content warning: today's episode has brief mention of heavy trauma. "I Who Have Never Known Men" is a science fiction novel written by Jacqueline Harpman, a Belgian author. The original French title is "Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes," and it was published in 1995. It explores themes of identity, survival, humanity, curiosity, hope, and yearning. This book wrecked me, but in a very good way. That said, it's not for everyone at every juncture in life. oldlampshades said this, which sadly, I didn't include in today's episode, but better late than never: "What I love about this book is that it’s a story of a human with so much of her humanity stolen from her, yet she still finds herself asking the most fundamentally human questions: why am I here? What does it all mean? It’s a story about how even when born into a society so different from any that exists now, humans will always find love, hope, and wonder.I think what makes it a masterpiece is that we don’t get any of the answers. There isn’t a neatly tied up ending. It makes the book an allegory for life, because we don’t get the answers to those questions, really."RESOURCES: https://www.overdrive.com/media/4678018/i-who-have-never-known-menhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Who_Have_Never_Known_Men https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/11996 https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/10ts2rc/i_just_finished_i_who_have_never_known_men_by/ GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.