Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
The wetness is dripping off my fingers.
I'd ripped my ass open on the metal foot pedal of the hospital bed.
I did it to get my parents back together.
I didn't succeed.
That is the ride you take with Wetlands: sexual intrigue followed by something disgusting and ending with pity and despair.
I started this novel because I love great intros. It started with hemorrhoids: “As far back as I can remember, I’ve had hemorrhoids (pg 1, line 1)”. The author of this book states, “this is going to be one of those shocking & refreshing novels dispelling the illegitimate fears society has placed in women about the untidiness of our natural selves”. I was ready to examine the female body in an intense, personal, and unashamed way. I thought it would forever eradicate all self-conscious fears I had of my body: I am constantly concerned about smelling like fish (which any Massengil or Summer’s Eve commercial will convince you that you do). At the very least, I thought it would be interesting.
Interesting it was, shocking it was, refreshing definitely not. The novel is both erotic, repulsive, and sad, which leaves you feeling that the protagonist is just as unresolved & broken at the end of the novel as she was at the beginning.
What is supposed to pass as an unflinchingly glare into female anatomy and sexuality translates into a girl’s desperate plea to be loved by the ones who are supposed to love her: mom and dad. Her desperate plea is shouted with actions: the many men she beds, her exhibitionist nature to garner attention, and her abhorrence at being alone.
I learned nothing from this book as the protagonist learned nothing as well. She leaves, at the end, on the arms of a nurse she plans to bed when they get home, torn ass and all.
Bonus points: smegma was EVERYWHERE! :D
Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody with William Hoffer
I don’t normally read biographies but my mother has always thrown this story at me whenever I dated a foreigner. “He might kidnap your kids to his country and you’ll never get them back. Just like ‘Not Without My Daughter’”. Apparently this novel was a hit movie in the 80s that reinforced that Americans should stay with Americans. Or was the message that Americans should not marry Iranians? Hmmm…
Regardless, I picked up this novel since I had a 14-hour layover in Abu Dhabi on my trip home from Qatar. Add the fact that I am seriously dating a foreigner and there you have it: me sitting in a leather armchair at a closed coffee house reading the novel and waiting for the airport to open.
I finished all 518 pages before we reached the Atlantic (pat myself on the back). It was a fast read, it was action packed, and it had a good ending (the lady did get her daughter in the end, sorry to spoil that ending for you).
Throughout the novel, though, I wondered why this woman married this guy in the first place. Yes, he was kind and thoughtful when she met him but she didn’t respect his country or culture at all. Everything was fine as long as he acted American, was pro-America, and disassociated himself from Iranian culture. She allowed Iranian cooking into her life but that is as far as it was allowed to go. Her comfort zone was limited to American standards only. So, why would she marry a foreigner? Why did she not take time to understand his country and culture? Why was she shocked to learn that people do not stray far from their roots? It is not all this woman’s fault that she was deceived. Her husband, Moody, was also to blame. But I always feel there is more onus on the woman to investigate the potential pitfalls because the woman has more to lose out of the deal if the marriage goes awry.
The lesson I did learn from this woman’s story is to know not just your man but his country and culture too. If you cannot live with that, then you probably cannot live with him till death do you part.
