{"id":2798,"date":"2023-05-29T07:19:07","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T07:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2798"},"modified":"2023-07-19T06:46:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T06:46:50","slug":"still-born-motherhoods-to-be-or-not-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2798","title":{"rendered":"Still Born: Motherhood\u2019s To Be or Not To Be"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers! I usually don\u2019t get myself too invested in the Booker Prize or International Booker Prize. Something about those books just don\u2019t call out to me. It\u2019s either the lack of a plot or too technical literary writing or simply because of my prejudice. But, all of that went away with this year\u2019s International Booker nominations. I was delighted with most of the books that made it to the Shortlist. I had no intention of reading them all. But, I knew I wanted to read Whale, Time Shelter and of course, Still Born<\/strong><\/mark>. These three have been Bookstagram favorites and Still Born especially has been read and loved by so many people. This is why I picked it first and yes, I loved it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~THOUGHTS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Still Born is a short book but talks multitudes about motherhood. Not only about having children or abstaining from motherhood, but also much more complicated ways in which motherhood has a long lasting impact on a woman\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is Laura<\/strong><\/mark> whose decision of not having children is firm but because of this she is not able to cherish many long-term relationships. How is it fair that this one decision should come in the way of her finding her true love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is Alina<\/strong><\/mark> who did not want to have children, but later changes her mind. And then she has a daughter whose brain is not fully developed and requires round-the-clock care. How is it fair every single day of being her daughter\u2019s mother is more difficult than climbing a mountain? How is it fair to the daughter to live a life of unimaginable pain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is Laura\u2019s next-door neighbour Doris<\/strong><\/mark> who loses her abusive husband in an accident only for her son to gain his father\u2019s rage which he takes out on her. How is it fair that she had to survive her husband\u2019s abuses only to be tortured by her son\u2019s tantrums which push her into depression?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is Alina\u2019s daughter\u2019s nanny Marlene<\/strong><\/mark> who loves babies but cannot have the same love for young kids over five years old and also cannot have children of her own. How is it fair for her to love a baby who is not hers with all her heart only to move on to the next one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is Laura\u2019s mother<\/strong><\/mark> who has a daughter who does not want children. How is it fair to her that she now cannot communicate with her daughter because of an assumption built into her generation because of the patriarchy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Being a mother. Choosing not to be a mother. Being a step-mother. Being a working mother. Being a stay-at-home mother. Being a single mother. Being a mother of an abusive child. Being a mother of a special needs child. Being a mother of a human being. None of it is really fair, is it? No matter which path you choose, it is going to be filled with moments of doubts, remorse, pain \u2013 not just yours but also the society\u2019s, but it is also going to be filled with moments of joy, content, pride \u2013 perhaps just yours.<\/strong><\/mark> So, given that no matter what you choose, you are going to be judged and maybe that should make your decision easier. And yet, here we are, women, thinking it from a kaleidoscope of others\u2019 needs over our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still Born is a book which you will not be able to put down.<\/strong><\/mark> It might as well be something you read in a day. It does not have a wonderful writing style, no. It does not have too many events, no. It does not even have too many characters, no. It\u2019s not the kind of book where you can judge it by your usual parameters. With its mediocre yet gripping writing style, it will hold your attention and make you question about motherhood and parenthood. That is its intention and it does very well in relaying the complexities of parenthood. <\/strong><\/mark>The only complaint I have from this book is that it did not shed too much light on Laura\u2019s life, or the life of a woman who chooses to not have children. We did get glimpses of how her life is, but I would have liked those glimpses to reflect more on her emotions made from her decisions. Aside from that, this book is fantastic. It succeeds at what it sets out to achieve and makes for a profound and thought-provoking read. I have rated Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel and translated by Rosalind Harvey at 4.5\/5 stars.<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Readers! I usually don\u2019t get myself too invested in the Booker Prize or International Booker Prize. Something about those books just don\u2019t call out to me. It\u2019s either the lack of a plot or too technical literary writing or simply because of my prejudice. But, all of that went away with this year\u2019s International […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-2798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews","tag-favorite-books"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Picsart_23-05-27_21-50-37-982-01-02.jpeg?fit=1080%2C1079&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=19","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":0},"title":"Award Winning Books of 2020!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Hi Readers! You all have already read the 75 books I read last year.\u00a0I thought I will write something more about books! As you all know, I read a lot of prize-winning books. They are guaranteed to be good in most cases & that leave little scope for disappointment.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Award-2BWinning-2BBook-2B2020.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Award-2BWinning-2BBook-2B2020.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Award-2BWinning-2BBook-2B2020.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Award-2BWinning-2BBook-2B2020.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2388,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2388","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":1},"title":"Award Winning Books of 2022!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! It\u2019s the end of the year and you know what that means. Actually, it means a lot of things, because I always have a lot of year end posts to share. But this time, it\u2019s the list of books that won all the major awards the year round\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PXL_20221208_100417931-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PXL_20221208_100417931-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PXL_20221208_100417931-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PXL_20221208_100417931-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PXL_20221208_100417931-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=36","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":2},"title":"Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler Book Review!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers! I sure am on a high lately. I finished another book in 3 days. It was a short book & I could have finished it in a day, but it was really amazing to savor this one by reading not as fast. I have been meaning to read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-6TxTzbZjHxw\/X4QXX89Bb7I\/AAAAAAAAjxg\/O3L8zZfbPd0mAIEziY_umzU8JH47ZHa_QCLcBGAsYHQ\/w225-h400\/Redhead01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3789,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3789","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":3},"title":"Award Winning Books of 2024!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Like every year, I am back with a helpful guide of the award winning books of the year. 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I absolutely loved four of those books and found one of them really intriguing. ~~CARRIE SOTO IS BACK by TAYLOR JENKINS REID~~\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1492,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1492","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":5},"title":"Thoughts on Reading 300 Books in My Life!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I have officially read 300 books in my lifetime!! 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