On Wed, 2 Apr 1997, Robin Gordon wrote:
>While
> drawn to feminist dystopias I often find them politically
frustrating (or
> worse), such as Pamela Sargeant's The Shore of Women, the better known and
> strikingly similar Sheri Tepper book The Gate to Women's Country, and
> Storm Constantine's The Monstrous Regiment. I didn't think any of these
> three adequately thought through and challenged common assumptions about
> biology, sex, and sexual orientation. I was particularly aghast at The
> Monstrous Regiment, has anyone else read this?
NH: I'm so glad that someone said this. Much of the reading that's meant
the most to me has come from feminist writers, but the fiction can also
at times be preachy or simplistic; probably because there's so much to
say, they are such complex, all-pervasive issues, and they are topics that
inspire such passion.
I bought _Monstrous Regiment,_ because I'd so loved other of Constantine's
work, particularly the Wraetthu Trilogy. But I couldn't finish _Monstrous
Regiment._ I don't even remember what it was about, really, except a
revolutionary and a woman living in an oppressive household. I'm afraid I
simply lost interest. Which puzzled me. I'm usually rivetted by
Constantine's work. But hell, I guess my favourites are allowed to write
something that doesn't exactly thrill me every now and again! Better
they overextend themselves trying for new heights than that they become
formulaic.
>
"When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?"
"Why isn't 'phonetic' spelt the way it sounds?"
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