Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

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

17 reviews

asililydying's review against another edition

4.5

depraved. how do the 'enlightened' create and maintain colonialism? liberal democracy, a fair republic, founded on the defiled corpses of millions and millions of innocent lives; crimes committed nakedly, bald, out in the open with many a song to accompany them.

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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

theguildwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-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

5.0

I don’t have words. This book is so much work to fully grasp and appreciate, but it is more than worth the work. This is true, brutal art. Cormac McCarthy is a literary force of his own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

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.

eabosch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

namizaela's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

"The way of the world is to bloom and to flower and die but in the affairs of men there is no waning and the noon of his expression signals the onset of night. His spirit is exhausted at the peak of its achievement. His meridian is at once his darkening and the evening of his day."

Granted, I didn't know much going into this book, but I feel like no one talks about how incredibly racist it is? McCarthy writes as if he's getting paid $50 for every slur he uses. In addition, he treats Native Americans and Black people as nothing more than cannon fodder to show how violent the white protagonists are.
Apart from the appalling racism, the plot is basically nonexistent, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but made reading this book confusing. I honestly didn't know what was going on half of the time. I didn't even remember any characters besides the kid, the fool, and the judge.
The saving graces of this book are the prose and the character of the judge, both of which chilled me. However, these merits don't make up for the glaring flaws. I'm disappointed, because The Road was my favorite book of 2020. It looks like Blood Meridian might be my least favorite book of 2021.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization