'The problem is not men. The problem is not women. The problem is human'
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The Blurb:
What if the power to hurt were in women's hands?
Suddenly - tomorrow or the day after - teenage girls find that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonizing pain and even death. With this single twist, the four lives at the heart of Naomi Alderman's extraordinary, visceral novel are utterly transformed.
The Review
This was a really challenging one to rank out of 5. I always focus on how much I enjoyed a book, and that's why this one gets a 3 (rounded down from 3.5) However, if I'm ranking on literary prowess, originality of the idea, or just how much it had an impact on me, I would have to give it a 5/5.
'The Power' takes our patriarchy and turns it on its head. Women have suddenly developed a strange power to create electric surges from their own body and can use this as a weapon to hurt others. Suddenly, men don't hold all the cards. The impact that this has across the world cannot be underestimated. Men now live in constant fear for their safety, not women. It turns religion,culture and politics upside down.
The world that Alderman imagines, suggests that while the power might have switched hands, the aggression in the world continues. Nothing really changes but the perpetrators. This was a somewhat depressing concept,that basically if one sex can dominate the other, they will do. The downtrodden will rise up, and then be the ones doing the treading.
The story follows 4 very different narratives and for two thirds of the book I was absolutely engrossed. But the last third lost momentum and some of the stories seemed to dwindle and get confused. It definitely lost its potency for me towards the end.
This is an incredibly intelligent, visceral and thought provoking read. I found it really tough to read at times, but none of the more upsetting scenes ever felt gratuitous. It always felt that they had intrinsic value to the story overall. But if you find rape or very violent scenes hard to stomach, you might want to give this one a wide berth. I think it's one that everyone should read, because it will provoke some really uncomfortable feelings, but a book that does that is making you look at the world in a different light, and that's a very powerful thing indeed. (wordplay not intended!)
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