[8], "Dual quests fuel futuristic 'Girl in the Road, "Book Review: 'The Girl in the Road' by Monica Byrne", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Girl_in_the_Road&oldid=953955615, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "The New Mother" by Eugene Fischer (2015, tie), "They Will Dream in the Garden" by Gabriela Damián Miravete (2018), This page was last edited on 29 April 2020, at 22:44. Perhaps this was marketed to the wrong crowd. Well...ok, this book has a certain immediate appeal, something about the strangeness of near future world and present tense narration draws the reader in. In Byrne’s book, plenty happens. Look at you, Amazon, don't you feel so special? For more about E.B., visit her website or follow her on Twitter at @eb_bartels. There were times when I couldn't wait to get a chance to sit down and read some more of this book. My feelings have only magnified since finishing her novel. If you love Robinson and Gibson and McDonald, you will love Byrne. [3] The Wall Street Journal described it as "a new sensation, a real achievement",[4] while NPR criticized it, saying "the pulpiest of genre mysteries are shoved into the narrative, only to be neglected or resolved anti-climactically" and that "the result is a ragged patchwork of concepts, interconnections and intriguing possibilities, many of which wind up as red herrings." In a world where global power has shifted east and revolution is brewing, two women embark on vastly different journeys—each harrowing and urgent and wholly unexpected. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. By the epilogue I had a bad taste in my mouth. This is a brutal world where the callous disregard for women and people in poor countries is expected and ordinary. The young woman's trip via a continent spanning manmade pontoon style crossing and a variety of strangers with their varied kindness. Here's a bit of a summary of how my reading experience went (percentages are approximate): When it comes to this book am I glad that I'm reviewing books because it made me analyze the book's story both during the reading and after and I think it made me appreciate the book a bit more than if I only had read it without having to think about what to write. Then there's Mariama, a preadolescent runaway who is traveling across Africa on the back of a cargo truck. I have read it twice and still can't figure out who she met. This book is intriguing, confusing, fascinating, innovative… To be honest, I did not know what to think of it. The world's powers have shifted, the book's entirety is set in India and Africa aka two least desirable places to visit according to me. There are triggers here, [there is rape, very graphic murders, and one lesbian masturbation scene with a minor, [the consenting cisgender relationships seemed to end in death while the LGBT relationships flourished. Then again, that is how the world is – too much to take in all at once, already exhausting and overwhelming. It isn't unreadable, but it's distracting, especially with this being the case of the plot stronger than the narrative. If they do, we will begin to see more Indian and African writers dominating English literature. But Byrne rocked it. She specified she tried to avoid romanticizing her locations and yet to me it came across not only as romanticized, but also fetishized in a way. Who is the lady in the end for example…The c. This book is intriguing, confusing, fascinating, innovative… To be honest, I did not know what to think of it. I feel like I just read Escher's. Real Name: Luanne Henderson. It is near-future but in two different times and locations. Like, it's pathetic that those two things are all it takes to make me like a book, right? There's the story of Meena, a woman in India who is running away to Djibouti on a manmade metallic trail in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The flaws: it's a difficult task for western Anglophone writers to diversify their casts and add cultural elements when they're writing gritty, edgy stuff. We work to shine a light on stories that build bridges, tear down walls, and speak truth to power. Quite refreshing. There's the story of Meena, a woman in India who is running away to Djibouti on a manmade metallic trail in the middle of the Indian Ocean. This past year I was an editorial intern at the Frances Goldin Literary Agency, working for, among others, Monica Byrne’s agent. This is a painful, glorious novel about murder, quests, self-delusion, and a stunning science fictional big idea: What would it be like to walk--*walk*--the length of a few-meter-wide wave generator stretching across the open sea from India to Africa, with only what you can carry on your back? Get the pink off the freakin' cover. Start by marking “The Girl in the Road” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Everyone has a computer chip embedded in their arm to track their location and send and receive information in the cloud, scanners are used to pay for goods, and each person is surrounded by a Facebook-like-profile and unique ID in a visible aura of information called an aadhaar. [6] It was also a finalist for the UK's Kitschies Golden Tentacle award for debut speculative fiction novel. While the book deals primarily with India and Africa (yes I know one is a country and the other is a continent--to be fair the road trip in Africa is through multiple countries with different cultures), I think Byrne is speaking to worldwide attitudes (entitlement) of the wealthy about poor countries, with huge natural resources. Women are still sold into sexual slavery. I want to reread this in about six months so that I remember enough to pay closer attention to a few key parts. A lot of the African accents sounded really