The People in the Trees
This book was recommended by a friend, thus my expectations were high. I was sorely disappointed. It started wrong: a man is accused of paedophilia and his friend defends him based on the fact he is an extremely intelligent mind and won a Nobel. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW ACCOMPLISHED OR INTELLIGENT YOU ARE, NOTHING IS AN EXCUSE FOR RAPE. The main character comes across as an arrogant entitled selfish bastard. You can feel in his speech the superiority of the white male. Women are portrayed in a sexist manner; if a woman is smart, she has to be ugly. The menstrual blood is described an another reason to be disgusted at the female form. He even went as far as to say that he hates a woman for the “simple fact that she was unpleasant to regard”. As if a woman is an object for the male gaze. His actions on the islands had terrible consequences to the people who lived there and still he refuses to acknowledge his share of the blame for its destruction....