Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Un oscuro scrutare by Philip K. Dick

3 reviews

tomasalbanez's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Esse livro é uma loucura. Uma crítica à guerra às drogas do ponto de vista dos anos 60/70. 
Do mesmo jeito que o Kafka te faz sentir a morosidade e o tédio mortal em "O Processo", Philip K. Dick te faz sentir a perda da sanidade pela escrita desnorteada e serpenteante enquanto você acompanha o personagem principal em sua espiral rumo à insanidade. Quase não terminei o livro por causa disso e porque todas as mulheres são tratadas como um par de seios ambulantes (a única com mais personalidade é o cúmulo da Manic Pixie Dream Girl). 
Isso tudo se torna retroativamente muito mais interessante quando você lê a nota do autor e as entrevistas no final do livro que falam sobre a experiência dele com as drogas e suas pesquisas na psiquiatria, além de definir essa obra como "Um romance que trata de algumas pessoas que foram punidas demais pelo que fizeram", não vendo pessoas viciadas como vítimas da guerra contra as drogas, mas como "crianças que queriam se divertir, brincando na rua e testemunharam as crianças ao seu redor sendo mortas, mas ainda assim continuaram brincando".
Não esperem um final feliz.
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flashy99's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A very dark but realistic look at drug-fueled life outside of society.
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v171's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

3.0

This was equally interesting and depressing. I'd heard a lot of buzz about this several years ago when I believe there was a movie coming out, which initially piqued my interest. It details a depressing life of a police agent working undercover as a drug addict in a drug den, but subsequently becomes addicted to drugs in the process. Side effects of this drug include psychotic breaks that lead to him being unable to distinguish reality from hallucination. I found the overall story to be sadly realistic in the way that addicts are both criminalized but also used as tools in the legal system only to be discarded when they have no more utility. The twists were interesting and unexpected, but some of the logic fails when you take a moment to think about it. For example, this seems to be a pretty technologically advanced setting with scramble suits and the ability to hide advanced monitoring software, but for some reason there is still a reliance on getting police officers addicted to drugs in order to infiltrate crime circles. Like.. surely there's a better way. The characters weren't as fleshed out as much as I would have hoped and were honestly just used as props to move the story forward, but there were times when characters did bring a sense of charming realism to a scene or two. Overall, this book was fine. Quick read, but nothing to write home about in my opinion. 
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