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Butcher
From one of our most accomplished storytellers, an extraordinary and arresting novel about a women’s asylum in the nineteenth century, and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world
In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns. There, he is allowed to continue his practice, unchecked for decades, making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state—women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery, Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit, who becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject, but also the agent of his destruction.
Narrated by Silas Weir’s eldest son, who has repudiated his father’s brutal legacy, Butcher is a unique blend of fiction and fact, a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the American psyche conjoined, in its startling conclusion, with unexpected romance. Once again, Joyce Carol Oates has written a spellbinding novel confirming her position as one of our celebrated American visionaries of the imagination.
In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns. There, he is allowed to continue his practice, unchecked for decades, making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state—women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of nineteenth-century surgery, Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit, who becomes not only Weir’s primary experimental subject, but also the agent of his destruction.
Narrated by Silas Weir’s eldest son, who has repudiated his father’s brutal legacy, Butcher is a unique blend of fiction and fact, a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the American psyche conjoined, in its startling conclusion, with unexpected romance. Once again, Joyce Carol Oates has written a spellbinding novel confirming her position as one of our celebrated American visionaries of the imagination.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2024
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
819 books8,852 followersJoyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is also the recipient of the 2005 Prix Femina for The Falls. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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June 5, 2024
Some earlier physicians were doctors, bona fide surgeons; others claimed to be doctors but were inept butchers. When it came to medical science in the early 1800’s, Dr. Silas Weir, led his own research into the field of “gyno-psychiatry”. WHAT?
This is a fact based story as well as fiction so buckle up and be prepared to be horrified.
We follow Silas' life through his son’s POV. The earlier days, when the apprenticing doctor Weir, was exiled from his family and town for taking needless & reckless risks. A few years later, a distant uncle anointed Silas the Director for the Trenton Asylum for Female Lunatics. Here is where the mad scientist began his experiments. No code of ethics; no governance; Often no anesthetic. Here he had the freedom to test and document his research to ensure publication. Driven by arrogance, ignorance and pride.
This was a compelling yet horrific account of women imprisoned for reasons only a man could determine and treated inhumanely by a man. Weir may have made some significant contributions to the medical field with tools that were never patented, however, given the brutality these women suffered at the expense of his god complex, he was a sadistic torturer who went into a field that he was repulsed by.
JCO, you got my full attention with this one.
4.25⭐️
This is a fact based story as well as fiction so buckle up and be prepared to be horrified.
We follow Silas' life through his son’s POV. The earlier days, when the apprenticing doctor Weir, was exiled from his family and town for taking needless & reckless risks. A few years later, a distant uncle anointed Silas the Director for the Trenton Asylum for Female Lunatics. Here is where the mad scientist began his experiments. No code of ethics; no governance; Often no anesthetic. Here he had the freedom to test and document his research to ensure publication. Driven by arrogance, ignorance and pride.
This was a compelling yet horrific account of women imprisoned for reasons only a man could determine and treated inhumanely by a man. Weir may have made some significant contributions to the medical field with tools that were never patented, however, given the brutality these women suffered at the expense of his god complex, he was a sadistic torturer who went into a field that he was repulsed by.
JCO, you got my full attention with this one.
4.25⭐️
May 29, 2024
How does she do it? At age 85, with dozens of novels to her credit, Joyce Carol Oates knocks it out of the ballpark with Butcher, which may be based loosely on J. Marion Sims, the infamous “father of modern gynecology,” who experimented on enslaved women in the 1800s.
Based on actual historical documents, Oates focuses on the career of the fictionalized Dr. Silas Weir, who heads the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics. He is a strange choice for a director: he feels an outright repugnance for female “private parts,” which he views as a “hellish spectacle for the eye.” Nor does this so-called Christian possess any love for the downtrodden, the mentally ill, or the mostly Irish indentured servants of the Asylum.
Oates writes in a Victorian gothic tone, which adds to the authenticity of this novel. It takes a strong stomach to read about the grotesque medical experiments he performs on these unwitting women. For an author who has never shied away from the brutal side of human nature, Oates pulls no punches in this book. It’s even darker because it is based on what really happened in the 1800s to women who were treated worse than chattel.
Still, this book is impossible to put down, particularly in Dr. Weir’s interactions with the young Irish indentured servant, Brigit, an angelic-looking, mute albino. After transforming her life by curing her fistula – an opening in the vaginal wall that creates a constant seepage of urine, causing women to become pariahs – he takes her under his wing as his nurse assistant.
The splendidly advanced themes – particularly at these times with the erosion of women’s rights and the victimization of the disenfranchised – are haunting. As we readers sink deeper into the depravity and downright evil of Dr. Weir’s soul, we get a greater sense of what twisted misogyny can do. Yet Oates never crosses the line by making Dr. Weir a caricature; rather, she also reveals the lost promise of a man who hungered to develop innovative treatments for problems like fistula after childbirth and is partially a product of his times.
I was fascinated by Butcher, and it will stick with me. A big thanks to Alfred A. Knopf, publisher, for enabling me to become an early reviewer in exchange for an honest review.
