2014 The Year of Reading Women

[TheFifthElement]

Thanks to a campaign over on Twitter, 2014 has been designated the 'Year of Reading Women'. It is widely acknowledged that in literature there is less airtime given to female writers, less promotion, less exposure and less respect. It may seem extreme to spend the entire year solely reading books written by women (though if you solely read books written by men, no one would blink), but perhaps that is what it will take to swing the balance around just a little bit. Or perhaps it won't. Regardless, prompting the debate is always a good thing. You can read a bit more about the campaign here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...s-male-writers

I have spent the last couple of years rebalancing my reading so that I read more books written by women and I haven't been disappointed. I've discovered some fantastic writers. I intend to continue this into 2014. So whilst I would not plan to solely read books written by women, I don't think there's any benefit in going that far, I want to continue on this journey. I'd love it if some members of Litnet came along with me. One of the things I'd really like to explore this year is reading women from non-Western cultures. I'm already familiar with a number of Japanese female writers (Banana Yoshimoto, Natuso Kirino, Yoko Ogawa) but would like to extend that to other cultures. A woefully small amount of literature is translated into English, and a disproportionate amount of what is tends to be by male writers. So if you have any recommendations of Indian, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Chilean, Palestinian, Israeli, Nigerian, South African, Paraguayan or any otheran female nationals who have written excellent books, please pass them on.

I will be sharing my reading of women here. If you read a book written by a women, please feel free to join me here (the good and the bad, it's all welcome).

So, I'm a bit slow on my reading this year so far (I'm still only on my second book, and January is nearly over). My reading so far:

1. A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland - a wonderful exploration of one woman's journey towards a more silent life. A profound and interesting book (and non-fiction. Miraculous).

[Lykren]

Hi Fifth,

you mentioned a few Japanese female authors but neglected the most famous of them all; Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote The Tale of Genji. Perhaps you've read it before, but if not, you should; it's been one of the highlights of my reading career.

Since you specifically mentioned Chilean female authors, how about the poetry of Gabriela Mistral? There is also the Indian author Arundhati Roy. Those two are well known, so you may have read them already, but I thought I'd mention them just in case.

Anyways, you should definitely think about reading Genji. Not only is it a great Japanese novel, it must be one of the best ever written.

[qimissung]

I will let Fifth answer you more fully, but she has indeed read "The Tale of Genji."

I will join you in your journey, Fifth. Probably I will mostly follow where you lead, but it whatever happens I know it will be interesting.

[Lykren]

Ah! Okay then. I hope my other suggestions were useful, anyways.

[TheFifthElement]

Hi Lyrkren oh yes I love The Tale of Genji, it's a marvellous book and I agree probably one of the best ever written. If you enjoy Genji, and like epic books, you might also enjoy Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. I read them both in the same year (and Middlemarch, it was a year of epic reading) and I found both wonderful books. I hadn't come across Gabriela Mistral so I'll look her up; Arundhati Roy I have encountered, though never read. I'll add her to my list. Thanks

Qimi - glad to see you along for the ride

[Pierre Menard]

Can't say I'm along for the ride.

I'll be reading the books in 2014 that most interest me, regardless of their gender. Because I read for enjoyment and what interests me, not to achieve social aims.

[Seasider]

Arundhati Roy's book "The God of Small Things" is one of the best books I read last year. You could also try Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen, Doris Lessing,Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Didion and Pat Barker to name a few.

[Dark Muse]

The thing I found interesting when I joined in when we had the woman's author challenge last year is that it makes me more actively aware of the books I read by women and how how many books are by men I read vs how many are by women.

[stlukesguild]

Can't say I'm along for the ride.

I'll be reading the books in 2014 that most interest me, regardless of their gender. Because I read for enjoyment and what interests me, not to achieve social aims.

My thoughts exactly.

[JBI]

The problem with American literature in general is an absence of first rate female authors, even in modern times. We can pick and choose, but generally the top list is male.

Canada as a counterexample seems to lack much of male talent, and the majority of major authors, in both prose and verse writing Canadian content are female.

That being said, reading American female authors, even novelists doesn't feel as rewarding as reading male American authors. I am looking for the sort of outstanding "literary" author that dominates the past 30 years or so of American literature, but it is hard to name one who has a style that seems to stand out. Morrison seems to be a pick, but much of her best work is already in the past. The others seem more popular than successful, especially non-minority authors.

[mal4mac]

The problem with American literature in general is an absence of first rate female authors, even in modern times. We can pick and choose, but generally the top list is male...

Rubbish. I'm a British male, but I've read three first rate, modern, female, American authors in the last few months: Harper Lee, Alice Munro, and Flannery O'Connor. And I take very eclectic approach to reading, so I haven't been trying to read American female authors in particular.

The American author, male or female, who has made the biggest splash this side of the pond in the last month, appearing on Radio 4 book club, interviewed everywhere..., is Donna Tartt, who I'll definitely be reading some time soon.

