Anyone else just want to...

[nemofish]

...reply to many thread on relationships with 'here sweeite, read 'The Womens' Room' by Marilyn French.

I think it should be required reading before anyone is allowed to get married. And also there should be a what / where / how often / why is your spunk frozen in the fridge / Full Porn Disclosure Form to be completed before marriage.

Saying that, if that was the case, I'd still be single. He's a reformed character now though.

Never read it.

Good idea re: form though

You really should E&M. It is an amazing book and I re-read it every couple of years.

nemofish - it should be on the school curriculum. Hell of a lot more use than the shit I had to read at school.

nemofish - have you read any of French's other novels?

Haven't actually, I will amazon them now!

Cool. I've read the three below but found them much harder to read than The Woman's Room - very very harsh and bleak but definately worth reading.

The Bleeding Heart. New York, Summit, and London, Deutsch, 1980.

Her Mother's Daughter. New York, Summit, and London, Heinemann, 1987.

Our Father. Boston, Little Brown, 1994; New York, Penguin, 1995.

Ah that is a problem for me at the moment, I am recovering from a breakdown and I have enough of my own harsh bleak shit to deal with.

I have to say, has anyone read 'Rose Madder' by Stephen King? Deals with domestic violence and child abuse, sounds painful but actually, although heart breaking at times, it shows the grim determination to survive the past that many women dig deep to find.

Thanks nemofish - I have just ordered Rose Madder off of ebay (boycotting Amazon). Looks like a really good book.

I'm sorry about your own stuff you are dealing with and would definately defer French's novels to another time.

You might be interested in Alice Hoffman novels? They have the element of magic realism that I think Rose Madder has in it. I love them. Perhaps also Isabel Allende? (not Paula though as that is the second most depressing book I have ever read)

Also Adrian Mole always gets me through bleak times.