Based on actual historical documents, Oates focuses on the career of the fictionalized Dr. Silas Weir, who heads the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics. He is a strange choice for a director: he feels an outright repugnance for female “private parts,” which he views as a “hellish spectacle for the eye.” Nor does this so-called Christian possess any love for the downtrodden, the mentally ill, or the mostly Irish indentured servants of the Asylum.
Oates writes in a Victorian gothic tone, which adds to the authenticity of this novel. It takes a strong stomach to read about the grotesque medical experiments he performs on these unwitting women. For an author who has never shied away from the brutal side of human nature, Oates pulls no punches in this book. It’s even darker because it is based on what really happened in the 1800s to women who were treated worse than chattel.
Still, this book is impossible to put down, particularly in Dr. Weir’s interactions with the young Irish indentured servant, Brigit, an angelic-looking, mute albino. After transforming her life by curing her fistula – an opening in the vaginal wall that creates a constant seepage of urine, causing women to become pariahs – he takes her under his wing as his nurse assistant.
The splendidly advanced themes – particularly at these times with the erosion of women’s rights and the victimization of the disenfranchised – are haunting. As we readers sink deeper into the depravity and downright evil of Dr. Weir’s soul, we get a greater sense of what twisted misogyny can do. Yet Oates never crosses the line by making Dr. Weir a caricature; rather, she also reveals the lost promise of a man who hungered to develop innovative treatments for problems like fistula after childbirth and is partially a product of his times.
I was fascinated by Butcher, and it will stick with me. A big thanks to Alfred A. Knopf, publisher, for enabling me to become an early reviewer in exchange for an honest review.
April 28, 2024
It's true, most of my surgeries were performed without anaesthesia, for the practical reason that, in the early years of my Directorship, anaesthesia was scarcely known. Also, it is scientific fact, as I have explained to Brigit, that female organs have fewer nerve endings than other parts of the body, no doubt to make the rigours of childbirth less painful.
JCO is an extraordinary writer and not least for maintaining the quality of her fiction across so many years. In lots of ways this feels like it couldn't have been written by anyone else: a dark story of misogyny, medical 'research', 'knowledge' of the female body and 'madness' in mid-nineteenth century America.
Dr Silas Weir is one of JCO's monsters: both obsessed and horrified by the nascent science of gynaecology and still in thrall to ancient medical knowledge going back to Aristotle and Galen which related female psychology and maladies to hysteria originating in the idea of the 'wandering womb'. As Director of a 'lunatic asylum' in Trenton, New Jersey (old stomping ground for JCO's fiction), Weir has unlimited access to abandoned women on whom he can experiment to 'prove' his medical theories and procedures, as well as indentured workers who he can make into complicit helpers.
As usual, JCO has done her research and the first person narrative of Weir is based on authentic doctors' papers. Weir's story is a complicated mix of arrogance, fear and a desperate attempt to win Freudian approval from his distant father. His acute misogyny, his lack of knowledge, his contempt for his patients, and his more indictable flaws (desire for the albino Irish Brigit; a gentle slide into laudanum and whisky, more violent appetites that he represses but which slip through his self-justificatory narrative) are offset against some genuine attempts at pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge, however inadequate the foundation.
JCO cleverly widens the scope of the book's points by setting it against debates about chattel slavery and comparing them to the situation of indentured workers such as Brigit. She also, eventually, gives us alternative views from women, including Brigit whose poetic, lyrical style of writing contrasts to the clinical prose of Weir.
There are, inevitably, horrific operation scenes which, importantly, JCO doesn't shy away from and she makes clear the connections between cultural constructions of femininity and the problematic, for many men, female body and associated sexuality which both come under patriarchal ownership:
I was likely the sole surgeon in New Jersey trained to treat vaginismus, at the request of frustrated husbands, who brought me their hysterically 'frigid' wives, to undergo a delicate surgery widening the mouth of the vagina, while at the same time severing nerves in the surrounding flesh, to kill sensation; this, often combined with a clitorectomy of which the wife was unaware.
So definitely a Gothic version of real medical history awash with blood, agony and disturbing ideas. But this remains a fascinating story of the history of women's medicine and 'madness', and the extent to which they were framed via out of date, unscientific and misogynistic schemes of thinking for so long.
Thanks to 4th Estate for an ARC via NetGalley
October 9, 2024
Woo. This book. The synopsis describes it as harrowing. YES. Definitely harrowing. Intense. Eye-opening. Eye-popping, really. Dark. Sinister. Revolting. Terrifying. My first book (I think?) by beloved author Joyce Carol Oates was all of those things. She balances the horror of it all with some of the best, kindest characters you could imagine, but the main tone of the story is bleak and disheartening.
Dr. Silas Weir is the “father of gyno-psychiatry,” with a quite limited education (standard at the time) who eventually performs experimental surgeries on women, no matter the pain, or even the outcome, whether the patient would survive.
The story is mostly narrated by Dr. Weir’s son, who has denounced his father’s behavior and career. There are also snippets from other characters, including Brigit, one of the most endearing, a servant who was once a patient, and later becomes Dr. Weir’s right-hand assistant.
The author pulls no punches with this story. It’s a tough read as a result. It’s a thorough review of how oppressed women were during this time in history, especially how women from different economic backgrounds were additionally put down and disparaged by the “medical” community, talked about as if they were even less worthy than other women of any agency over their own bodies. Butcher is not an easy or hopeful read. It’s the history laid bare for all to see.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Dr. Silas Weir is the “father of gyno-psychiatry,” with a quite limited education (standard at the time) who eventually performs experimental surgeries on women, no matter the pain, or even the outcome, whether the patient would survive.
The story is mostly narrated by Dr. Weir’s son, who has denounced his father’s behavior and career. There are also snippets from other characters, including Brigit, one of the most endearing, a servant who was once a patient, and later becomes Dr. Weir’s right-hand assistant.
The author pulls no punches with this story. It’s a tough read as a result. It’s a thorough review of how oppressed women were during this time in history, especially how women from different economic backgrounds were additionally put down and disparaged by the “medical” community, talked about as if they were even less worthy than other women of any agency over their own bodies. Butcher is not an easy or hopeful read. It’s the history laid bare for all to see.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
October 13, 2024
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2024...
Después de un comienzo arrollador, tengo que admitir que a medida que iba avanzando más le iba viendo las costuras a esta novela y ya hacía la mitad ya fui consciente que el tono no iba a cambiar. Por mucho que adore a JCO, esta novela no se encuentra entre lo mejor que haya escrito: repetitiva y hasta aburrida, el problema que he tenido con ella puede estar en que no he reconocido su estilo aquí, aunque si la temática que es muy atractiva. Sin entrar en profundizar en el argumento, aquí la autora se ha limitado más bien a contar y repetir hasta la saciedad las técnicas del medico carnicero que además convierte en narrador durante la mayor parte de la novela. Los pequeños atisbos de las mujeres que forman parte de la historia, me han parecido pobremente esbozados.
El flujo de conciencia tan característico en ella, loco y vibrante, aquí casi brilla por su ausencia. Un libro regulero de la Oates, es un libro bueno para cualquier otro autor que narre lo mismo, pero así y todo me ha aburrido soberanamente este Carnicero. El problema no es la historia sino en cómo elige narrarla, apenas dejando nada a la imaginación. Y lo siento porque viene de quien viene...
Qué pena... pero al igual que llegado un punto yo puse el piloto automático para acabarla, tengo la sensación de que a JCO le pasó lo mismo...
"Aunque padre consideraba la vagina un agujero infernal de suciedad y corrupción y que los genitales femeninos eran unos órganos repugnantes en cuanto a su diseño, función y estética, por interdicción del Señor, por allí nacimos nueve de nosotros, por los lomos de padre y la matriz de nuestra querida madre..
La fémina, esa mantis depredadora. Bajo la finura y los corsés, ¡vaya diablos!"
January 7, 2025
—— 𝟻 ✰ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ. 🪓
📖: 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ★★★★★
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 📻 ᴍᴀᴅ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ♪ ᴛᴀʏʟᴏʀ ꜱᴡɪꜰᴛ
ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
🪓 ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀʏ
🪓 ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ
🪓 “ɪ ꜱᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴꜱ’ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ & ᴡʀᴏɴɢꜱ”
✏️﹏ Phew. Butcher is a horrifying & uncomfortable read to say the least. Although despite how disturbing it is, it's also just as intriguing with an incredible story being told. However, I would not recommend this to everyone due to the graphic/sensitive subject matter. That being said, this book is a little hard for me to rate; I can't necessarily say it was enjoyable given the content, but I was invested & did not want to stop reading. Butcher shed light on women who were imprisoned for reasons (“hysteria” being one of the most common) only a man could determine. It showed the oppression of women during this time period, especially women from different economic backgrounds & race, the lack of care they received as well as no voice as to what could be done to their bodies. As someone who works in the medical field, I was enraged by what these women experienced. Reading this book during the election hit a little too close to home with women’s rights over their own bodies still being up for debate. We have come so far, but we still have such a long way to go & this book encourages me not to rest on our fight. So yeah this ended up being the perfect rage read for me & refueled my hatred towards the patriarchy. If you think you can stomach the tough material, it’s a story with brilliant writing & wonderful storytelling with a very satisfying ending. ♀♡
❝ 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐈 𝐨𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 & 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧. ❞
📖: 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ★★★★★
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 📻 ᴍᴀᴅ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ♪ ᴛᴀʏʟᴏʀ ꜱᴡɪꜰᴛ
ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
🪓 ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀʏ
🪓 ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴄᴀʟ ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ
🪓 “ɪ ꜱᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛ ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴꜱ’ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜱ & ᴡʀᴏɴɢꜱ”
*ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ
❝ 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 & 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.
𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬. ❞
✏️﹏ Phew. Butcher is a horrifying & uncomfortable read to say the least. Although despite how disturbing it is, it's also just as intriguing with an incredible story being told. However, I would not recommend this to everyone due to the graphic/sensitive subject matter. That being said, this book is a little hard for me to rate; I can't necessarily say it was enjoyable given the content, but I was invested & did not want to stop reading. Butcher shed light on women who were imprisoned for reasons (“hysteria” being one of the most common) only a man could determine. It showed the oppression of women during this time period, especially women from different economic backgrounds & race, the lack of care they received as well as no voice as to what could be done to their bodies. As someone who works in the medical field, I was enraged by what these women experienced. Reading this book during the election hit a little too close to home with women’s rights over their own bodies still being up for debate. We have come so far, but we still have such a long way to go & this book encourages me not to rest on our fight. So yeah this ended up being the perfect rage read for me & refueled my hatred towards the patriarchy. If you think you can stomach the tough material, it’s a story with brilliant writing & wonderful storytelling with a very satisfying ending. ♀♡
❝𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭,
𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢���𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.❞
July 21, 2024
Pretty disappointed by this one as I was certain it would be a new favourite. I mean, a book about a terrifying doctor working in a women’s asylum in the nineteenth century?? Who is able to continue his practice unchecked by focusing on women neglected by the state? True nightmare fuel. And my favourite time period as well!! Alas, no. The start was very promising and I was inhaling the novel at an alarming rate. Then… it got incredibly repetitive and kinda boring? I was dragging myself through the last pages, which was such a shame after such a strong premise/incredible start! Sad about this one. 3 stars.
February 22, 2024
Joyce Carol Oates has never been one to pull punches in her fiction and Butcher goes harder than she’s ever gone before. Silas Weir is the single most horrific character I’ve encountered in the world of fiction, which is a total bummer because he’s based on a real person. This book will challenge you, disgust you, and reinforce how thankful you are that science and modern medicine have come a long way.
June 18, 2024
Holy f*cking shit.
Joyce, wtf. 😳
This is an amazing book, possibly not for everyone 😳
I quite literally had a nightmare and nothing scares me.
So… 👀 yeah. Probably too close to home in regard to some of those asylums for “hysterical” woman but I’m leaving that thread alone because I’ll never stop yapping at you.
This book was incredibly visual for me (good or bad, I’m not sure yet lol).
I recommend it with caution to whatever your trigger warnings may be.
Joyce, wtf. 😳
This is an amazing book, possibly not for everyone 😳
I quite literally had a nightmare and nothing scares me.
So… 👀 yeah. Probably too close to home in regard to some of those asylums for “hysterical” woman but I’m leaving that thread alone because I’ll never stop yapping at you.
This book was incredibly visual for me (good or bad, I’m not sure yet lol).
I recommend it with caution to whatever your trigger warnings may be.
November 20, 2024
¡Hola, lectores!
¿Alguna vez se han preguntado hasta dónde es capaz de llegar alguien en nombre de la ciencia? Pues eso es justo lo que explora Joyce Carol Oates en “Carnicero”, una novela que te deja con la boca abierta y el corazón encogido.
Esta historia nos lleva de la mano de Jonathan Weir, hijo del famoso (o más bien infame) doctor Silas Weir, un médico del siglo XIX que se convirtió en pionero de la llamada “ginopsiquiatría”. Pero no se dejen engañar por el término elegante; lo que hacía este hombre era, básicamente, experimentar con mujeres indefensas en un psiquiátrico. Sí, un horror absoluto.
Lo que más me impactó de la novela es cómo Oates logra que, mientras estás horrorizada por los experimentos y las atrocidades de Weir, no puedas dejar de leer. ¿Cómo lo hace? Bueno, parte del truco está en las múltiples voces que componen la historia: la de Jonathan, que intenta descifrar quién era realmente su padre; las memorias del propio doctor, que dan escalofríos; y sobre todo, la voz de Brigit, una de sus pacientes, que te rompe el alma.
Algo que me dejó reflexionando mucho es cómo el libro no solo habla de ciencia y medicina, sino también del lugar de las mujeres en la sociedad de la época (y en la historia, en general). Las pacientes de Weir eran vistas como desechables, “morralla y quincalla”, como él mismo decía. Y en esa brutalidad, Oates nos recuerda lo fácil que es deshumanizar a alguien cuando tienes poder sobre él.
El estilo de Oates es envolvente, aunque a veces un poquito denso (aviso: hay descripciones médicas que son gráficas y fuertes). Pero cada palabra tiene un propósito: meterte en ese mundo oscuro y que te preguntes, como lectora, hasta dónde justificamos las acciones de alguien en nombre del progreso.
En resumen, “Carnicero” es una novela que no te deja indiferente. Es dura, incómoda y desgarradora, pero también necesaria. Si te gustan las historias que te sacuden y te hacen reflexionar, no dejes de leerla. Eso sí, prepárate para salir de tu zona de confort. Gracias a Oates por regalarnos este viaje al pasado que, en el fondo, dice mucho del presente.
¿Alguna vez se han preguntado hasta dónde es capaz de llegar alguien en nombre de la ciencia? Pues eso es justo lo que explora Joyce Carol Oates en “Carnicero”, una novela que te deja con la boca abierta y el corazón encogido.
Esta historia nos lleva de la mano de Jonathan Weir, hijo del famoso (o más bien infame) doctor Silas Weir, un médico del siglo XIX que se convirtió en pionero de la llamada “ginopsiquiatría”. Pero no se dejen engañar por el término elegante; lo que hacía este hombre era, básicamente, experimentar con mujeres indefensas en un psiquiátrico. Sí, un horror absoluto.
Lo que más me impactó de la novela es cómo Oates logra que, mientras estás horrorizada por los experimentos y las atrocidades de Weir, no puedas dejar de leer. ¿Cómo lo hace? Bueno, parte del truco está en las múltiples voces que componen la historia: la de Jonathan, que intenta descifrar quién era realmente su padre; las memorias del propio doctor, que dan escalofríos; y sobre todo, la voz de Brigit, una de sus pacientes, que te rompe el alma.
Algo que me dejó reflexionando mucho es cómo el libro no solo habla de ciencia y medicina, sino también del lugar de las mujeres en la sociedad de la época (y en la historia, en general). Las pacientes de Weir eran vistas como desechables, “morralla y quincalla”, como él mismo decía. Y en esa brutalidad, Oates nos recuerda lo fácil que es deshumanizar a alguien cuando tienes poder sobre él.
El estilo de Oates es envolvente, aunque a veces un poquito denso (aviso: hay descripciones médicas que son gráficas y fuertes). Pero cada palabra tiene un propósito: meterte en ese mundo oscuro y que te preguntes, como lectora, hasta dónde justificamos las acciones de alguien en nombre del progreso.
En resumen, “Carnicero” es una novela que no te deja indiferente. Es dura, incómoda y desgarradora, pero también necesaria. Si te gustan las historias que te sacuden y te hacen reflexionar, no dejes de leerla. Eso sí, prepárate para salir de tu zona de confort. Gracias a Oates por regalarnos este viaje al pasado que, en el fondo, dice mucho del presente.
December 23, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★
”For all the Brigits—the unnamed as well as the named, the muted as well as those whose voices were heard, the forgotten as well as those enshrined in history.”
Butcher tells the story of Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry”, as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns.
⟡•—— ・ ₊˚🩸♱‧₊˚. ・ ——•⟡
Oates forged a striking brew of horror, insanity, hopelessness and imprisonment, crafting, in a very raw manner, a commentary on an era where patriarchy brutally dictated societal norms placed on women, highlighting the devastating impact of male control.
Depicted as a weak-minded individual, Silas Weir is mocked and distrusted both in his familiar relationships and in his professional career. Although painted in a somewhat naive light in the beginning of the novel, he is quick to turn into a cruel and torturous barbarian in possession of narcissistic tendencies. Never questioning himself and lacking empathy for the women held against their will in his asylum, he only shows cruelness to patients, immigrants, slaves and workers. Weir’s actions serve as a reminder of the pervasive and unchecked power men historically held and still hold over women.
The author doesn’t shy away from the descriptive ways in which men wield their power over our female characters who are, although resilient, ensnared within a culture that both devalues and exploits them.
Feminist overtones permeate the plot and the tension between men and women isn’t just a backdrop - it’s the very essence of the novels heart.
”For all the Brigits—the unnamed as well as the named, the muted as well as those whose voices were heard, the forgotten as well as those enshrined in history.”
Butcher tells the story of Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry”, as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns.
⟡•—— ・ ₊˚🩸♱‧₊˚. ・ ——•⟡
Oates forged a striking brew of horror, insanity, hopelessness and imprisonment, crafting, in a very raw manner, a commentary on an era where patriarchy brutally dictated societal norms placed on women, highlighting the devastating impact of male control.
Depicted as a weak-minded individual, Silas Weir is mocked and distrusted both in his familiar relationships and in his professional career. Although painted in a somewhat naive light in the beginning of the novel, he is quick to turn into a cruel and torturous barbarian in possession of narcissistic tendencies. Never questioning himself and lacking empathy for the women held against their will in his asylum, he only shows cruelness to patients, immigrants, slaves and workers. Weir’s actions serve as a reminder of the pervasive and unchecked power men historically held and still hold over women.
The author doesn’t shy away from the descriptive ways in which men wield their power over our female characters who are, although resilient, ensnared within a culture that both devalues and exploits them.
Feminist overtones permeate the plot and the tension between men and women isn’t just a backdrop - it’s the very essence of the novels heart.
June 8, 2024
“One by one we were summoned to him. Through glittering eyeglasses examined by him. A crude instrument, to open us up to the Red-Handed Butcher's eyes.”
Joyce Carol Oates’ writing is always beyond perfect, so when I saw this at the bookstore I didn’t hesitate to purchase.
This book features a surgeon who conducts medical experiments on women who had been sent to the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics.
Although a surgeon conducting disturbing experiments on women’s bodies in the late 1800s - he was consumed with the notion that mental health symptoms could be alleviated with certain gynecological procedures. Over time, the surgeon Silas Weir, becomes so emboldened in his approach, thoughts, reasoning, and treatment of women in his care-acting not only as a surgeon but deeming himself the ‘father of gyno-psychiatry.’
Joyce Carol Oates’ writing is always beyond perfect, so when I saw this at the bookstore I didn’t hesitate to purchase.
This book features a surgeon who conducts medical experiments on women who had been sent to the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics.
Although a surgeon conducting disturbing experiments on women’s bodies in the late 1800s - he was consumed with the notion that mental health symptoms could be alleviated with certain gynecological procedures. Over time, the surgeon Silas Weir, becomes so emboldened in his approach, thoughts, reasoning, and treatment of women in his care-acting not only as a surgeon but deeming himself the ‘father of gyno-psychiatry.’
November 9, 2024
Brutal. A veces más un ensayo que una novela, pero un retrato bestial de cómo la medicina del siglo XIX ha concebido a la mujer y su cuerpo, desde la visión más narcisista y delirante del ego masculino.
So much delulu.
So much delulu.
June 4, 2024
3.5 stars
The title is definitely apt. The doctor in this novel, who runs a female asylum, is a butcher of women and girls. This book seems to be loosely based on the real-life figure, James Marion Sims. Known as the “father of modern gynecology,” he performed cruel and heinous experiments on enslaved Black women. In this book, our main character is known as the “father of gyno-psychiatry” and has no issue butchering people of a lower station than him, particularly women who are indentured servants or deemed “lunatics.” His experimental and inhumane surgeries often led to death, which is no surprise. Like Sims, Dr. Weir also favored performing surgeries without anesthesia, which is absolutely barbaric.
Dr. Weir is also quite delusional. He thinks of himself as a genius guided by God, but he’s just a foolish man looking to make a name for himself. He’s a monster and I felt bad for the patients who were abused and taken advantage by him. There are some particularly graphic and brutal surgeries, especially in the second half of the novel. I was wincing at some of the rationale Dr. Weir had for his experiments and surgeries. I do think this novel was a tad long, but overall it was a powerful read highlighting how awful some doctors were back in the day.
The title is definitely apt. The doctor in this novel, who runs a female asylum, is a butcher of women and girls. This book seems to be loosely based on the real-life figure, James Marion Sims. Known as the “father of modern gynecology,” he performed cruel and heinous experiments on enslaved Black women. In this book, our main character is known as the “father of gyno-psychiatry” and has no issue butchering people of a lower station than him, particularly women who are indentured servants or deemed “lunatics.” His experimental and inhumane surgeries often led to death, which is no surprise. Like Sims, Dr. Weir also favored performing surgeries without anesthesia, which is absolutely barbaric.
Dr. Weir is also quite delusional. He thinks of himself as a genius guided by God, but he’s just a foolish man looking to make a name for himself. He’s a monster and I felt bad for the patients who were abused and taken advantage by him. There are some particularly graphic and brutal surgeries, especially in the second half of the novel. I was wincing at some of the rationale Dr. Weir had for his experiments and surgeries. I do think this novel was a tad long, but overall it was a powerful read highlighting how awful some doctors were back in the day.
October 19, 2024
It must be said that while I’ve read a few of JCO’s novels, I’m not a rabid fan although I do appreciate her prolific achievements. BUTCHER stitched together, into one main character, the practices, experiments and surgeries of three physicians during the 19th century. The horrors committed on women in a lunatic asylum resulted in the development of gynecology. The main character, Silas Weir M.D., is best described as a pompous ass without regard, empathy or consideration for his helpless victims. Needless to say, this novel is not for the faint of heart.
December 14, 2024
È stato un po’ come entrare in una canzone di Emilie Autumn. Joyce Carol Oates non sbaglio un colpo.
November 11, 2024
Novela inspirada en hechos reales y que se centra en el doctor Silas Weir, un médico del siglo XIX, que dirigió un manicomio para mujeres en Nueva Jersey. Una persona que lo único que quería era reconocimiento, que siente repugnancia por las “partes privadas” femeninas, un cristiano que no siente ni padece por los enfermos mentales y que le llevo a cometer actos atroces.
Una novela en la que la autora no se anda con rodeos, donde se cuenta con detalle muchas operaciones a mujeres que fueron “objeto” ya que no tenían recursos y además fueron sometidas sin ningún consentimiento.
La mayor parte de la historia está narrada por el hijo del Doctor el cual denunció la conducta y la carrera de su padre, también hay algún capitulo que esta contado por una de las chicas que uso para experimentos y luego fue su ayudante.
Un ambiente muy turbio, muy negro, opresivo, en la que podemos destacar muchos temas morales, el poder de ciertas personas, la ciencia. Un análisis exhaustivo de la opresión que sufrieron las mujeres durante la época.
Aviso que hay que tener estomago para leer ciertas partes, que es un libro denso y con partes técnicas pero que a mi me engancho desde el principio y que animo a dar una oportunidad sabiendo a lo que te enfrentas.
Una novela en la que la autora no se anda con rodeos, donde se cuenta con detalle muchas operaciones a mujeres que fueron “objeto” ya que no tenían recursos y además fueron sometidas sin ningún consentimiento.
La mayor parte de la historia está narrada por el hijo del Doctor el cual denunció la conducta y la carrera de su padre, también hay algún capitulo que esta contado por una de las chicas que uso para experimentos y luego fue su ayudante.
Un ambiente muy turbio, muy negro, opresivo, en la que podemos destacar muchos temas morales, el poder de ciertas personas, la ciencia. Un análisis exhaustivo de la opresión que sufrieron las mujeres durante la época.
Aviso que hay que tener estomago para leer ciertas partes, que es un libro denso y con partes técnicas pero que a mi me engancho desde el principio y que animo a dar una oportunidad sabiendo a lo que te enfrentas.
July 11, 2024
This was a HARD read. I had to stop many times.
For context, I do work in the medical field and reading this shook me.
This history is way way way too close to us in time for me to feel anywhere close to comfortable. With the world the way it currently is, women not having complete rights over their body — how is this STILL up for debate????? — and medicine standards being set mostly by white men… this book is still extremely relevant. It’s relevant to me not just as a woman but as someone who is half Asian, half white.
While I’m grateful for the courses that actively try to discuss minorities, women’s health, and being a part of a diversity committee, I still see glimpses of the horror in this book in much more subtle ways: the mindset, comments, “jokes”, and the unspoken glances, or raised eyebrows of male counterparts.
We still have such a long way to go and this book reminds me not to rest because we have not come nearly far enough.
For context, I do work in the medical field and reading this shook me.
This history is way way way too close to us in time for me to feel anywhere close to comfortable. With the world the way it currently is, women not having complete rights over their body — how is this STILL up for debate????? — and medicine standards being set mostly by white men… this book is still extremely relevant. It’s relevant to me not just as a woman but as someone who is half Asian, half white.
While I’m grateful for the courses that actively try to discuss minorities, women’s health, and being a part of a diversity committee, I still see glimpses of the horror in this book in much more subtle ways: the mindset, comments, “jokes”, and the unspoken glances, or raised eyebrows of male counterparts.
We still have such a long way to go and this book reminds me not to rest because we have not come nearly far enough.
Read
June 23, 2024This morning I realized that my life will be better if I stop right now and return this book. I made it about a quarter of the way.
This is my second JCO and the second I have not finished. It must be me.
I just read The Yellow Wallpaper and I love Virginia Woolf, both have some connection to the main character of this book.
This is my second JCO and the second I have not finished. It must be me.
I just read The Yellow Wallpaper and I love Virginia Woolf, both have some connection to the main character of this book.
May 21, 2024
Butcher by Joyce Carol Oates
Thank you so much PRH Audio + Knopf for the free audiobook and gifted copy.
Blurb:
A novel about a women’s asylum in the 19th century and a terrifying doctor who wanted to change the world.
✨My thoughts:
This story truly is terrifying and uncomfortable as all hell to say the least. Although disturbing, it’s also just as intriguing. It will blow your mind regarding early practices. I found this book a little hard to rate because I can’t necessarily say it was enjoyable* given the content but I also really wanted to finish the book. It was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. I physically read and listened to this book and thought both versions were great. It was just easier to stomach as an audiobook for some reason. I should note that this book is not for the weak but it one that will pique and keep your interest. Especially if you’re interested in some twisted historical fiction! Butcher is out TODAY 5/21/24, happy pub day!
Happy reading 📖
Thank you so much PRH Audio + Knopf for the free audiobook and gifted copy.
Blurb:
A novel about a women’s asylum in the 19th century and a terrifying doctor who wanted to change the world.
✨My thoughts:
This story truly is terrifying and uncomfortable as all hell to say the least. Although disturbing, it’s also just as intriguing. It will blow your mind regarding early practices. I found this book a little hard to rate because I can’t necessarily say it was enjoyable* given the content but I also really wanted to finish the book. It was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. I physically read and listened to this book and thought both versions were great. It was just easier to stomach as an audiobook for some reason. I should note that this book is not for the weak but it one that will pique and keep your interest. Especially if you’re interested in some twisted historical fiction! Butcher is out TODAY 5/21/24, happy pub day!
Happy reading 📖
January 10, 2025
[3.75] One of my favorite authors has penned a dark, disturbing, even grotesque work that uses historical documents to chronicle vile medical experiments performed on patients in an insane asylum for women in the 19th century.
During a library event in Des Moines, Iowa, Oates said the inspiration for this fictionalized composite biography of three physicians was her interest in “American medical malpractice.” Her extensive research unearthed many jaw-dropping details about medical practices in the 1800s, many of which are highlighted in “Butcher.”
Even with the shocking and graphic content, the book became a bit of a slog midway through — yet another example of a novel that would have hit 4.5 stars had it been trimmed by 25 percent or so. But the gripping finale (no spoilers) provides a worthy payoff. And book aficionados can’t help but admire this prolific author in her mid-80s who has written nearly 60 novels.
