[Vwoolf] Woolf in Naomi Alderman's latest novel, THE POWER

[Avery, Todd]

List members in the mood for a modernist scavenger hunt will enjoy Naomi Alderman's most recent novel, a brilliant work of speculative fiction that imagines a future world in which girls' sudden ability to produce electric shocks results in a complete inversion of sexual hierarchies.  A scan reveals allusions at least to Conrad and Woolf, including the following passage: "A fragment of something he read a long time ago floats through his mind.  A flattering looking-glass.  He has to be a flattering mirror for her, reflecting her at twice her ordinary size, making her seem to herself to be strong enough to do this thing . . ."


The same character later thinks, "'This also has been one of the dark places of the earth.'"


Best to you all, with the hope that you're in bright places.


Todd

Dr. Todd Avery
Associate Professor of English
Coordinator, Online English B.A. Program
NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative
University of Massachusetts Lowell
O'Leary Library 481
61 Wilder Street
Lowell, MA 01854
978-934-4184
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