The Female Man

by Joanna Russ

If my reading for this year so far has a theme, it’s definitely “feminist science fiction”. My library’s website recommended this book to me based on my borrowing history (LeGuin). It’s sarcastic and witty, satirizing typical sexist talking points, casual and institutional sexism, and the expectations and roles we force on women. Though it was written in the 1970s, sadly most of the messages still ring true almost 50 years after its original publication date.

The writing style is unique and took me a bit of time to get used to, but once I did it was plenty of fun. There is an interesting use of voice - Four Voices, or just One Voice, depending on how you look at it. All four main characters are technically the same person but from parallel universes, one is a point-blank self-insert with the same name as the author, and the perspective changes from section to section or even paragraph to paragraph. I learned not to worry too much about who was speaking; in the end it’s not a traditional plot-based story and more about the political satire you get to enjoy along the way.

I do feel the need to deduct a quarter-point due to some passages in the last section of the book that have a possibly transmisogynistic smell to them- they did take away from my enjoyment of the book. I’m not sure of Russ’s opinions on trans issues, so I tried to ignore it and finished the book. I may be able to make a more accurate assessment with further reading. Based on my experience with this book I’m planning on checking out some of Russ’s other work, namely “How To Suppress Women’s Writing” and some of her science fiction short stories.

My score: 4.75/5

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea

by Ursula K. LeGuin

A collection of absolutely gorgeous science fiction short stories, many of which are tied in to LeGuin’s Hainish universe. My favourites were The Rock That Changed Things and Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea- the latter of which made me cry multiple times while reading.

In The Rock That Changed Things, LeGuin seems to ask: is there a correct way to interpret art? Who is allowed to tell stories about themselves, and is one group’s story more legitimate than another’s? Though the two groups in the story are divided along lines of caste rather than of gender, LeGuin presents a feminist message- the nurs are slaves, function as the society’s child-rearers, and despite constantly performing modesty are often victims of sexual violence; they labour to build up the story-sculptures of the obls and are not allowed to create their own canon. The nurs’ behaviour is looked upon as silly and their lives as inconsequential, allowing the obls to benefit from their free labour and spend their time philosophizing in their towers. I believe LeGuin referred to this story as a fable in her introduction, and it definitely reads like one. If I’d had the story read to me as a child, I would have most likely enjoyed it as a lesson on fairness and acceptance of different perspectives, though I wouldn’t have picked up on the political messaging.

Another Story is set in the universe of the Hainish Cycle, which I love. As someone who has a lot of regrets in life and has often wished for a second chance, this story hit hard and had me shedding more than a few tears. LeGuin’s alien settings are beautiful and her character-driven pieces are always deeply human. I’ll let potential readers experience the emotional beats of the story for themselves, without giving too much away. I highly recommend all of the Hainish stories and novels.

My score: 5/5

The Telling

by Ursula K. LeGuin

Review coming soon

Changing Planes

by Ursula K. LeGuin

Review coming soon

2001: A Space Odyssey

Review coming soon

Grass

by Sheri S. Tepper

Review coming soon

Nearer to the Heart's Desire

by George Weinberg

Review coming soon

Making It So

by Patrick Stewart

Review coming soon

The Lovecraft Compendium

by H.P. Lovecraft

As someone who's interested in horror and science fiction, I figured it was about time that I check out a bit of Lovecraft. I picked this book up new for $10 a few years ago but didn't read it until now. It collects a few of Lovecraft's stories relating to his most famous character, Cthulhu. The stories included are Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, The Whisperer in Darkness, and The Haunter of the Dark.
Overall I enjoyed the book. I think the only major thing I disliked was the randomly sprinkled racist language that Lovecraft uses, though it was kind of a given considering what I've heard about him (guy was a major racist, in case you didn't know). One minor thing that I thought was funny was that Lovecraft uses the word Cyclopean at least once in each of the stories (I think?) in the compilation. I didn't know that Cyclopean meant "huge", so it just made me think of the mythical one-eyed creature. I also think it's funny that more than half of these stories are formatted as "some dude from academia comes across Cthulhu-related info and slowly gets more and more freaked out about it in his diary entries".
I know everyone considers The Call of Cthulhu a classic story, but I think my favourites from this compilation were The Dunwich Horror and The Whisperer in Darkness. The latter of the two especially had me on the edge of my seat with its suspense. I did find the main character to be a bit naïve in a way that seemed unrealistic, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the experience of the unfolding conspiracy.
My least favourite was probably The Haunter of the Dark. As the final story in the collection it made less of an impact on me after reading the other stories- it felt like it was a story on a smaller scale, being told about one guy's scary experience, if that makes sense. Compared to the other stories, where entire towns or larger groups of people are wrapped up in the horror, it fell a little flat.
Now, would I recommend this book? I'll hesitantly say yes- I wouldn't blame anyone if the author's racism made his works unreadable to them. Though distasteful to me, I can somewhat look past it for the love of horror & sci-fi, especially since the guy is dead and a lot of his work is in the public domain, so there's no way for him to profit off of me reading his stories. Plus, I wanted to know what all the fuss about Lovecraft's work was about. So if you're curious as well, and can stomach a few uncomfortable themes and passages, I'd say give it a shot. Other than the racism, the stories aren't too scary, but as a coward I did have trouble sleeping while reading this book.
The last few books have been more dour or depressing in tone, and this one was flat out scary, and I've been wanting to read something on the lighter side. So, next I'll be reading The Silmarillion by Tolkien, then most likely going on to re-read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series. Wish me luck!
Reading challenge status:
Book 2/25 for 2024

Girl With a Pearl Earring

by Tracy Chevalier

Review coming soon

Books I Read in 2023

Review coming soon

Tender Is the Flesh

by Agustina Bazterrica, translation by Sarah Moses

Review coming soon