deeply daring feminist, in contrast to so much politicking and wannabes, novel.

The story of two sisters living at the edge of the woods as the world disintegrates. Through flashback we learn of about their lives and parents, a stark contrasts to their current increasingly difficult lives.

While I felt on familiar ground at times, the ground of post-apocalyptic fear and gut-wrenching decisions, I was happily surprised time and again. I found myself realizing how much of SF, in general, and post-apocalyptic, specifically, fiction is told through the male gaze and experience; refreshing to imagine other ways to deal with pain, death and hunger.

Unfortunately, and this was confirmed while reading comments about the book in Goodreads, I won't be recommending this book to many people, nor will I choose it for my book club--it's too daring, too outside the box and I personally couldn't emotionally handle those who would judge it as weird.