Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Die sieben Monde des Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

23 reviews

augie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, War, Addiction, Car accident, Drug use, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Kidnapping, and Sexual content

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Set in Sri Lanka in there 1980s this tells the story of a gay photographer with a gambling habit and frequent infidelities,  who has come to his end and it's trying to navigate his afterlife. First he has to figure out how he got there, and see if he can clean up the troubles he has caused his friends and family. He can travel to any place where people are talking about him, and so he starts to find out a lot more about what was going on around him than he was aware of in his life.

I haven't seen ghosts, spirits and demons depicted in this way before. It's quite a fresh take as a way of unpacking a life lived alongside people who are responsible for huge amounts of human (and animal)  suffering and bloodshed. As a person who rationalises his position taking pictures of heinous bloodshed, in the hopes that he can ruin the reputations of warmongers and bring end to conflict, he is both naïve and reckless.

As a retrospective, 40 years gives just about enough time between now and then for a look back at the political forces at play in Sri Lanka. The foreword is specific about it being a work of fiction, but certain contextual things are irrefutable history. Unpacking some of the ideas about racial frictions in the area, of the colonization and brutalization from various powers, over hundreds of years are myriad angry and frustrated or power-hungry spirits, some of whom plan revenge, or just hate on the living. They are cutting and profane in their expressions of contempt for living people and the history they have endured.

All this is counterpointed by some young dumb 20somethings – a rich jock brat, and his cousin and flatmate, a goth girl with a cynical outlook and artsy friends.

Maali has to decide whether he will go toward the light; will he stick around on Earth as an eternal spirit, remember past lives, or forget everything and be reborn.. will he trade his strength to the demons to get special powers allowing him to affect living humans!.. and are the nasty looking apparitions trying to trick him, or are the clean, white clad "Helpers" the ones who are stringing him along?

Cool book, but a bit hard going if you aren't ok with war reporting. Interesting revelations near the end and a fairly satisfying ending. Worth a read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Racism, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Outing, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Suicide, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Suicide attempt, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Drug use, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Excrement

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

laurafrances's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Suicide, Murder, Blood, War, Racism, Mental illness, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Genocide, and Confinement

Minor: Child death, Deadnaming, Alcohol, and Animal death

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Ableism, Body horror, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Medical trauma

qqjj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Gore, Grief, Outing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, War, and Vomit

unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I can definitely see why this book has been recognised for its literary quality - I've rarely read a novel that has so many lines and paragraphs that have such a poetic profundity. I also think that this story will also teach most readers without deep knowledge of modern Sri Lankan history a phenomenal amount, just as it did for me. My rating has to be limited by a lack of genuine connection with the characters and frustration with the disjointed structure even within short sequences. I think these things are probably intentional, as they are consistent throughout the book, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of readers who can appreciate this approach. It just wasn't something I could get on board with. I also struggled with the fact that this is a story which centres the pain and beauty of human existence, and is excellent at capturing both, yet the inter-character relationships felt lacking in range; they were all very dependent on tension, and there was a lack of softness to throw those sharp edges into relief.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Alcohol, and Confinement

hedsek's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Conceptually I really like this, but the writing style did not work well for me. I only really felt invested during the last quarter of the book, the rest of the time I sort of didn't care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Death, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

As someone who knows nothing about the history and war in Sri Lanka I was a little lost for the first 100 pages but after a quick google and getting further into the book, it did start to pick up and the pieces came together. 

I can understand why this won a Booker Prize and I can agree with that but overall wasn’t my favourite book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Grief

emjbarnes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I usually prefer shorter books, and it took me a while to get through this, but it was so worth every page. There isn't a word wasted and the cast of so many characters comes together perfectly at the end. It's a very difficult read but I'd highly recommend it - just read the content warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Death, Police brutality, Racism, Murder, Infidelity, Gun violence, Child death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, Torture, and War

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

eilatan6991's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, War, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Car accident, Confinement, Sexual assault, Child death, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Suicide