THE MEN, by Sandra Newman (Granta, $32.99)
The blurb of The Men asks: "What if the price of a better world was losing the person you love?" Early on, the narrator, Jane, imagines an alternative present in which she is single. Is this an indication of how we might read the novel?
There is a kind of a joke reading of the novel where everything that happens is a reflection of Jane's ambivalence about being a stay-at-home mother. I'm always trying to shoehorn more ideas into my novels, and here it's about mundane personal discontents and how hard it can be to tell if they really are normal. Is it normal that being a stay-at-home mother is isolating and often boring? Or is it the malign result of a cruel patriarchal system that needs to be dismantled? What calls for a political solution and what just calls for a glass of wine at the end of the day? How do you know when your life is good enough?
On the face of it, the novel is a kind of Rapture meets radical feminist utopia. Although, for a utopia, it is pretty sombre in places, given the inevitable mourning of all the Y chromosome people. What would you personally most miss and not miss?
Denne historien er fra June 11 - 17, 2022-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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Denne historien er fra June 11 - 17, 2022-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
