Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Plague by Albert Camus

10 reviews

classical_learner's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

4.0

This would be very fascinating to read alongside Man's Search for Meaning in a bookclub. I am considering the angle that Albert Camus is the French Dostoevsky (maybe Chekhov?).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Mental illness

freesiaelect's review

challenging reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore and Pandemic/Epidemic

musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Chronic illness

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Death, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Gore, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

tisthedamnzuzia's review against another edition

w sensie no to było ok ale nic tam się nie działo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Gun violence

sylviaplathsbitch's review

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Gore

mia7's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, and Gore

begentile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

margztgz's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.5

Having read The Stranger last year, I was excited to pick up my third writing by Camus. However, I can't say I loved this novel as much. I greatly appreciate the absurd optimism (if it can be called that) in comparison to the emptiness that the stranger made me feel. It's like yes! Life is meaningless and any understanding of stability in your life is fragile. But hey, it's not so bad when people can love and suffer together. 

I thought that his writing was very beautiful in some parts of this, and the descriptions of emotional distancing, degeneration, and plague that the citizens experienced is eerily similar to very real experiences of the pandemic. In fact, many of his descriptions were frighteningly specific and made me tear up. Most of the characters I was not very connected to which turns me off. But alas, this is Albert Camus. It is not about connection, it's about philosophy, damn it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Vomit, and Violence

brnineworms's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Reading The Plague in the midst of a pandemic is an odd experience. It’s hard to say whether it makes the story more impactful or less. The idea of a city going into lockdown isn’t particularly shocking to me now, but, at the same time, I can appreciate the accuracy of the depiction in a way I wouldn’t have been able to previously.

At the heart of the story is Camus’s absurdist philosophy. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say it has genuinely changed my life. I’ve often struggled with hopelessness and pessimism, so the insistence on fighting losing battles – on knowing you can’t fix the world but doing the best you can regardless – was something I took to heart. This philosophy most obviously manifests in the actions and beliefs of the protagonists (“Your victories will always be temporary, that’s all.” [...] “Always, I know that. But that is not a reason to give up the struggle.”) but there’s also something to be said about the way it intertwines with other themes. Take language, for instance. There is initially some debate over whether or not the plague should be called a plague, the citizens of Oran struggle to verbalise their anguish when the city is quarantined, and Grand is stuck writing and rewriting the first line of his novel. Words are not enough to accurately describe the human experience, but we try to communicate with them anyway. The irony of this message being conveyed through a work of literature does not escape me.

Speaking of language, my copy of The Plague features a sub-par translation, and I’m going to attribute the clunky sentence structure and wonky grammar to overly-literal translation from French to English. Nevertheless, Camus’s skill as a writer shines through. Something I picked up on was the way he set the mood through careful pacing. The book starts off slow and meandering when discussing the banality of life in Oran before the plague, then pivots to quick, urgent clauses when the plague strikes. It’s masterful.

There are some aspects of the book which deserve criticism (for example, women exist only in their relationships to men) but there’s also so much to love. I think this is the best novel I’ve ever read? I will definitely be checking out the rest of Camus’s work.

Hats off, gentlemen!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Sexual content, and Slavery

spanishblue's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

More relevant than ever in times of Covid-19, it is surprising, interesting and even alarming/depressing how many of the issues that Camus imagined (personal, political, medical etc.) that we have also experienced with our own epidemic today, nearly 75 years later. Or, maybe human nature just doesn't change. Can't quite work out if the overall message at the end is optimistic, realistic or nihilistic - probably all three!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness