The Summer Without Men: A Novel

“Sometime after he said the word pause, I went mad and landed in the hospital.” So begins Siri Hustvedt’s novel The Summer Without Men. “He” is Boris, renowned rat-scientist and husband of thirty years to Mia Friedricksen – poet, professor, mother, and central character in the story.After her brief stay in a mental hospital, Mia leaves her Brooklyn home for the summer and returns to childhood hometown, a Minnesota backwater called Bonden, in hopes of putting herself back together and to give her husband his pause. In Bonden, she becomes acquainted with a Garrison Keillor Prairie’s worth of companions. The Swans: five widows who form the bedrock of bookclub at Rolling Meadows East, one of which is Mia’s mother. Seven teen girls for whom Mia agrees to teach a poetry workshop. Lola, the young mother next door, and her children.Hustvedt is brilliant as she deftly mixes stories of these associates, phone conversations with her therapist, and email exchanges with the mysterious Mr. Nobody – and, later, with the Pauser himself – along with personal rants, memories, poems, philosophy, literary theory and criticism, and riffs on neuroscience. Mia uses all these tools to rediscover herself, and to both teach and learn from these experiences.There is a good bit of gender philosophy throughout, but Hustvedt utilizes a humor throughout makes some of her sharp points significantly less painful. In short, we feel for these characters. We feel for Mia, and we see bits of her reflected in the lives of those she befriends; in her elderly friend, Abigail, with her lonely, private amusements; in the coven of girls learning to navigate relationships; in Lola’s rocky marriage.The sheer number of characters can at times make it difficult to keep up with, and there were parts where I wish Hustvedt had told us more of the details of the story. That said, some of the best parts of the novel are not in the story proper, but in the fourth wall breaking asides to her Dear Reader, in the lengthy scientific and philosophic excursions, in the unusual and colorful word choices, and in the well placed quotes or poems. And despite any deficit in narrative, she does deliver a happy ending payoff (of sorts). After all, while the subject matter might be heavy, in its heart, this novel is a comedy. Because, as Mia says:“There are tragedies and there are comedies, aren’t there? And they are often more the same than different, rather like men and women, if you ask me. A comedy depends on stopping the story at exactly the right moment.”Overall, a very re-readable novel.

The Summer Without Men is a beautifully written book with many layers. The "Pause" Mia's husband asks for in their marriage (so he can cheat without guilt) that tips her over into madness is just one of them. Aging, coming of age, and female identity and all that it entails are also richly developed themes in the book.I loved the characters in The Summer Without Men and found them to be realistically written. I was a bit disappointed, though, that while the book was supposed to be a book about being without men, men were the central focus. Not just Mia's husband, but her neighbor's abusive husband and Mia's father. Still, I enjoyed how Mia got to know both her mother and her father better throughout the book as her mother revealed truths of her marriage to Mia's father to her daughter. I enjoyed the elderly women characters in the book, as well as the younger ones. The younger women characters in the book seemed just as realistic to me as the older ones. Mia's interactions with the older women and the younger ones in the book showed her to be right in the middle, at an age where she had both things to teach and things to be learned.What I loved most about the book was Mia's humor. I loved that she addresses the reader directly, and you can tell she has a twinkle in her eye when she does. Her ability to see the humor of her situation and her reaction to it completely won me over and made overlooking any flaws and stereotypes worth it.Though I'm sure that The Summer Without Men will not be everyone's cup of team, I am very glad I read this book and will certainly read more books by the author. I don't think it's on par with What I Loved, but it is a very good book with some absolutely brilliant writing that made any shortcomings worth bearing for me.

Mia is a very intelligent and well educated poet and professor who suffers a brief period of temporary insanity when her husband requests a 'pause' in their relationship so he may have a dalliance with one of his colleagues.Hustvedt's novel felt like a brief history of womanhood, feminism and a woman's place in society. It was very interesting to see these themes dissected and analyzed in the context of a broken marriage and mental illness.Hustvedt is obviously a very intelligent author but she tries too hard to impress and unfortunately comes off as pretentious. The book is also dragged down by the protagonist's overwhelming pessimism. Hustvedt makes acute commentary on female friendships and relationships but the book never manages to resonate with the reader because it is written with a lack of warmth. This book is great for readers looking for "chick lit" with brains.

Siri Hustvedt gives the reader a clear eyed view of old age through her 90 year old mother and friends in the retirement community, her own slightly later than midlife crisis and a surprisingly clear perspective of adolescent girls, their cruelty to one another and what lies behind it.Recommended to me by a Norwegian friend, it's a woman's story and too true for many. The author succeeds in giving us a realistic picture of being a woman in today's society without being unremittingly grim. Lively characters and an unresolved ending make this a great summer read.

We all know Siri Hustvedt can write. But what could be thoughtful, epigrammatic prose is marred by frequent citations of high-brow authors and philosophers that detract from an otherwise interesting concept for a book. You've read a lot , Siri - we get it.The book's central character, Mia, is riddled with intellectual snobbery - something I often feel when reading Hustvedt. Being bookishly intelligent does not make you a nicer, better person. Siri should explore themes in her own words and stop borrowing those of others.

"The Summer Without Men" is Siri Hustvedt's fifth novel and deals with how a middle-aged woman responds when she finds out her husband of thirty years is cheating on her. This may sound like familiar literary territory, but Siri Hustvedt takes the reader through such a broad gamut of emotions - loss, despair, love, anger, persecution, depression, hate - that she manages to make the whole experience deeply positive and life-enhancing. She does this with sensitivity, elegance, a sense of down-to-earthness and an appealing playfulness. She ably avoids the trap of falling into self-indulgence and writes without a trace of elitism or arrogance. Her writing is full of intelligence, sagacity and a willingness to learn about the vagaries of our lives today. It's heartening to know that writing and literature can still be so uplifting during a time of intellectual condescension and mind-numbing consumerism. Mediocrity and conformism need not reign. I feel I'm not alone.

This novel was recommended to me by a fan of the author. I was a bit sceptical of the intellectual ties within it as I thought it may become too wordy for the sake of it. However, it was thoroughly interesting and enjoyable. The subject matter of a relationship breakdown and a mental collapse developing into new realm of experiencing life for the main character is intriguing and engaging. Definitely worth a read!

At first I thought this was going to be a very self obsessed book; memoir cloaked in fiction. The latter still felt true to the end but it very soon turned out to be an intimate, thoughtful and thought provoking story. I feel every female should be able relate to some part of this story and to some character(s), especially given that literally every generation is written about. Unusually for me, and much to the credit of the author, but I felt a connection with Mia/writer.There isn't a great deal of plot though; it's more observational and conversational about females of the different generations and their relationships with each other and the opposite sex. Most of what the author writes about I felt that I knew already from my own life experience (we - Mia/author - are coincidentally about the same age) but she so cleverly manages to articulate it all so well. Definitely worth a read and some contemplation too. An interesting book.

i love and have red many of siri husvedt’s books but this one was a major disappointment.. most of it felt like she had written it just to show how masterfully her talent for writing and prose is and how wast her in-depth knowledge of literature. i was terribly bored and non of the characters captured my sympathy, attention or interest at any time. shame really.. what i loved is one of my top 10 books.