Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

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

95 reviews

ak9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

Brutal and disgusting but beautiful and poignant 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mjchamplin's review against another edition

dark medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War

benjiaprout's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I will bet money on this being the most violent book you'll read. McCarthy writes like no other, if you're going to read this, don't half arse it. I intend to re-read this once I have the capacity to take it in entirely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

luis0n7i's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

Although this is one of the best books I have ever read by far, I would only recommend it to a few people. The prose is jarring at first and if you know anything about this book, you know the amount of explicit and terrible violence that happens within. Despite this, it is still some of the most incredible, impressive and even beautiful prose I have read in my entire life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

gloombee's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

definitely a book for men 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and War

metweedle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

thetatteredowl's review against another edition

 Really enjoyed the book's hypnotic, poetic quality, but it had no speech marks, which is always a dealbreaker. Gave up as soon as I reached page 50. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mmcloe's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

I first read Blood Meridian when I was just coming into my political consciousness at the end of high school. It's staggering to reread it many years later with a more advanced understanding of American history and ideology. Enough has already been said about this to fill a million books but I'll remark that the most fascinating new revelation for me is that the violence of colonialism isn't just physical violence but also anthropological violence. In western understandings of academics and scholarship, we cannot preserve without also destroying, claiming the cultural heritage for our own and leaving only scraps of art and nature and life for anyone else to cling on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

gloomberry's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

ally_bur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is not a book for the faint of heart - check content warnings. Blood Meridian showcases violence front and center as it follows the exploits of a gang of scalp hunters as they devolve into further violence and murder in the American West. This is a gruesome story that seeks to reveal the violent nature of all men - white and non-white - although, in the end, I still believe that this makes a case for white men as villains who exploit and kill with for no rhyme or reason or with no remorse. In my opinion, the character of the judge stands as an example of white man’s twisted thinking - constant intellectualizing to rationalize violence and exploitation to come out on top. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail