Women Talking

Women Talking is Miriam Toew's fictionalized account of the patriarchy and misogyny in the religious communities of Mennonites. She should know. She was raised in one and left when she was 18 years old. The story upon which the movie is based took place in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Women and girls, some as young as 3, were drugged with a cow tranquilizer, then raped and attacked at night, while they were sleeping. The women were told that it was demons attacking them. It wasn't until two of the men were caught in the act, the victims waking up, that a group of men finally admitted to perpetrating the brutal attacks.

My community book club decided to try something a little different for June. We selected Women Talking by Miriam Toews with the option to either read the book or watch the movie that is streaming on Amazon Prime. Because the book is typically better than the movie, and I was able to get the novel from the library without a wait, I read the book and only then watched the movie.

How did the movie compare to the book? Did I have a preference for one over the other?

The book was definitely a more complete story. In both the book and the movie, August, a failed farmer and the only male over the age of 12 that the women feel they can touch, is tasked with recording the minutes of the meeting where the women discuss if they should stay and do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. In the book, we get to learn August's story. In the movie, he is just another character in the story of the women.

The book was a little hard to follow. The names were unfamiliar and one was too similar to the next. It made it hard for me to keep the relationships between the women straight. In that respect, the movie was better. It was easier to follow which character was which and the relationships seemed less important. 

Both the book and the movie were pretty graphic. The story is horrific whether you're reading it or watching it. But the visuals in the book were, on some level, much more disturbing. Don't get me wrong. The book is incredibly disturbing as well. Hard to believe these attacks went on for such a long period of time.

As a funny aside, one of my fellow book club members was sitting next to me at a meeting yesterday where we had a decision to make regarding the synagogue. As I sat there thinking about our choices, I realized that they really came down to: should we stay and do nothing; should we stay and fight (renovate); or should we sell our building (leave). I turned to my friend and asked her if she'd read Women Talking yet. Didn't our decision remind her of the one the women needed to make, too. Some of the arguments were the same in both cases. Truly life imitating art.