Customer Reviews

Herland and Selected Stories (Signet classics)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In her Utopian novel Herland, written in 1915, Charlotte Perkins Gilman anticipates many of the problems of the 20th century, from pollution to over-population. Essentially a work of science fiction, the novel portrays a culture developed in isolation that has focused on principles of love, sharing, nuturing, reason and continuous improvement. While not great literature, Herland offers fascinating insights into a rational approach to designing a society. The Signet Classic edition also contains 20 intriguing short stories written from a feminist perspective. This is the book I will be giving at the holidays! It deserves a wider audience.

In Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman gives us humans (mere mortals) a glimpse of a world where all things are possible, where ideas of black and white and shades of grey have been turned into colors and textures, vibrant and pulsing with promise.
If one can get past the Victorian style, which is hardly worth mentioning since she was a funny writer and writes with a spoken voice which was unusual for her time, the reader will discover new dimensions of purpose for all people, not only women, and have a good laugh at the same time.

Certainly there is nothing else like this book. Its Utopian vision is unique and worth exploring both in terms of its reference as a fiction work and as a piece of social commentary.

I picked up this book after a friend gave me a photocopy of one of the short stories within, "The Yellow Wallpaper," a mesmerizing first-person account of a woman suffering from extreme post-partum depression. The way in which the story was written was so modern that it was next to impossible for me to believe it was written in 1892. I knew I had to read more by this writer, and am extremely glad I purchased this omnibus volume. It contains not only "The Yellow Wallpaper" but also nearly 20 other short stories, the novel "Herland," and an introduction by Barbara H. Solomon. I have not extensively studied the subject of feminist literature, but I found this introduction to be fascinating. Gilman is truly one of the first feminist writers and led a unique life which included leaving her husband in 1888 and becoming a self-supporting writer, both practically unheard of in her time. The feminist-Utopian novel "Herland" is evidently her best-known work, but I found many of the short stories to be much more compelling than that novel. The topics Gilman took up and the characters she created are instructive not only of how far women have come since her time, but also how little our society has changed in some ways. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the lives of women, the evolution of feminism, or just good writing in general. What is missing now is an authoritative biography of this inspiring figure and more widespread recognition of her achievements.

We read that theirs is a perfect society but there are no particulars about health,, education, child-rearing, or politics. The author seems to be saying that only without men or sex can we achieve a Utopian culture. It was much more a treatise on feminism than a novel with 3-dimensional characters and an interesting story line.