Reviews

Compulsion by Meyer Levin

veronicascarsi's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad 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

4.0

sayaloe's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

p_a_lindrome's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.0

pino_sabatelli's review against another edition

3.0

Tre stelle e mezza
Ci ho pensato a lungo, ma il libro, a causa di qualche difetto strutturale (su tutti la scelta di un narratore che non si capisce come possa essere onnisciente) e di uno stile davvero eccessivamente verboso e piatto, non merita più di questo.

slele2's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

elliem23's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

zanedeyoung's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Mileage on this will vary for how willing you are to stick with its slow pace and outdated views on sexuality, but for me this is one of the most impactful and brutally melancholy books of all time. Easy to see how this inspired the next seventy-five years of psychoanalyzing murderers to the point of absurdity, but disappointing to see how many of them completely missed the point Levin makes here, that the root of human depravity and cruelty is ultimately unfathomable and can only be realized in glimpses and rationalizations. You can pathologize all you want, it will only ever get you halfway there. 

Maybe the most existentially mournful and depressed book I’ve ever read. Incredible. 

david_agranoff's review against another edition

3.0

Not my thing. I thought it was a tad long, I wrote a longer more detailed review on Monster librarian. I got the review copy of the new edition through them. I can see why it's a classic though.

efg3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Mental illness

valentinazanga's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.75