stilted. This is not the science fiction of faraway galaxies with spaceships and light sabers, but a realistic future 54 years from now, with politics, technology, and environmental issues that seem likely given the current state of the world. Its all quite confusing but the meat of the story involves a sort of genetic trauma and/or a societal/cultural mental illness of an oppressed people--primarily women. This should have been on more shortlists. It's slimy and ugly and it feels like nothing really happens but it makes you feel gross when you read it. Has anyone read this and can recommend it or not? You can bet I will be snatching up the next Byrne novel the moment I hear about it. In a few scenes and passing references, Byrne portrays the kind of "why didn't you report it" rape that permeates our reality. This book defied my expectations at every turn. Maybe that will help. There is one particularly painful scene of child abuse in a hotel room. The Girl in the Road is a 2014 science fiction novel by Monica Byrne. It gave me the creeps, took me to an Africa and Indian future, and had a hell of a twist at the end that made me shout "HO HO! The novel itself is very much about atmosphere, set in a world recognizably similar to present day one and there are decades and decades worth of advances, fairly logical sort of technological ones and some very wild geopolitical ones. In 2068, Meena, a young woman in her late twenties, decides to run away from her home country of India on the Trans-Arabian Linear Generator, also know as the Trail. Additionally, by 2068, all STDs are treatable by nanobiotics, and both men and women are automatically given birth control upon reaching puberty, which can be easily deactivated if and when the individual wants to start a family. My criteria for five stars is that I will want to reread it and/or the author set out to do something unique and accomplished it. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. I have a hard time giving this just four stars because it was so brilliant. This ended with me literally gaping and sitting with about a million gazillion questions I need answers to. I listened to the audiobook version and some of the accents were better than others. “Humanization—the recognition of the ‘other’ as equally valuable as oneself—is foundational to giving and receiving love and compassion,” Byrne has said, and not just literature, but the whole world, needs more of that. But I’ve never read a story like this and I applaud the writer for the great inventiveness. The stories are related and eventually converge toward the end in a surprising and, frankly, story saving manner. But I’ve never read a story like this and I applaud the writer for the great inventiveness. I honestly have no idea how to rate this. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published If you love the fantasy genre, this is the season for you! I couldn't figure out who was the narrator, who was the woman opening the door, or who was the little girl...and frankly I didn't want to spend any more time on this book to try and figure it all out. Then there's Mariama, a preadolescent runaway who is traveling across Africa on the back of a cargo truck. Is it scifi, hallucination, reality…. Just as one of the heroines of The Girl in the Road, Mariama, develops an infatuation with a goddess-like woman named Yemaya, I became obsessed with Byrne from afar before her book was even published. A rather searing bite at the worldwide patriarchy, historical colonization, exploitation of natural resources, religions, mythology, heritage, feminism, emerging technologies, Definitely unsettling!! With my own liberal upbringing and education at the same women’s college, I am wary when a person of privilege decides to speak for someone without, but Byrne is self-aware and has grappled with her decision. I in charge of finding good reads for my book club. Not sure how much of this or when this will show up on my blog, so I decided to post here. moment that so many victim-blamers need to see. First things first: Byrne can tell a damn good story. Welcome back. A disarming debut from an incredibly talented writer who puts her playwright skills to good use with a theatrical employment of literary devices (meaning: she kind of beats you over the head with the symbolism, foreshadowing, unreliable narrators, and tricksy tech switcharoos, but looking at these reviews, it still fooled a lot of readers wh. Too bad. There has been another sexual revolution, this time in India, and now people are out as trans*, polyamorous, bisexual, and homosexual without a second thought. I can see fistfights breaking out. One, much like its heroines, that's just too difficult to like or enjoy. I asked who she met at the ends the book. I'm very confused a. Whether to like it or not at times, who is who in the woven storylines of Meena and Mariana, Yemaya, the barefoot girl, Mohini… like other reviewers. But then it meanders. I want to chew up the pages and throw em up, just as sort of some symbolic gesture. This novel hits the mark on both of those things. With this book it is actually difficult to explain my experience. I was slightly disappointed by the ending of the book, but overall I was excited to read a book about queer characters in a non-u.s.-centric setting. as I nearly fell off the Stairmaster. Overall ratings for this book are low yet I have 3 friends who have rated it 4+ (and they were clearly right). Also, I seriously should have read this on my Kindle so that I could have searched in the book. Thanks to First Reads for giving me the opportunity to read this book! The Longest Ride (2015) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.

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