A book before its time

I remember reading this when it came out, and the impact in had on me, shaping my perspective of gender roles, environmentalism, social inequality and injustice and insanity.

This book was before its time, addressing pronoun use, looking at ideas of gender roles, the nuclear family, sexuality, the role of education. The contrasts betwen now and the future, the dystopia and utopia were so stark.

I don't know where this book is categorised. Women's literature? Science fiction? I just thought of it and searched for Marge Piercy, and was delighted to find it in the extra catalogue.

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Woman on The Edge Of Time

One of the very few rereads from teenage years that I actually love just as much, if not more now.
Definitely one of my all time favourites.
I get why some don't like the ending, but I think it's probably the best thing about the entire novel! It says *way* more this way than if everything was wrapped up neatly.

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A classic of Anarcho-feminist sci-fi.

Loved this book for years, so great to have it as an audiobook. The reading is excellent and felt natural to my interpretation of the book. Wish someone would make it into a film or series...

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1 person found this helpful

Gripping and enlightening - a book way ahead of it’s time

Woman on the edge of time is fast paced and fascinating. A revealing glimpse into the racism, sexism and ableism of late 70’s America, contrasted with a utopian future where autonomy is held in high regard.
The depiction of the recent past rings true, and much is still familiar to today’s audience. The vision of the utopian future feels startlingly current, and will be refreshing to people who long for a post colonial world where gender is not restrictive.
A great read

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2 people found this helpful

Completely Unexpected

I wasn’t sure which way this storyline was going at first and it did take a couple of chapters to get into but by chapter 4 I was hooked. Without giving the story line away this book takes you on a journey through a women’s life of which you think you know but you really don’t…. and nothing is as it seems.

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Recommended listening.

I read this book twice during the 1970s and 80s and referred to it as part of a dissertation I was planning to write on the subject of "feminist utopias", but which was never completed. I have always viewed it as an important book which provides a scathing attack on society at the time, in particular its treatment of economically and socially disadvantaged people, the mental health system and especially women and racial/ethnic minorities.
The utopian society into which the central character transports herself is an interesting one and is pertinent to our current time in its de-emphasis on biological sex differences, as illustrated by the use of "per" in place of "hers" or "his"/"he" or "she" and "person" instead of "her" or "him", the crucial difference being that gender/sex choice is made not from a sexually unequal starting point, but from one in which everyone is treated with respect and regarded as of equal worth. Indeed there is no hierarchy of any kind.

The story has lost little of its freshness and relevance, which is sad given that, as someone who was young at the time of its first publication, I would have hoped to be living currently in a world a little more like the utopia described. I am dismayed that, despite some improvements, there have also been many retrograde steps and we still have such a long way to go.

The narration was fine but somewhat rushed. More pauses needed between sentences.

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7 people found this helpful

Interesting vision but disappointing ending

As someone very despairing of the world now I really enjoyed the vision of the future in this book and the story is engaging and well told. I found the ending frustratingly ambiguous and un-satisfying, but on balance I'd still recommend it for the positives.

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4 people found this helpful

Poor ending, but otherwise great

Don’t expect a good ending - it just peters out and stops. Otherwise it is great.

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1 person found this helpful

Shockingly prescient

I started listening to this not knowing anything about the author or when it was written. I assumed (wrongly) it was a relatively recent dystopian feminist novel. I was completely floored half way through when I saw it had been written in 1976. Marge saw things so clearly about our future from almost 50 years ago. I was deeply absorbed in the utopian future - I only hope we can make some aspects of that future a reality.

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Story

So applicable for the women of today as it was over half a century ago. The narrator does a very capable job of differentiating the women’s voices. I highly recommend.

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