Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Erasure by Percival Everett

3 reviews

mattyvreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

Lord, have mercy…. The more I read Percival Everett, the less I care for his writing. But, I suppose I understand why many people like this book.

Let’s start with the successful elements of the book, for me. First of all, much like the Trees, the concept of the book itself is brilliant. So much promise of premise. The plot is engrossing and the themes are effective. I think it’s a pretty genius idea.

I appreciate that Everett offers an often nuanced critique of ubiquitous and covert forms of racism. He points towards dangerous micro-aggressions directed at Black Americans and harmful stereotypes that unfortunately prevail today.

I appreciate the experimental nature of the interwoven stories and extended metaphors. Even when those are unsuccessful for me as a reader, I think it’s intriguing how the author constructs those tangential narratives.

Ultimately, though, I did not like this book. I really tried to like it, too.

I think Everett is extremely heavy handed in his writing. Large sections of the book are nearly unreadable, as he needlessly occupies pages and pages with Monk’s purposefully boring and long winded writing. There are pages of lists: Monk’s former books, books that have inspired his character, documents, etc.. Also, Monk offers literary critique of everything he reads; criticism that is wholly irrelevant to the story. All of the aforementioned details add nothing to his character, and are horribly and (seemingly) intentionally boring. It’s really unpleasant to read, and it’s completely masturbatory.

We read the entirety of Monk’s story “Fuck,” which is supposed to be horribly written, as much a parody as it is an exposé of racist and unserious readership. Although it is attempting to satirize that style of work, and effectively emphasizes white Americans’ ignorance and discrimination, it also perpetuates many harmful stereotypes and invokes intersectional trauma without care.

In that story, “Fuck”, there are three separate instances of sexual assault, which the reader is forced to engage with in excruciatingly graphic detail. There is casual violence against women, misogyny, anti-Asian rhetoric, ableism, homophobia, etc.. Clearly, the author is trying to draw attention to those things, but the criticism does not go far enough. This is evidenced by the fact that, in Monk’s real life, he has homophobic and misogynistic thoughts and opinions. Therefore, is the story within the story effective as satire? I would argue: not wholly.

Monk is a pretty unpleasant protagonist. He’s just an asshole, to be honest. He’s casually fatphobic, he’s homophobic, he’s mean to his brother and the housekeeper. All of his negative attributes do not particularly make me want to root for him by the end.

I understand that Everett likes a vague ending to his books, leading the audience to wonder what happens next. Still, there are so many huge moments that the reader is not privy to, it seems unfinished.

There is never a discussion between Bill and his mom. We never get a clear ending to Monk’s storyline with his love interest. There is a somewhat hastily ended plot line with his Neo-Nazi half sibling? Very weird.

On top of all of this, there are gratuitous sex scenes including two memories of prepubescent sexual interactions, which are very uncomfortable to read. Didn’t like that at all.

Yeah, not for me….

(Note: Maybe it’s blasphemous to say, but I loved the movie adaptation American Fiction. For me, it amplified the best parts of the story, and edited out the parts that frustrated me so greatly, as a reader.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Ableism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Dementia, Antisemitism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Fatphobia, and Medical content

kreglow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Kidnapping, Sexism, Child abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gore, Violence, Cursing, Drug abuse, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Bullying, Mental illness, Slavery, Blood, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Dementia, Infidelity, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness

sarahbiegelsen's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexism, Cursing, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Death, Dementia, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Violence, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Medical content, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Rape, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, and Body shaming