[JBI]

Rubbish. I'm a British male, but I've read three first rate, modern, female, American authors in the last few months: Harper Lee, Alice Munro, and Flannery O'Connor. And I take very eclectic approach to reading, so I haven't been trying to read American female authors in particular.

The American author, male or female, who has made the biggest splash this side of the pond in the last month, appearing on Radio 4 book club, interviewed everywhere..., is Donna Tartt, who I'll definitely be reading some time soon.

Before you "Rubbish" bin my post, first watch out. Munro is Canadian. Harper Lee is mostly the product of editors for her one children's novel, which isn't all that great (and she only wrote one novel, with less influence on the actual state of literature than the common genre author). As for Flannery O'Connor, she was a genius, if limited in scope, yet ultimately she was never a big-guns American author the same way some of her male contemporaries did.

I was not saying women authors are mediocre, if you had read my post you would note that I mentioned it as a general trend, and contrasted it with Canada where the major successful authors are female, and not male.

Still, one is hard pressed to come up with a "Contemporary novels best of" survey and list the same number of important novels in the past 50 years lets say than male. Simply put, it's a stretch to come up with novels, or literature in general, by American women that compares to their male counterparts in terms of innovation and quality, as well as scholarly reception.

Let's put aside "Women's literature" as a concept for five minutes, and think "literature" as a concept. If we were to draft "best authors" or best novels from the US in the past 50 years, who would we include - I would have to say that it is quite difficult to come up with as many female authors as male.

As for Donna Tartt, I do not know who she is.

[Scheherazade]

This year so far I have read only female authors (just coincidence not by design):


1. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (N1/W1) ~ 7/10

2. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (N2/W2/SO1) ~ 8/10

3. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (N3/W3) ~ 8/10

4. The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (W4) ~ 9/10


JBI> Why don't you start a separate thread for this? Because my top 10 American authors are likely to be dominated by female authors and it would be nice to see how everyone else rate as well.

[TheFifthElement]

Arundhati Roy's book "The God of Small Things" is one of the best books I read last year. You could also try Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen, Doris Lessing,Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Didion and Pat Barker to name a few.

Thanks Seasider. I’ll be picking up the Arundhati Roy book from the library today I think. Doris Lessing is marvellous, as is Elizabeth Taylor, and Woolf of course. Never read any of the others, but will add them to my list. Thanks.

I'll be reading the books in 2014 that most interest me, regardless of their gender.

*is now furiously examining books for presence of genitalia*

The thing I found interesting when I joined in when we had the woman's author challenge last year is that it makes me more actively aware of the books I read by women and how how many books are by men I read vs how many are by women.

I understand that DM; when I examined my reading habits a couple of years back I noticed there was a predominance of men (particularly the ubiquitous western white men) so deliberately shifted my reading habits. I haven’t regretted including more women writers in my reading, or writers from non-Western cultures. If anything I’ve found my reading experiences to be more enriching and varied. I would like them to be even more so.

My thoughts exactly.

*Locates magnifying glass Nope, still no testicles in sight. Must be really small.*

The problem with American literature in general is an absence of first rate female authors, even in modern times. We can pick and choose, but generally the top list is male.

Canada as a counterexample seems to lack much of male talent, and the majority of major authors, in both prose and verse writing Canadian content are female.

That being said, reading American female authors, even novelists doesn't feel as rewarding as reading male American authors. I am looking for the sort of outstanding "literary" author that dominates the past 30 years or so of American literature, but it is hard to name one who has a style that seems to stand out. Morrison seems to be a pick, but much of her best work is already in the past. The others seem more popular than successful, especially non-minority authors.

That it’s hard to find American female writers who are as influential as the men, isn’t too surprising when you consider that female writers are generally given less exposure, less promotion and less respect than their male counterparts. It seems this is particularly the case in both America and UK. Certainly there is heavy media bias in UK as the last Booker shortlist showed only too clearly. That doesn’t mean to say, therefore, that the great American female writers aren’t out there, just that they’re harder to find and their ‘influence’ will naturally be lesser than their male counterparts. That’s the problem with cultural hegemony, it’s inherently hard to break and it's difficult to talk about 'excellence' when the measure for 'excellent' is so weighted in the favour of what suits and interests and reflects the 'world view' of men (which is not universal by the way). It is good to hear, however, that Canada has a more balanced approach.

For excellent American female novelists, you might want to try any of the following: Marilynne Robinson, Helen DeWitt, Donna Tartt, Barbara Kingsolver, Joyce Carol Oates, Lionel Shriver, Siri Hudsvedt, A M Homes, Zora Neale Hurston, Carson McCullers, Renata Adler, Madeline Miller, Megan Abbott, Claire Messud.

JBI> Why don't you start a separate thread for this? Because my top 10 American authors are likely to be dominated by female authors and it would be nice to see how everyone else rate as well.

I'd agree with that Scher, my list of favoured American writers would be female dominated.

[JBI]

I don't start threads in general, but if someone wants to start one, I would be glad to comment. Be aware though, that we must also include poetry and drama (As well as non-fiction) into our sort of discussion.