Throw the book at them
THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED AND CORRECTED.
Understand, I am not one of those feminists who insist that merit be sacrificed on the altar of equality. However I do believe that (1) women start from behind and (2) the race is too often judged by boys' rules.
Which brings me to Newsweek's ''50 books for our times,'' What to Read Now. And Why.
Only eight by women. That is just 16 per cent deemed to have the ability to
open a window on the times we live in, whether they deal directly with the issues of today or simply help us see ourselves in new and surprising ways.
Top of the picks by women, coming in at No. 24? Mary Shelley's 19th century classic Frankenstein. (See update.)
Right behind it at No. 25, another female authored book, about motherhood. Then at No. 37, Marjane Satrapi's couldn't-get-more-current Persepolis.
No A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood? This in an age when so many are trying to turn back the clock on women's rights, and force them to become breeders? What about her genetic-engineering-gone-mad Oryx and Crake?
Nothing by Barbara Tuchman? Erna Paris? What about Barbara Margaret MacMillan's Paris 1919, the book which lays out how the western powers messed up the Middle East?
As my Tweep @ShelbyKnox points out, what times do Newsweek's editors live in?
OOPSY DAISY DATE: My friend Skdadl from over at POGGE points out that I missed Flannery O'Connor's short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find at No. 12.
Heh. Well, the list is one of those, y'know, lists. It's very Merkin, for one thing, but then on top of that it is sometimes weird.
Not to take anything away from Mary Shelley, but srsly, if you were looking for the dozen greatest women writers in English, would that strange book be there? It is a kind of great book in its way, but very quirky and hard to read if you don't know a lot of the historical context and haven't read Milton first. Trust me: it's nothing like the movie.
O'Connor could write a good title, eh? It's a shame that whichever barely post-pubescent young man thought up that list hadn't read a few more high-gonad women who could do just as well. One of my all-time favourites is Helen Lawrenson, journalist and essayist, author of "Latins Are Lousy Lovers" and other light classics, whose memoir "Stranger at the Party" every rebel grrl would love.
Posted by: skdadl | June 30, 2009 at 07:18 PM
PS: Love the graphic, and I want that kimono.
Posted by: skdadl | June 30, 2009 at 07:19 PM
Look at the themes in the list. It's mostly Things Great Men Are Concerned About, with some Stories of how Great Men Changed the World thrown in. There are some exceptions (mostly the books by women, go figure), but in my quick scan of the list it was noticeable that the story of modern feminism didn't get much of a mention. I was intrigued by the inclusion of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- that tidily avoids the gender issues of Man in the High Castle or (we could only wish) Mary and the Giant, but puts PK Dick on the list (where he completely belongs IMHO).
Posted by: Kat | June 30, 2009 at 08:34 PM
Barbara MacMillan's Paris 1919,
it's "Margaret MacMillan"
"which lays out how the western powers messed up the Middle East?"
which is a very pinched view of that wonderful book (one of my daughters gave it to me as a birthday present, actually).
and, sk-mum-l, as I have mentioned on this blog before, Frankenstein is one of the great works of genius of all time, and should be higher up the list.
and at least one of Ann Coulter's book should be included ... maybe "Guilty", as it sums things up rather nicely.
Posted by: The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs | July 01, 2009 at 06:02 PM
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein shouldn't be on that list...
Posted by: David Marniss | July 01, 2009 at 06:50 PM
Barbara Tuchman is one of the best American writers in history. And most influential. The Guns of August was a major influence on JFK, and may have helped prevent the Cuban Missile Crisis from becoming World War III or worse.
Good pick.
Posted by: Ian | July 02, 2009 at 10:52 AM