Four star review, originally posted here on February 1, 2020.
You have to suspend disbelief to enjoy this book, or else several aspects of it will drive you nuts.
But once you’ve done that, this book is fantastic! My main complaint is that I opted for the audiobook, which means I couldn’t highlight and copy-paste all the amazing quotes and passages. Some of Wolf Larsen’s pointed philosophical ramblings about society could be applied to modern day society.
I’ve seen other reviews say this book is sexist, and I was expecting to feel the same given this is an older book. But I have no clue what these people were talking about. The book is basically an early exploration of toxic masculinity, which is pretty sweet. As a modern-day reader, I actually LOVED the female character and thought she was ahead of her time. She was such a badass! She was a total smarty-pants, self-sufficient, ready to take on hard physical labor and pull her weight, etc.
Helga without the H 