I won 'Satellites Out of Orbit' by Chris Wind in the Member Giveaways section on LibraryThing. I rated it 3 stars.
Chris Wind’s ‘Satellites out of Orbit’ provides a
“contemporary feminist perspective” of marginalised and silenced characters
from myth, legend and modern history. The author attempts to reveal how a
patriarchal society impacts the retelling of stories and history to reinforce
the status quo and is, for the most part, very successful.
The book is divided into 5 sections: epistles, myths,
letters, soliloquies and fairytales. Epistles contains the point of view of
women silenced in the Bible. The concept is novel, but the execution is
sometimes a little awkward. The ‘voices’ of Mrs Noah and Vashti in Epistles are
very entertaining, but this is not consistent throughout the section, making
the characters a little two dimensional. However, in the remaining sections,
most of the characters have a distinctive ‘voice’.
Wind’s style is politically feminist. Issues such as
infidelity, incest, abortion, marriage, childbirth and ambition are examined in
light of how society places constraints on women. Obviously the pieces are
written with a post modern perspective and shed light on how far women have
actually come – from being relegated to childbearing and having to disguise
themselves as men to experience success outside the home to having ambitions apart
from traditional roles realised.
Wind has also provided an extensive appendix and advises
readers to be familiar with the original stories in order to get the most out
of the pieces. However, in the Kindle version, the hyperlink to the appendix is
at the end of each piece, making flicking back and forth difficult.
‘Satellites out of Orbit’ is an entertaining read. To get
the most out of it, the reader requires an open mind. It needs to be taken for
what it is: a subjective view on the subjectivity of literature and history. Wind
exposes how the simple stories that are often considered ‘romantic’, or are the
basis for belief systems, can be used for the subjugation of women. The pieces
also point out that there is still a paradox in our society as women have
greater freedom outside of the home, but are still expected to attain certain
‘ideals’.