Carol Gilligan

With main characters named Eve and Gabriel, it's not surprising that this novel wrestles at times with Biblical issues. Eve is a professional dancer and choreographer, married to Gabe, an international journalist covering worldwide strife. Their relationship has ebbed and flowed over their many years, but we feel somehow that they are meant to be together. They each have professional challenges, and the focus is on Eve's determination to produce a dance telling a new version of the story of show more Adam and Eve. While it was fascinating to read about the intricacies of choreographing a major work, I felt that the story bogged down somewhat in the detail. On the other hand, Gabe's unhappiness, rooted in being rescued from Nazi Germany by way of the kindertransport, would have been interesting to learn more about. The ending is most satisfying. show less

I wasn't sure I'd find much enjoyment in some scholarly non-fiction discussing psychological theory but I found this book extremely thought-provoking, particularly the first half. Gilligan's premise is that the overwhelming bulk of psychological theory has been based upon the study of males and that, while the resulting conclusions may be valid for boys and men, they are not for girls and women. She argues that the identity, worldview, developmental stages and perceptions of morality of show more females are different from those of males, and that failure to perceive that there are two modes of experience has left us with an incomplete dialectic that does not realize the necessity of both perspectives as complementary forces.

Having been published in the early 1980s, I'm sure these theories have been refuted, rebutted and otherwise argued about extensively in the succeeding three decades—I'm not knowledgeable enough about the field to form any judgment. Nonetheless, her findings are interesting to read, to say the least. From the opening chapter that looked at a study where "boys were seen quarrelling all the time, but not once was a game terminated…In contrast, the eruption of disputes among girls tended to end the game" to final chapters on the ethics of abortion, Gilligan presents her case that the earliest stages of gender identification form completely distinct—and differing—conceptions of self-hood, relationship and morality in the genders.

If I have one novice criticism, it is that Gilligan takes pains in her introduction to claim that her distinctions of two modes of thinking are separated "not by gender but by theme" and are not to "represent a generalization about either sex." These intentions appear to be summarily abandoned by the first chapter and the rest of the book proceeds to tell us that "men think this and women think that." It makes the arguments no less thought-provoking but it is a bit of disingenuousness that irks.

The interested audience for this work is likely somewhat limited—and, perhaps, those with interest will have found it already—but it was worth the time spent. show less

I really liked the way the story started, a discussion on architecture, a love story that ends abruptly, music, introspection - sometimes a bit heavy but lulling. The second part, however, where Kyra goes into psychoanalysis is lumbering and narrow. As she explores love, it's limited to romantic love with vague allusions to other types of love. Although an attempt to rethink the process, the author locks herself into structure, the very opposite of what she wants: it lacks expressiveness, show more newness, wholeness. I lost interest after that; it just became another story. It's a shame because the novel has a strong foundation. show less

At base, Gilligan is arguing for a different Freudian narrative. Since I think the Freudian enterprise is pretty bankrupt, I was unimpressed, but as a feminist re-writing of a major academic paradigm, it's really a tour-de-force.