To memory, I have never particularly enjoyed any book with a female lead character/perspective. Why should this be?
Can anyone suggest a good one?
I haven't read any Bronte:s or Germaine Greer's Female Eunuch, are these good bets?
To memory, I have never particularly enjoyed any book with a female lead character/perspective. Why should this be?
Can anyone suggest a good one?
I haven't read any Bronte:s or Germaine Greer's Female Eunuch, are these good bets?
A sense of insecurity in embarrassing the feminine, or simply not enough reading. I would think I am perhaps more intrigued by female writers, particularly contemporary female poets, than their male counterparts, simply because of the rush of creativity and uniqueness that has so long been untapped or ignored.
In truth, I think with reading, one should leave there gender, to an extent, at the door, when trying to become engrossed in a work.
In terms of these threads, I think they are rather risky - an inability to enjoy female characters or female work generally implies a general inability to understand or enjoy female expression, or femininity, whatever that means.
Try Alice Munro - her short stories about girls and women are fantastic.
What sort of books have you enjoyed? I'm sure there will be similar works with female protagonists.
Jane Eyre.. might be an obvious one/cliched... I had to read it for Uni last year and assumed I would hate it but thoroughly enjoyed it.. am a bit more open minded now towards literature that I had previously written off as being aimed at girls!
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
Marguerite Duras's The Lover is fantastic, but if you don't like female characters or expression, I doubt you would like this one.
Anna Karenina.
At thunder and tempest, At the world's coldheartedness,
During times of heavy loss And when you're sad
The greatest art on earth Is to seem uncomplicatedly gay.
To get things clear, they have to firstly be very unclear. But if you get them too quickly, you probably got them wrong.
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Thanks All for the suggestions. I fancy trying Anna Karenina first, I haven't read Tolstoy yet.
While others have made good suggestions on books with female leads, I'm intrigued by your question about why you might not enjoy them in general. Or at least, haven't so far.
I had this discussion recently with someone, in sharing my views about what makes a good main character (protagonist, antagonist, hero/heroine, etc.). The qualities needed for a main character, making it possible for him or her to get into trouble, lead the way, and otherwise create the ripples that carry the story forward, aren't difficult to find in women characters. But those qualities can be tricky when it comes to finding an appealing character
To be clear, I don't mean a pretty woman; I mean a woman readers will care about and invest in throughout the story, forgetting entirely about gender.
Sometimes authors will force sterotypical "strengths" onto female main characters instead of letting their true natures emerge. For authors who are true to their female leads, the genuine strengths that are revealed or develop as the story progresses are far more intersting to read about and enjoy than forced qualities...and every bit as captivating as male lead characters.
Nice choice!Originally Posted by Richier
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Try Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice, maybe even Anne of Green Gables.
Also Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. It's excellent. :-) The (female) main character undergoes quite a bit during the course of the book and her development as a character is fascinating.
Truth is sacred; and if you tell the truth too often nobody will believe it.--G.K. Chesterton
I agree with all of those who mentioned 'Pride and Prejudice' as it is one the flued novels by Jane Austin, better than 'persuation' I'd say, and 'Anna Karanina' along with 'Jane Eyre'. I really enjoyed them all.
How about Bleak House? Esther is a good tragic character. She is a tough woman after all she goes through.
I'd also recommend The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and A Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.
No damn cat, no damn cradle - Newt Honniker
Same here, which is a bit ironic considering I'm female. Often female protagonists can be too soppy or too 'masculine'.
Pride and Prejudice is good...sometimes if you have a male and female protagonist, their relationship is interesting and you become interested in both.
What Maisie Knew was good, I thought.
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