Home | Books By Year | Books from 1995
I Who Have Never Known Men
Buy I Who Have Never Known Men now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the book. And once you've experienced the book, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'I Who Have Never Known Men', originally published in French as 'Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes', is a 1995 science fiction novel by Belgian author Jacqueline Harpman. It is the first of Harpman's novels to be translated into English. It was originally published by Seven Stories Press, then republished by Avon Eos.[http://www.locusmag.com/index/t848.htm The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 1984-1998] at 'Locus'; retrieved April 27, 2011
Synopsis
Thirty-nine women and a girl are being held prisoner in a cage underground. The guards are all male, and never speak to them. The girl is the only one of the prisoners who has no memory of the outside world; none of them know why they are being held prisoner, or why there is one child among thirty-nine adults.
One day, an alarm sounds, and the guards flee; the prisoners are subsequently able to escape. They find themselves on an immense barren plain, with no other people anywhere, and no clue as to what has happened to the world.
Reception
The book was a finalist for the 1995 Prix Femina.[https://www.lesechos.fr/1996/11/premier-round-des-prix-dautomne-844037 Premier round des prix d'automne], by Annie Coppermann; in 'Les Echos'; published November 5, 1996; retrieved October 25, 2020
'The New York Times' described the novel as "bleak but fascinating", and "about as heavyhearted as fiction can get".[https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/14/bib/970914.rv114521.html "I Who Have Never Known Men": Books], by Sally Eckhoff, from the New York Times, published September 14, 1997, retrieved April 27, 2011 'Kirkus Reviews' compared it to 'The Handmaid's Tale', and said that it is "thin", but "moving" and "powerful".[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacqueline-harpman/i-who-have-never-known-men/ I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN, by Jacqueline Harpman], at Kirkus Reviews; published May 1, 1997; retrieved July 18, 2014 'L'Express' called it "poignant" and "magnificent", and the product of a "profoundly original imagination".[https://www.lexpress.fr/culture/livre/moi-qui-n-ai-pas-connu-les-hommes_799267.html Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes], reviewed by Laurence Liban, in 'L'Express'; published October 1, 1995; retrieved October 25, 2020; "Par ce rcit poignant d'une qute dont l'objet se drobe, par la puissance d'une imagination profondment originale, fantastique sa manire, troublante et terrible", Jacqueline Harpman signe, une fois de plus, une oeuvre magnifique."
References
Buy I Who Have Never Known Men now from Amazon
<-- Return to books from 1995