Official Review: Too Many Women by R. M. Zurkan
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Official Review: Too Many Women by R. M. Zurkan
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Too Many Women" by R. M. Zurkan.]
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The book “Too Many Women,” takes place in the 1950’s in New York City, NY and tells the story of Regina’s struggle as a single parent immigrant in America. Regina has relatively no education, works at a low paying job, and dedicates the majority of her time worrying about her family and attempting to marry off her 14 year old daughter to a diplomat or a millionaire; thereby living the American dream. The author takes readers through Regina’s thought processes and the way other Hungarian immigrant women viewed their place in the United States and what a woman’s role was in society. This novel is a work of fiction.
After reading this book, I find myself wanting to give the rating of a 2.5- 3, just so that I can get someone else’s opinion about this book. I had two different reactions. On one hand, I think “What ultimately was the author trying to convey to its readers?” Was it that in the 1950’s Hungarian women in America, who had little to no education, had such low self-esteem and little to no confidence in herself and her family that she along with her family looked to others to validate their opinions on everything in life. That they thought that in order to be successful in life they needed to have tied themselves to rich men who have jobs regardless of anything else. That men were always smarter than women, were never wrong, and must be catered to, and if you didn’t then as a wife and woman you were worthless.
On the other hand, I think that this book showed the evolution women and progressive thinking. Ultimately, America is made up of a nation of people who immigrated there. This story showed how cultures changed and became interwoven with differing cultures as diverse groups of people worked and lived together. This story also demonstrated how women’s views of themselves became somewhat more progressive thinking and free from cultural restraints through the actions and conversations Regina had with her daughters.
If I look at it from the second stand point, I can honestly say that I like what the author was conveying; that things and people are constantly changing. But, if that is one of the things that the author was conveying I had to go digging for it… It was not obvious at all. Half the time while I was reading the book I had to ask myself whether or not I was missing something. There is no way how this woman (the protagonist) could be this ignorant in terms of business, or have such a low opinion of herself, her offspring, of women in general. It was almost as if she was being willfully naïve, gullible, ignorant and never trying too hard to better her situation; kind of like she was afraid to do well.
Essentially, I thought this novel was a decent read, even though it slightly offended my feminist sensibilities. When I think about it, the title was very apt as this story contained too many opinions from stubborn women who had a skewed view of the world they lived in and their place in it. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
***
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After reading this book, I find myself wanting to give the rating of a 2.5- 3, just so that I can get someone else’s opinion about this book. I had two different reactions. On one hand, I think “What ultimately was the author trying to convey to its readers?” Was it that in the 1950’s Hungarian women in America, who had little to no education, had such low self-esteem and little to no confidence in herself and her family that she along with her family looked to others to validate their opinions on everything in life. That they thought that in order to be successful in life they needed to have tied themselves to rich men who have jobs regardless of anything else. That men were always smarter than women, were never wrong, and must be catered to, and if you didn’t then as a wife and woman you were worthless.
On the other hand, I think that this book showed the evolution women and progressive thinking. Ultimately, America is made up of a nation of people who immigrated there. This story showed how cultures changed and became interwoven with differing cultures as diverse groups of people worked and lived together. This story also demonstrated how women’s views of themselves became somewhat more progressive thinking and free from cultural restraints through the actions and conversations Regina had with her daughters.
If I look at it from the second stand point, I can honestly say that I like what the author was conveying; that things and people are constantly changing. But, if that is one of the things that the author was conveying I had to go digging for it… It was not obvious at all. Half the time while I was reading the book I had to ask myself whether or not I was missing something. There is no way how this woman (the protagonist) could be this ignorant in terms of business, or have such a low opinion of herself, her offspring, of women in general. It was almost as if she was being willfully naïve, gullible, ignorant and never trying too hard to better her situation; kind of like she was afraid to do well.
Essentially, I thought this novel was a decent read, even though it slightly offended my feminist sensibilities. When I think about it, the title was very apt as this story contained too many opinions from stubborn women who had a skewed view of the world they lived in and their place in it. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
***
Buy "Too Many Women" on Amazon
Buy "Too Many Women" on Barnes and Noble
Latest Review: "Destiny Maybe" by Hanzel L. Calangan
