Ira Levin (1929–2007)

4.5/5 A horrific and comically satiric indictment on conservative attacks on women's liberation, this novella, written in 1972, shows how astounding the “tradwife“ idea still is today--when a woman is on the cusp of (hopefully) becoming our first female president. As much as some want to return to the 1950s and put females back in the kitchen, Levin shows how truly tragic that return would be for us women. Indeed, “we will not go back!“ #election24

Having already seen the movie starring Nicole Kidman, I knew the plot of the book already so I expected not to be surprised or disturbed. Boy, was I wrong! Being female and having felt various degrees of pressure to conform to a more stereotypical and traditional feminine role, this book spoke to the part of me that is really terrified of losing my identity to such pressures. This book is like one of my biggest fears taken to an almost comical, yet never not frightening, extreme. The writing show more itself was clear and direct, but also deceptively simple. Even as he described Joanna's daily life, the author managed to maintain a level of creepiness and suspense that never left me, prompting me to read more-- even when I knew what was coming, and was dreading it. show less

Incredible. Horrible. The last few chapters I was holding back tears. The worst feeling in the world, to be a vulnerable pregnant woman, being taken advantage of and lied to for nine months straight. This book is not horror because of Satan, it is horror because of powerlessness. And the last chapter, the mothers twisted acceptance, her sanity all but gone.... I feel heartbroken. I feel angry. I feel relieved...

In my opinion, this is the best book written by Ira Levin. The premise of the benevolent unicomp controlling people and forcing them to conform to its will is not a new one. Except, Ira knows how to frame the realities of tyrannical rule. Some would say he's too structured in his plot and subplots - the twists are programmed like clockwork - but I didn't care. The book kept my suspense, nonetheless. The more immersed I was in Ira's tale, the more I felt that I was the protagonist Chip. I show more wanted to get the squirm out of the clutches of unicomp; disappear from sight; and live off an island far, far way. I fear, however, it's impossible to do this today. You can't be "what you want to be" - flawed and left alone. No man (or woman) is an island, after all. show less