A young woman locked inside an underground bunker is left with only fleeting memories of life before. Now, she must piece herself together while facing one of the most significant unknowns imaginable: freedom.
Modern classic I Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman was translated into English for the first time in 2010.
Trigger Warnings
“Trigger warning” might sound intimidating and censorious, but its purpose is to shield people from trauma’s effects – including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Its popularity was first made widespread by feminist blogosphere writers who realized many people experience symptoms associated with sexual assault without even realizing it, including flashbacks, nightmares, and crippling anxiety. Trigger warnings aim to mitigate such reactions by informing readers in advance that an item contains certain content that might cause distress – something feminist blogosphere writers understood intuitively.
The debate surrounding trigger warnings has taken many forms, and both sides have valid points to make. Some readers view trigger warnings as restrictive of free expression, while others believe they provide helpful insight into book content. As this topic can be complex, it’s wise to carefully consider both points before deciding how and what type of books to read in the future.
Trigger warnings have become an increasingly prevalent presence on college campuses across America, where students have demanded them for works that deal with controversial subjects. According to The New York Times, requests have come from Rutgers University students, George Washington University, and other schools; such demands were met with some resistance by authors and critics who believe trigger warnings obstruct the relationship between reader and art piece.
Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning collection of short stories features many of his most well-known works, from horror to charming, quirky, fabulist narratives he is famous for. Additionally, there is one story featuring someone haunted by their past and one featuring Shadow Moon from the American Gods TV show.
Some stories in this collection may disturb some readers, but reading should always be considered a form of self-care. If a particular tale causes discomfort, other strategies are available to you, such as choosing another genre or taking breaks while reading; these approaches can help ease reading triggers and make reading enjoyable again.
Synopsis
An exquisite and contemplative science fiction novel in which a girl contemplates what remains after everything has been stripped away.
An anonymous narrator’s first memory is of being imprisoned with thirty-nine women in a dark underground bunker by men tended by guards. Guards would let them out occasionally to hunt in a lonely and unfamiliar world–when they returned, many waxed nostalgic for an age that never existed. Although this individual never knew her name or why they were locked up, she became the most valuable member of their group, responsible for keeping their memories and history, keeping time by counting their heartbeats while recording passing years, and counting off heartbeats by keeping count of timekeeper.
Jacqueline Harpman was born in 1929 in Etterbeek and fled with her family during World War II to Casablanca. As an author of over fifteen novels, I Who Haven’t Met Men by Ros Schwartz remains her most widely read work; first published in French as Moi qui n’ai jamais connu Les hommes (1995) then translated by her is still widely read today and stands as an essential text within feminist speculative fiction today. Now back in print again for the first time since 1997, this modern classic highlights the difficulties we will face to maintain our humanity even in times of devastation; this text holds its place firmly within feminist speculative fiction genre literature as one key text within this genre’s ever-growing canon of feminist theoretical fiction literature today.
Characters
At the start of our story, our narrator finds herself and thirty-nine women imprisoned together in some cage in an underground bunker, where guards tend to them, but no one knows why or how they ended up there, touch or speak, with most memories having faded; all they know for sure is that men don’t exist anymore.
Harpman was born in Etterbeek during WWII, fleeing with her family to Casablanca as an exile; thus, her story captures the fear and absurdity of exile life while showing us how humanity survives even during its most dire moments. A powerful, spare story that demands reading!
