Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Plague by Albert Camus

11 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

blaubeerkokain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

A good read if you want to get into existentialism but don’t wanna start with dry essays. Still thought provoking long after you’ve finished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Body horror

Moderate: Child death and Medical content

toffishay's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

There exploration of collective grief and suffering in this book reached into my chest, grabbed my heart and squeezed, and won't let go. I think that this will stay with me for a while. The straightforward writing perfectly and bluntly described the despair of dying and living in a plague. Simple sentences described unimaginable death and sadness. 

The book is explicit that in a situation like this, there are no heroes. There are people hurting and healing and hurting all over again. Life is both paused and unending in a time of isolation and confinement. While not being heroes, the names characters that we do follow help connect with the world and give you something to hold onto in the midst of a huge collective event. Dr. Rieux especially won't get out of my head, but all of the characters are complex and layered. Through their inner thoughts and especially through their interactions with each other and their community, you see the tiny ways that people seek control, connection, or commiseration in the midst of death where everything, even the next day is uncertain. 

What I have come to like about Camus, that I think could turn people away or be very polarizing, is that he offers a very particular brand of hope. His books, this one included, have a theme of the necessity of human hope. We are looking for distractions, but that can only get us so far and often alienate us from our true selves. Hope offers a window for something new and encourages you to fight for what matters, but hope doesn't always mean that things will be better. There will be pain again. There will be death again. All we can do is work through it and find what's worth fighting for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Confinement, Medical content, Child death, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Animal death

Minor: Excrement, Death of parent, Xenophobia, War, Police brutality, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings

nadir's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Medical content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Body horror, Grief, and Animal death

gregorvermin's review

dark reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Death and Body horror

Minor: Blood and Suicide attempt

1ncubus's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

3.5

Eine Chronik. Nüchterne Beschreibung von Empfindungen während eines Pestausbruchs, lässt Raum für philosophische Fragen nach dem "Sinn des Lebens", die aber kaum ausgeführt werden und eher eine interessante Unterfütterung durchaus nüchterner Schilderungen bilden. Die Charaktere besitzen keine genialen Persönlichkeiten, es wird nicht auf ihre Vergangenheiten eingegangen (bis auf Tarrou, vielleicht), sie sind einfach normale Bürger einer Stadt, die nun, von der restlichen Welt abgesondert, versuchen zu leben.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Animal cruelty

changbineyeskz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Body horror

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

kibiiiariii's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Self harm, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

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