occasional_owl's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

f18's review

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dark funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5


Most of the male characters (well, cis male, there are two that could easily be read as transmasc) read the same, but they read as just excellent embodiments of the Nice Guy so I wasn't too mad at it.

3.6 average

5 - The Woman of the Wolf
     cw:
sexism

3.5 - Snickering Thirst
      cw:
sexism, mention guns, mention murder, fire, language, racism
 
4.5- Prince Charming
3- The Sisters of Silence
2 - The Cruelty of Jewels
      cw:
rape, alcohol, murder, gore, abusive relationship, fat shaming
 
2- Forest-Betrayal
      cw:
mention rape, mention murder, mention alcohol, mention child rape, mention torture, death, animal death
 
3.5- A Paradoxical Chastity
      cw:
sexual assault
 
3- The Splendid Prostitute
4- The Crocodile Lady 
     cw:
ableism (whether you read her as anthropomorphic or not), minor alcohol, gore, violence

4-  The Veil of Vashti 
      cw:
slavery, minor antisemitism
 
4.5-  The Nut-Brown Maid 
      cw:
guns, animal death, sexual harassment, sexism that could be read as transphobia
 
4-  Sappho Enchants the Sirens 
2.5- The Hell Club
      cw:
alcohol
 
4- The Friendship of Women
3- Svanhild
      cw:
  depending on your interpretation- suicide or death
 
4- White as Foam
      cw:
(mythical) animal death
 
4.5- Bona Dea
      cw:
slavery 
 

lavenderdafrog1's review

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dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

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2.5

Curious English speakers can access in translation several editions of the work of Renée Vivien a British-American writer, birth name Pauline Mary Tarn, who loved Paris and chose French to express herself at the beginning of the 20th century. Most recently the prose collection Woman of the Wolf, originally published in 1904 and first translated to English back in 1983, offers fabled short works in a new 2020 edition by indie UK publisher Editions Gallic as part of a ‘Revolutionary Women’ series.

I prefer Renée Vivien’s contributions as a poetess much more than her other examples of writing, however related each form may be. 

See my blog for an in-depth review

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shelfofunread's review against another edition

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3.0

Born Pauline Mary Tarn, Renée was a British poet who wrote in French and spent most of her life in Paris where her circle included the likes of Colette and Natalie Clifford Barney. This collection, written in 1904, has been newly reprinted by Gallic Books as part of their Revolutionary Women series and, for all that these stories were written over a hundred years ago, they feel as fresh and relevant today as they di when they were first published.

As Angela Carter does in The Bloody Chamber, Renée Vivien deftly re-works familiar materials to reflect her concerns and ideals. The collection contains stories based on biblical tales, adventure stories, classical myth, and the poems of Sappho – one of Renée’s favourite writers. In her tales, Renée Vivien recasts the roles of men and women and plays with expectations and familiar tropes.

As with all short story collections, I preferred some of the tales in this collection more than others. Renée writes a number of stories from the perspective of male narrators and, whilst these make for some of the most disturbing tales in the collection (Vivien’s men are invariably patronising and, often, murderous in their intentions towards women), they were also, for me, some of the most intricate and rewarding to read.

Fans of Angela Carter are sure to find similarities between her work and that of Renée Vivien and will enjoy to fantastical symbolism of these stories, whilst readers seeking to rediscover an important female voice will be richly rewarded with this collection.

NB: This review first appeared on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

meganj0107's review against another edition

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4.0

Renée Vivien combines dark humour, frank observations and beautiful prose to create a short story collection that satirises and examines gender roles, retells myth and biblical tales, and provides a platform for strong women to flourish.

