Book Notes: You Will Eat Flowers by Lucía Solla Sobral

If an incel groyper woman-hater decided to write a novel on how feminist theory turns women into crapbuckets of entitlement he couldn’t have provided a more humiliating portrayal of modern womanhood than a young feminist writer from Spain Lucía Solla Sobral. Her novel Comerás flores is a big bestseller among crowds of young female readers who praise the book for its “stunning and brave” depiction of how all men deserve to be #MeTooted into infinity.

Marina, the main character of the novel, is a 25-year-old woman who shares the greatest hope of most female characters in Spanish literature since the death of Franco which is to attach herself to a man who will treat her forever like a cute, endearing toddler. Marina wants a boyfriend who will provide her with designer clothes, a chic apartment, expensive vacations, fancy restaurant outings and who will respect her as an independent career woman even though she is utterly helpless and makes no money.

Young men who can offer a luxury lifestyle are thin on the ground in Spain, and Marina attaches herself to Jaime, a successful businessman and a single father of an adult daughter. At first, Jaime seems moderately enthusiastic about babying Marina but eventually she realizes that he’s abusing her. For example, he asks her to share the gigantic closet in his luxurious apartment with his adult daughter. That’s abuse, isn’t it? Jaime doesn’t remember Marina’s food fads and is not mega happy about her getting sloppy drunk with friends at 4 am and whoring around with other guys. He buys her an expensive bag from the designer she doesn’t like instead of guessing which designer she does like. Such an abusive prick! After 3 years together during which Jaime pays for everything and somehow manages to be supportive of Marina’s pretense at being a career woman, he expects marriage and family. This is the form of abuse that really tips over the scale.

Marina is shocked that years of reading Judith Butler and doing “feminist activism” didn’t prepare her to recognize such egregiously chauvinistic behavior. She finds courage to reclaim her independence while #MeTooting poor Jaime. As I’ve been saying since back in my doctoral dissertation, the main goal of women’s liberation for female characters in contemporary Spanish fiction is to be liberated from the need to grow up. Lucía Solla Sobral and her readers have once again proven me right.

10 thoughts on “Book Notes: You Will Eat Flowers by Lucía Solla Sobral

  1. Good Lord, you have a stronger stomach than me, madam. I could never read a whole novel with a protagonist I hated, that woman in the novel makes me want to smack her stupid. That kind of dependency on a man nauseates me and would anger my mother, she’s had some sort of job since she was a teenager and taught me not to rely on men for money.

    I really don’t understand what happened to Spanish women to make them so goddamn woke, did they really think their ancestors were slaves under Franco? I have a weird perspective since I am a homely, lifelong celibate with no interest in sex, marriage, men or women and a converted Catholic from paganism, plus I come from a Cuban immigrant background whose parents are lifelong Republicans. Abortion doesn’t concern me since I don’t date or have sex or an interest in sex, neither does dating or marriage. I suppose they internalized the message that being a wife and mother is oppressive and that all right wing stuff is evil, I don’t consider either to be bad but not my thing. I am disappointed in my co-ethnics, but I am an American and they can vete carajo if that’s what they want

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    1. It’s my professional obligation to put myself through this so that others don’t have to. 😆😆😆

      But this novel was so ridiculous that I kind of enjoyed it. Women like Marina exist in a hell of their own making, and it does feel good to observe them squirm.

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      1. No Kid, women like Marina may well exist in their own hell, but that hell affects the youth of western societies, including “incel groyper woman-hater” young men. Both are simply amongst the “walking wounded” of a three generation gender war.

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  2. OT (slightly): Have you seen the Spanish series “La Suerte. Una serie de casualidades”?

    I liked it a lot (despite a kind of downer ending). One of the main foci (maybe not intentional? I’ve seen different ideas about it) is how men relate in groups and the bonds that can develop between men even from very different backgrounds.

    One thing I like also (maybe kind of spoiler) is how gradually they introduce el Maestro. You spend the first half of the first episode thinking the series will be about two guys but then one slips more into the background.

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  3. OT:

    An excellent example of Middle Eastern diplomacy:

    A report in The Washington Post: Trump decided to approve strikes on Iran after long weeks of persuasion from Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

    At the same time, Saudi Arabia publicly promoted a diplomatic solution and called to avoid a military confrontation, but in recent weeks bin Salman held several phone calls with Trump and insisted that he give the order for a military operation against Iran.

    Meanwhile, American press mourns

    CNN published Khamenei’s obituary:

    “One of the Middle East’s most powerful men, Khamenei dominated Iran during a reign defined by resistance and resilience – standing firm against decades of Western and Israeli pressure aimed at forcing the Islamic Republic to bend to their will. Under his leadership, Iran expanded its influence far beyond its borders, earning a reputation as a formidable and dangerous regional power to be reckoned with.”

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    1. This is a way for WashPo to rubbish Trump by making his decision unpalatable to his own followers. I wouldn’t trust a syllable they publish. It’s all political propaganda.

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    1. Yes, the US open borders policy has been fantastic for Mexico. It turned it from one of the strongest democracies in the Hispanic world into a failed narco State where cartels bomb tourist resorts. It’s been truly a boon for the country.

      That’s what I mean by primitive propaganda.

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      1. It’s obvious that the graphic refers to dems representing illegals. But keep on nitpicking, that’s all you do. Can’t wait to read your 5D jewlogic posts on the Iran war.

        Stringer

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