'We always treat women too well' was a very interesting and unexpected read. Honestly it started off a bit boring to me. I hate war novels. I never read 'The Red Badge of Courage' because I couldn't stand the mundane nature of war novels. The I came to the part with Gertie. I liked the way she sounded, somewhat full of herself, when she describes the men never able to come into the Girl's bathroom. It sounded a bit ridiculous but in a very funny way. After a few more pages/chapters (the chapters were very short, weren't they?) It seemed more like one of those 'Lusty Reads' I find in my Cosmopolitan magazine. I was actually confused, because I was wondering where the story was going. Honestly, the wording was intense K Perhaps it's just surprising because I'm not used to that type of description in older books. However, the story read very well, like a play. The dialogue was very straightforward, very colloquial. However, when it came to descriptions, particularly the descriptions of the women. The first scene of intimacy with Gertie was almost poetic, almost romantic. However, it returned to coloquial quickly, when the other men were looking for him and they shouted "He's Fucking her?" It really was hilarious. I'm glad this wasn't a run-of-the-mill war novel. It was really sexual and hilarious; I have trouble believing this was not written before the 1980's. I find humor is everything, especially the whole "God save the King" then death. It's a bunch of satirical humor, the type that backfires and sounds like your smart-ass friend. It's almost as if the story was written by two different people, but yet flows amazingly. I like the balance of humor, sarcasm, and the sophisticated descriptive language.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
We always treat Women too well :-) (or do we?)
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I agree with what you said about the novel reading like a play and I think that had something to with what you said about the chapters being so short (among other things). But I thought it was effective how one chapter would end posing a question about where one of the rebels was and the next chapter would be a quick one liner that answered the previous chapter's questions. It felt like a 'quit-cut-edit' you would see in a film. It gave a cinematic feel by (stylistically) showing rather than telling.
ReplyDeleteDo you? :0
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found a war story you could get into. I personally love war stories, but I guess its not for everyone. If you enjoyed this I would like to recommend you read the book Catch-22. It is also a war story that has a lot of philosophical issues built into it. It is not really a typical war story in the sense that it is not focused around the fighting so much as it is in the rest of what goes on in a war and the implications for the characters and mankind as a whole. It is also a hilarious read. So I guess it is *kind of* similar to Why We Treat Women So Well.
ReplyDeleteWhen first introduced to Gertie in the bathroom I didn't find her to be confident, but rather indecisive, scared, and confused. Her constantly repeating questions to herself reminded me a hesitant woman getting ready to go out for a night on the town, not a woman full of herself. Not in the beginning of the novel at least.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Queaneau brings about a lot of stereotypes in this story. For instance, he stereotypes the Irish as being alcoholics and the women (at first) as being neurotic and incompetent. I thought the extent to which Gertie got worked up in the beginning of this story was hilarious.
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