The Stepford Wives

I have to admit that Ira Levin was quite a discovery for me. It seems he is a prolific writer very like Philip K Dick but without that LSD-ish touch od PKD's novels.

Story starts with comments from very active and emancipated woman Joanne on her new neighborhood - together with husband and kids she arrives into suburban Stepford and starts looking around the neighborhood. First thing she notices is that women of Stepford dont have any social gatherings and generally have their lives centered around their husbands and house works - willingly and entirely! Everything looks like a throwback to some earlier times and Joanne is puzzled because it looks like gender equality and women rights movements somehow never gained traction in show more Stepford.

What starts as a rather simple detective story quickly spirals into that most horrifying of horror stories - one of complete lost of identity, oneself in its entirety without any way to prevent it. The very way story culminates ... it is superb storytelling. Reader is left in the dark about what exactly goes on and is left guessing. And this is additional strength of the novel, something needs to be left to imagination, right? And nothing creates dark assumptions as wandering mind.

Highly recommended to all fans of good thriller. show less

At the outset, it's obvious that Levin is just recycling the ideas he had from Rosemary's Baby. The constant gaslighting. The usage of a hero vs a dystopian patriarchy. And the genre elements that are supposed to elevate the material.

The problem is that unlike the previous book, this one isn't compelling as a drama (or even a satire). There's no investigation of a mystery until far too late. The humor is bad. The suspense doesn't exist until nearly the end. And the downer ending leaves you with more intellectual questions and emotional ennui.

It could've been something: an examination of first wave feminism, modern approaches to gaslighting, and the stifling oppression of suburbia. Instead it is a massive miss, full of potential.

Avoid.

I went in to this book knowing a bit more than I should have, but I didn't know the whole story. Levin skillfully builds the tension and suspense until the reader (and main character) can't take any more. I wished for a bit more payoff, but looking back, I don't think that was the point. The argument against patriarchy is very clear. It's easy (and scary) to draw parallels with this story (written in 1972) and today's reality. With devices listening to our every word at all times, computers are automatically building a human lexicon that is becoming seamless to our own spoken language. The robotics side of things is where the fantasy takes over, but today's technology is not that far behind. That realization I found chilling. "The show more Stepford Wives" is a fast read that will leave you feeling thankful robotics today isn't as advanced as described... yet. Because if things keep advancing like they are now, bridging the uncanny valley is a real possibility. show less

This is a great novella about the horror of feminism for men / the horror of men for women. Its nicely crafted, well paced, super creepy and a great read even when you basically know the story because it has so entered the public consciousness.
The growing dread as it becomes clearer to Joanna what is going on is palpable, the gaslighting is extreme, and you see the story get ready to repeat with the next incoming wife. We had a lot of fun discussing this at book group.

A beautifully crafted story of modern gothic horror, this short book is a masterclass in how to write a clever creepy story. A woman moves with her family from the bustle of the city to the suburbs. There she encounters the stereotype of the suburban housewife, and only finds refuge in the friendship of a few misfits. However, things quickly become more sinister as she realises that not all is as it seems, and perhaps there is more than mind-numbing boredom and patriarchal attitudes behind the plethora of bimbos that make up the female population of Stepford. This is an interesting look at the male fear of feminism, which was going through its ‘second wave’ when this book was released.

If you must see a film version of this book, show more please do not bother with the Kidman/Midler/Close film that totally mangled the plot and message of the book! Rather, try and track down the original film version, which stays true to not only the storyline, but also the message, of the novel. show less

The idea of entering a star rating for a book that came out when I was in kindergarten is pretty funny to me. But here we are.

Anyway.

The other night I was listening to the "You're Wrong About" podcast, and it was about The Stepford Wives. I read this book when I was probably about 19, and I've seen both movie adaptations, so I was pretty familiar with the basic concept, and even remembered details about the ending (which, considering that I can't remember the ending of a book I read a couple of months ago, is saying something). But YWA talked about things like the presence of Lithium in the water in El Paso, and how Miltown became popular in the days before Valium, and both of those things are actually part of my family history show more (specifically, my mother's history). I immediately went to Scribd and found the book, and ripped right through it.

I appreciate it much more now than I did at 19. I probably read it originally with at least a little of the "weren't our parents hilarious" take that older teenagers have on the past. I'm sure the technological ridiculousness of the concept was a big part of that. But now I understand that the technology isn't the scary part; it's the betrayal. It's the idea that someone you thought knew and loved you actually wants you to LITERALLY be someone else.

I really wish I could ask my mother if she read it at the time (she probably didn't; she didn't like to read). It would have been popular just at the time that my father moved to California, leaving us stranded in another state, her having not worked outside the house in 20 years, lucky to get a part-time job as a church secretary, relying on my teenage sister for childcare. I'm betting that given the option, she would have chosen to be a Stepford Wife over that. I'm betting that there were many, many other women in her situation who would have chosen that too. I'm also betting that Ira Levin knew this. I mean, even now I have to admit that I would *love* to have a mental subroutine that sees a spot on the carpet and immediately pulls out the vinegar and cleans it up before it becomes a vast, mysterious dark patch that a whole can of Resolve won't touch.

And that's part of the horror too, and what makes the book relevant, even now. That we are still so socialized to accept that these things--housekeeping and husband-keeping (mothering doesn't seem as important to the Stepford Wives)--are important enough that the idea of doing them automatically, without thinking about them, is still appealing, nearly 50 years later. show less

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