Posted on 08/07/2021 5:01:35 PM PDT by Rummyfan
Laura Hillenbrand. I had forgotten her first name. Also wrote “Sea Biscuit”.
No one’s mentioned Frankenstein yet???!!!
>> the perennial question, “Why do so few men read books by women?”
Didn’t realize this was a thing...
“The Haunting of Hill House” and “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” are also good.
Reading something without knowing or having paid attention to the gender, I regularly get the impression that a text was written by a woman or a man, and I’m almost always right.
Would be hard for me to explain with out a lot more thought on it, but men and women tend to see the world a little differently, and through life you pick up on those subtleties.
I prefer to read books written by men. I’ve noticed authors and publishers often try to conceal the female author’s gender in the pseudonym. I assume it’s a common prejudice.
All that being said, Mary Shelley was an absolute genius and wrote arguably the greatest novel of all time, a book that is pertinent today and will be even more pertinent in the future, I believe.
Jane Austin and Sylvia Plath were also geniuses with incredible depth of perception into the human condition.
Good point. Props to Mary Shelley.
Yeah, I don’t think this plays as much a role as subject matter appealing to men and women. If a woman had written “Shogun” or “Aztec” or the Rif War Saga, I’d have found them just as compelling.
“No one’s mentioned Frankenstein yet???!!!”
*****
Look below, I was typing away as you posted.
I dont read books by people on sujects I do not find interesting or educational. Regardless of author attributes.
I read books by women scientists like Nessa Carey, Jennifer Doudena, and Jenna Levin. I haven’t read a fiction book since “The DiVinci Code” came out. Reading fiction is a waste of time when there is so many more interesting things to learn.
At the behest of my girlfriend, I actually read a book written by a woman last Spring. I didn’t expect a whole lot, but read it in good faith. Aside from weak and tenuous plot, the whole issue is summed up by the author’s propensity for describing the characters’ outfits.
I think he’s being grossly unfair to Jane Austen. I would not call Austen a romance novelist, she writers novels of manners, or comedy of manners, but really social novels. And she is one of the two most conservative novelists I can think of in history. She influenced any number of male novelists.
“Why do so few men read books by women?”
Premise without evidence.
Might have more to do with the number of men who read books period.
All that being said, Mary Shelley was an absolute genius and wrote arguably the greatest novel of all time, a book that is pertinent today and will be even more pertinent in the future, I believe.Excellent assessment, BusterDog!
Flannery O'Connor, Ayn Rand, Alice Munro, Sharon Kay Penman, to name a few of them.
Sure, they look at relationships from a woman's point of view but what do you expect? It's a woman author. Only insecure men would have a problem with that. So long as they tell a good story, I'll read it.
What about George Eliot and George Sands. Both novelists who reached male audiences successfully.
I like anything by Sharon Kay Penman.
The Big Sleep
Hatari!
Rio Lobo
Rio Bravo
The Empire Strikes Back
All excellent movies.
Off the top of my head
Erika Fatland, SOVIETSTAN and THE BORDER her travel adventures on the borders of post CCCP Russia. Easy, fun, and informative.
J.A. Jance, mysteries
Luyba Vinogradova, AVENGING ANGELS and DEFENDING THE MOTHERLAND about Soviet female snipers and pilots in TGPW.
Svetlana Alexievich, VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL about survivors of the disaster.
Barbara Tuckman, history
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.