@reading_recluse@c.im Using "whorish sprawl" to describe a woman being blown backwards by a gunshot remains a highlight(?) 😏

@mollymay5000 Oh no 😳

I always get curious about King's books, but then I hear people describe how he talks about women and young children and I suddenly feel the need to run. 😆

@reading_recluse@c.im I wish I had seen those comments! I would have run before trying this! Now I'm somewhat invested and kind of want to know what happens next haha

@mollymay5000 it's not a very typical Stephen King novel. I liked the style and tone of it, but I can't remember the mysoginistic parts you refer to. Is it perhaps the way the main persona talks about women and not so much the narrator/author? I think that would make sense, cause he's kind of a cliché cowboy. On the other hand: I read the book shortly after it was published, so maybe I was a product of my time back then, too, and just didn't notice.

@Paranoid-Fish Not a single woman that was introduced in this novel was treated or even described like they were a human being, which I don't think is really a requirement to have cowboy aesthetics. Every individual was described through a more or less exclusively sexual lens--even Jake's mother who isn't even really a part of the story doesn't escape this. There is also a moment described that is very clearly rape.

I would definitely say that the general readership probably wouldn't have thought for a moment about the implications of the way this book is written when it came out, but it's very obvious now. I would also venture a guest to say that the active fan base for the series is probably dominated by men.

I think the overall narrative style, if you will, and the story itself is pretty compelling, so I'm going to keep reading. However, the way women are described and treated as subhuman, is really a sour point.

@mollymay5000 Yes, some books age badly, unfortunately I've experienced that more than once. I believe you that it's the same with this one, even if I don't remember exactly; these passages probably sucked back then too. What I do remember is that I never finished the series because the plot got worse from volume to volume. If I were to recommend anything by King today, it would perhaps be his short stories. Then again, there are plenty of writers who are much better (even some from the eighties), so why bother.