I enjoyed the entire collection, but several of the short stories really stood out for me. I loved Vivien’s satirical portrayal of men’s egotism in The Woman of the Wolf. Written from the perspective of the male narrator, this story describes his experience attempting to ‘court’ the woman of the wolf. Despite appearing unsuccessful, he continually believes her disinterest to be a sign of her love and a reason to persist. When she eventually condemns his behaviour, he is enraged, and yet still believes the woman is attempting to make him fall further in love with her. This misguided way of thinking – which is reminiscent of the way catcalling is often portrayed as a ‘compliment’ or a clear ‘no’ is taken as a sign of playing ‘hard to get’ – is cleverly explored by Renée Vivien and it was definitely one of my favourite stories. This theme is repeated in several of the stories, which unfortunate consequences for the women involved as Vivien portrays the brutality of ego-driven men.

Other favourites included Prince Charming – one of the shortest stories, and easily the cutest – The Veil of Vashti – drawn from the Bible story of Lilith and incredibly empowering – and The Splendid Prostitute – involving a badass woman refusing to be dictated to by men.

It is a text I would’ve enjoyed examining for A level English Literature; I think there is a lot to be explored, examined and unpacked. It does reflect the anti-semitism and racism views of the period in which it was written (1904) and this could also be examined under the lens of intersectional feminism. The satirical writing style and frank observations reminded me of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, which I did study at A level, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of feminist literature.

gretchen3's review

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3.0

An interesting collection of stories. A lot of them are from a man's POV, and brag about how awful men are. The imagery is intriguing at times, some times a bit cliche.

meganmagicmusings's review

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3.0

*I received a proof copy of this book from Gallic Books, but all views are my own*

When I pick up a book and read the following on the back cover, I just know it’s for me:

“…perhaps the finest work by sapphic poet Renée Vivien. Blending myth, fairy story and biblical tale, Vivien creates powerful portraits of strong women who stand up for what they believe in…”

Vivien was a British-born, lesbian, Symbolist poet in the early twentieth century, writing in the French language. The Woman of the Wolf and Other Stories is, you guessed it, a short story collection, all about rebellious women who speak their mind and refuse to listen to the men around them. The settings of these stories span the American West, jungles, brothels, ships, and the land of Sappho herself. Some are short retellings of the stories of well-known figures from literature. All of the tales are incredibly short and sharp, often violent and aggressive, and oozing with the language of characters who do not want to be crossed. Each woman stands out in her characterisation, despite the brevity of the story.

My one criticism of this collection is that there are a lot of outdated viewpoints when it comes to other cultures, which is sadly common in a lot of work from the early twentieth century. This is brought up in the introduction to the book, so I am glad this was actually referenced, rather than ignored.

I’d like to read more of Vivien’s work, especially her poetry, as she sounds like a fascinating figure. Her life reads like something out of a book itself, and I can’t wait to find out more about this remarkably-overlooked woman.

The Woman of the Wolf will be published by Gallic Books in November 2020! Two other selections of forgotten classics written by women will also be published by them in Autumn.

actualspinster's review

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2.5

this was an interesting collection but i didnt really ~like it.... but as a sapphic paris enthusiast i did enjoy learning more about [and finally being able to read] renée vivien. i did think karla jay's intro to the collection was pretty trite especially in its attempts to mold viven into a feminist icon... like she's cool and all bc she's gay but like she's a complicated an sometimes gross figure & i dont want to look up to her, i dont need to look up to her to find her work + life interesting. and jay also calls the racism of vivien within these stories [reader, there is lots of racism (especially anti-native racism i would say?)!!!] "unwitting/unconcious" which is like laughable at best lol. i mean im pretty sure there is a lot of work around the connection between the way that those who identified w 'inversion'/sexological discourses of the time around queerness and deep anti-blackness & racism in how they even conceptualise & represent dissident sexuality.... and i think you can absolutely find the beginnings of that in vivien's work too..
most of the stories are rly short which is good or bad depending on the story! i think my faves were the friendship of women (<-- made me cry bc of naomi + ruth), prince charming & the sisters of silence (<-- silent queer nuns :))))

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blankgarden's review

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3.0

My review: https://theblankgarden.com/2020/12/10/review-woman-of-the-wolf-and-other-stories-by-renee-vivien/