Memoirs of a Spacewoman - Naomi Mitchison

**** Weird, but fun

Classic science fiction is a diverse world that has in store interesting discoveries. One of these is undoubtedly “Memoirs of a Spacewoman” by Naomi Mitchison, a strange and crazy book where a woman astronaut tells the story of which she is the protagonist in plain language.

The author shows an exaggerated fantasy as she invents bizarre worlds and aliens, and weaves unpredictable plots within each episode narrated. The main character is Mary, an expert in communications who has the opportunity to put into practice her knowledge in various ways. The style is conversational, giving the impression that Mary is telling you her life, while you have a good conversation.

In general I liked the book, otherwise I would not have given four stars, but there are some aspects that prevented me to add the fifth.

Unfortunately the passing of time is evident (the novel is from 1962), especially in the absurd way in which sex life is imagined in the future. Apparently, it is considered “modern” or “futuristic” for people to have sex with the only purpose to procreate, but not necessarily to create a stable relationship (someone else takes care of the children), and that the entertainment part related to sex is out of fashion, because everyone is busy exploring worlds and doing scientific research. Sex for women becomes a pastime that serves to make children in large numbers (it’s not clear how this could be acceptable, given the overpopulation) by various fathers. And that’s all. The maximum you can expect is that, after a certain age, when they retire, they decide to take one of these fathers as definitive companion.

What a sad thing!

Additionally to this aspect that made extremely difficult to me to suspend my disbelief, there is the colloquial style, which doesn’t favour your identification with the protagonist’s mind.

It is still an interesting and enjoyable read, especially for those who love to immerse themselves in a bit naive and “vintage” science fiction, and realise how much this genre can be varied and how it has evolved over the years.

Memoirs of a Spacewoman on Amazon.