31
I made an assumption of 'goodness' about two men based on their writing; George Orwell was one and Charles Dickens the other. I feel like I should have known better.
Thoreau did it for me - espousing the virtues of a simple, self sufficient life in nature. I loved his books. Then I learnt all the while his mother was doing the actual “self sufficiency” labour for him like making his meals and washing his clothes and so on.
Been side eyeing male authors ever since
Then I learnt all the while his mother was doing the actual “self sufficiency” labour for him like making his meals and washing his clothes and so on.
Oh no, LOL! You've got to be kidding me. I have always wanted to read Walden and heard so much praise for the humble, self-sufficient way he lived. Mommy doing his laundry and cooking his dinners for him was not part of the hype around that book. 🤣 Isn't Thoreau revered by manosphere types, too, for his hardworking, independent, solitary lifestyle? I guess it all makes sense now.
Me too. I always admired Animal Farm, his essays that I'd read, some of his political ideas and his advocacy of "window pane" prose. I'm disappointed, to say the least, to hear about how he treated his wife. Every man in history who I've admired in some way has turned out to be a massive disappointment, usually in how they treat women.
LOVE Anna Funder, she has written some great books like Stasiland which gives a great insight into how totalitarian regimes operate
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder is published on 17 August by Viking
that explains why in 1984 the protagonist considers murdering his wife because she doesn't enjoy sex with him, I guess
The misogyny of 1984's protagonist was so off-putting I could barely finish the book. I was glad to see him tortured at the end.
I like the book overall, but yeah it sticks out for sure.. even better is when people try to defend him considering raping Julia because 'hes stressed by living in a dystopia' ok and??
Poor woman, she should have been a writer herself, not stuck editing his books. I’ve downloaded his works and tried very hard to get through 1984 and Animal Farm as I know they are classics, but truthfully the writings of men from that era are often quite staid and laborious and I’ve abandoned them as a bit of a chore.
I may be reading too much into this, but based on some of the quotes attributed to him in that article I wonder whether he was not closeted. I find a lot of similar things written about women from “confirmed bachelors” of that time, and honestly how many men do you know that would be bothered by a woman always wanting sex? Add in his “love” for the streetwalker who looked like a boy.
I feel very sorry for her having to endure all she did and probably responsible for a lot of the ideas in his books, when she should have been writing them herself.
The writings from men of all eras are so overrated. Do we have to keep pretending like men have language skills? Go build a house