Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

52 reviews

taicantfly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

A heartbreaking book that chronicles the violence and colonial depravity that went into building the American empire. 

Structurally, it is brilliant. A narrative with the rhythm of its plot, self-similar, meandering, filled with neologisms and words so archaic I had to change dictionary app on my phone, almost hostile to its reader at points. Perfectly isomorphic to a drunken odyssey of carnage through the desert, going nowhere, collecting scalps along the way. The descriptions are vivid and inimitable, leaving me open-mouthed in awe when directed at desert still life and open-mouthed in horror when directed at the intricacies of the corpses of innocents.

It is told from the perspective of The Kid, in my view a representation of the American people. At the start of the book, before the colonial violence begins en masse, these people are nothing more than starving and disposable serfs, isolated from their metropole (the Kid's mother dead) and surrounded by a pre-existing and justifiably hostile ecosystem of Indigenous peoples ("Outside lie dark turned fields with rags of snow and darker woods beyond that harbor yet a few last wolves.") The Kid soon finds the simplicity of violence, a seemingly omnipresent phenomenon and often a means of achieving if not a living wage (hence his stint in the army) substantial riches. Likewise, American civilians soon find they can subsist and blossom off of the violence of slavery and the genocide of natives. Before long violence becomes the Kid's default state, never questioning. He is intrinsically inseparable from the events of the book as both witness and participant, but there will be chapters where his name appears only twice or thrice. Always present, always entangled in immeasurable violence, always detached from the situation at hand. This dichotomy of invisibility and obviousness is one of the most delicious nuances of the book.

As a demonic figure in symbiosis with the manpower the Kid and those like him provide, there is the Judge, inhuman, polite, sadistic, polymathic. He represents the ideological side of American colonial violence, one that is not nihilistically living a cycle of violence he has become too accustomed to to abandon, but a visionary whose motives for violence are wholly expansionist. Seeking genuinely complete control over the physical and mental spheres, as did American expansionism with its murderous westward pilgrimage, he (and by extension the colonial status quo) cannot tolerate threats to his (and its) authority. For this reason he massacres tribes, scapples away ancient paintings. Hell, he says it best himself:

"Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent. He looked about at the dark forest in which they were bivouacked. He nodded toward the specimens he'd collected. These anonymous creatures, he said, may seem little or nothing in the world. Yet the smallest crumb can devour us. Any smallest thing beneath yon rock out of men's knowing. Only nature can enslave man and only when the existence of each last entity is routed out and made to stand naked before him will he be properly suzerain of the earth."

A genocidal fervour like this will only feed off of anything it is given - the Judge, as the violence in the book intensifies, seems to be less and less human, almost immortal, almost omnipresent. Thus is the American colonial-turned-imperialist mentality, in McCarthy's depressed candour, similarly immortal. At the end of the book, the Judge rapes(?) and kills the Kid, the colonial drive turned inwards towards the American populace, a grim prediction of an empire's violence leading to its own downfall. I've rarely seen a metaphor so consistent and incisive as that of the interplay between Kid and Judge and it speaks volumes to McCarthy's writing.

This was the first McCarthy book I read and I was by no means disappointed. A flawless, soul-crushing and very difficult read which I would not recommend to anyone struggling with misanthropic thoughts. This is the kind of book that has no replacement, and if not for its deeply traumatising contents, I'd make it mandatory reading in schools.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

bheller77's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Very dark. Violent. Gory.

ronophica's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

asililydying's review against another edition

4.5

depraved.  The 'wild west' and manifest destiny created a Level of atrocities probably greater than the dark ages. Enlightenment was only bringing pure hateful fire to the darkness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

themagpiereads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A stunning and brutal indictment of Manifest Destiny. A tough read in many ways: the writing is dense, the subject matter is harrowing, the characters are detestable. Yet, it is a propulsive read as well, difficult to put down in spite of its brutality. Did I like this book? Not really. Did I think this book was good? Absolutely. Take heed of all the content warnings if you're going to pick this one up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Excrement, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

anemosise'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

horrifyingly difficult read. i cannot say this was enjoyable, but I find the story it tells to be an especially important one for it's time. took way too much brainpower and now I need to read some lighthearted stories lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

gremlintamer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

This book is A LOT.

juliajaime98's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book took me a shit ton of time to read partly because it's SLOW but also because i was somehow half illiterate after so long not reading prior to this. Anyway, it's def the kind of book that has you sitting like o_o once you teach the end of it, especially the more you think about it. While none of the characters are likeable (besides the horses and dogs), they are all interesting and you want to keep finding out what happens to them. Also the judge's description is both terrifying yet hilarious every time it comes up. I picture him like bald and shiny Donald Trump. Anyway def recommend, although not a fan of some of the language used by Cormac (RIP) because yeah i know it's a western but like bruh... We got it the 200th time you used the same slurs. 

I suck at writing reviews but def give it a read if you got a stomach for gore and also want a tense and creepy story that isn't just horror but rather just encapsulated existential dread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

burgundy_fairy's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

It's masterfully written. It also bored me out of my mind. I wish I could've experienced it as it deserved but I found it difficult to pick up. Maybe someday I can read it better but for now, 3 stars is all I can give.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

I very well may have missed content warnings. I also could not discern their weight. The book is written so that everything is mentioned in passing but also in a very raw manner.

partinel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder