Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Blindness by José Saramago

12 reviews

rheagoveas's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Terminal illness, Death, Violence, and Rape

telliot's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Vomit

angela_iseli's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

moscatel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Continuo a amar o estilo do Saramago, é tão único e cheio de personalidade. Entendo que não seja para todos, por causa dos devaneios e juízos de moral constantes, mas eu acho que tem o seu charme.
Estive o livro todo a tentar formular para que defeito humano é que a cegueira era uma analogia (ou metáfora, não sei bem a diferença) e porque é que só uma personagem não cegou, mas não consegui chegar a nenhuma conclusão.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Confinement, Excrement, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts

stinekristin's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Rape

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, and Medical content

thesara99's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Sexual violence

anna220310's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I've never read a dystopia that felt so real and that truly exposed so much of the realities of society and human nature. It shows perfectly how brittle the security of our modern world is and how unprepared we are to survive disasters. By taking away everyone's sight, you also take away government, morality, hygiene, food security and everything else which is a founding pillar of our society. Be mindful of the very graphic content though (check the trigger warnings!), it's not for the faint of heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Excrement, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death, Rape, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, and Gun violence

Moderate: Medical content

csteidl93's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

carolab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Vomit, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

shelvedbysara's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Review: This book is emotional torture, but it is brilliant. It provides such a visceral depiction of human suffering and of the fight for survival. The eminent presence of death makes the reading experience quite tense and even agonising - sometimes it’s hard to put some distance between your world and and the one you're absorbed in for you can feel the characters’ pain as if you were experiencing it yourself. The white blindness is also a great metaphor and Saramago uncovers its’ subtle meaning quite brilliantly by questioning whether the blindness of the eyes is also one of the mind.

Summary: When a man goes mysteriously blind as he is driving home, an epidemic of white blindness spreads around the country. The first cases are transferred to a closed complex to complete a period of quarantine and they form a group whose journey we follow throughout the entire narrative. They are nameless people living in a nameless city during a nameless era in time. Only their experiences are ever labelled - blindness, abuse, suffering, despair, hope - which grants them a universal meaning. Ensaios Sobre a Cegueira (Blindness) is a literary analysis of what it means to be blinded not just by eyes that cannot see, but also by fear.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit