Review: Not a fun book, but an important one
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2013
Some books are a joy to read. Some books are a challenge. And some feel like a repeated punch to the face, but demand to be read anyway. This book falls into the latter category.It could be taken as a metaphor for the current gender-divided struggles in the states around birth control, etc, except that some of the events and laws are actually currently enforced (to my knowledge) or represent similar circumstances in India, the US, and Saudi Arabia. In this case, though, a gender dystopia exists in the US more or less of the present day; reading carefully, there's a lot of legislation in effect in the book that has current-day precedents. Yeah, that's what scared me. Again, it's not a pleasant read, but it's compelling and interesting and demands attention.The only thing I didn't like was that the status of gays was completely swept under the rug, and I was really curious about what was happening to male gays. I also wondered about global attitudes. I think the book was silent about these on purpose, choosing to focus like a laser on its topic.I don't think I could give this less than five stars. Sure, it wasn't an easy read, but it was pretty well-written, and every member of the large cast got a personality and plenty of humanity. There's also the fact that even though it's a polemic, there were some attempts to sympathize with the opposing side, the pro-life faction. Ultimately, though, however one's feelings on feminism fall, there is no arguing with the inequalities in the healthcare system. It's unequal period. I'd like to say I don't think this book will ever become a full reality...but parts of it already are real...