During a library event in Des Moines, Iowa, Oates said the inspiration for this fictionalized composite biography of three physicians was her interest in “American medical malpractice.” Her extensive research unearthed many jaw-dropping details about medical practices in the 1800s, many of which are highlighted in “Butcher.”
Even with the shocking and graphic content, the book became a bit of a slog midway through — yet another example of a novel that would have hit 4.5 stars had it been trimmed by 25 percent or so. But the gripping finale (no spoilers) provides a worthy payoff. And book aficionados can’t help but admire this prolific author in her mid-80s who has written nearly 60 novels.
July 23, 2024
I have had the biggest reading slump this summer so it has taken me an age to finish this book, but every second was wonderful. I loved the language, it felt like reading a flowing river. No matter that what the words actually said was awful. This is parts of our medical history told in an almost horror like way. This novel might be the best I’ll read this year. It will hard to top this.
“All that is done to us, which we cannot prevent. Which steeps us in sin—if not our own, the sins of others, that stain us.”
“All that is done to us, which we cannot prevent. Which steeps us in sin—if not our own, the sins of others, that stain us.”
June 9, 2024
This latest from the ever-prolific Joyce Carol Oates is not for the faint of heart, or maybe I should say not for the weak of stomach. This Gothic horror is largely set at the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum in the mid 19th century, where the female inmates—er, patients—are entirely at the mercy of the director, a doctor bent on making a name for himself by conducting horrific experiments, surgical and otherwise, on the hapless women. (JCO explains in an afterward that Dr. Silas Weir was a real-life doctor, but that her character is a fictionalized amalgam of three real-life 19th- and 20th-century medical figures, borrowing many events from their lives.) Medicine was, to put it mildly, still very crude in the 1850s, anesthesia nonexistent or imperfectly understood, and attitudes and opinions about women’s health virtually medieval. And don’t forget the beliefs of the comfortably middle-class that those from the underclass were not fully human, not feeling pain like more refined (richer) folk, for instance, thus giving this forerunner of Dr. Mengele the licence to carry on his evil surgeries and “treatments,” secretly burying the evidence afterwards. But wait—there’s more! (Hope you’re hearing those old K-Tel TV ads in your head.) Dr. Weir is a dyed-in-the-wool misogynist, being utterly disgusted by women’s bodies and resentful that he has somehow been sidelined into the field of being a women’s doctor. Just horrifically, shockingly brutal, all the more so for being ripped from the pages of history.
December 28, 2024
This is based on facts that are terrifying. I had to stop reading several times due to the horrible events going on.
October 30, 2024
Me ha impactado demasiado esta lectura.
.
This reading has had a huge impact on me.
.
This reading has had a huge impact on me.
December 2, 2024
This is a truly horrifying novel about early gynecology “experiments” on women in a mental institution in Trenton, New Jersey. Based on three historical physicians, this books opens the curtain on the unchecked power of physicians over the powerless. This is not a book for the faint hearted!
November 11, 2024
This book was extremely harrowing and disturbing to read but I feel essential for every woman and ESPECIALLY MEN to read. It is a combination of fiction and nonfiction, nonfiction being based on a real doctor that was coined the "father of modern gyro-psychiatry" but fiction because the name in Butcher was different than the real life doctor. It is so saddening to know women were treated as disgusting less than humans for natural gynecological problems. But it definitely tracks in today's society, being a woman that has been mistreated and misunderstood by countless women's health doctors. Everyone should know about these horrors and understand how women were treated in the (not so far away) past.
July 2, 2024
A work of fiction based on historical documents about the father of gyno-psychiatry, who experimented on patients at asylums in the 1800s. So nasty and gruesome I had to put it down at times. But it’s Joyce Carol Oates, so the writing is so compelling that you don’t want to. I learned a lot from this book…some that I wish I didn’t know. Without giving too much away, I will say that the ending was very satisfying.
June 2, 2024
3.5, but kinda wanted more?
October 22, 2024
Actually DNF at 65%. Usually, I go in to a book intentionally unknowing what to expect but follow ratings from readers whose opinions generally align with mine. I do not like reviews that are book reports and tend to glance at just the first couple of lines to save myself the surprise of the book.
Whelp.. not so smart this time. I was expecting a horror story for my Halloween reading. While yes indeed, there are horrors here based on real people and events, this was like reading a laundry list of all the awful things perpetuated by Mengele in Auschwitz. It’s a beautifully and terribly wrought laundry list, but it still became repetitive. I already knew what a fistula was from an older (and better book), so perhaps that took away some of the novelty, if that is the way to put it.
I just found better October horror elsewhere. It’s not the author; it’s me. 3.5
Whelp.. not so smart this time. I was expecting a horror story for my Halloween reading. While yes indeed, there are horrors here based on real people and events, this was like reading a laundry list of all the awful things perpetuated by Mengele in Auschwitz. It’s a beautifully and terribly wrought laundry list, but it still became repetitive. I already knew what a fistula was from an older (and better book), so perhaps that took away some of the novelty, if that is the way to put it.
I just found better October horror elsewhere. It’s not the author; it’s me. 3.5
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