Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira by José Saramago

26 reviews

rubyics's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Confinement, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

stephanieanneauthor's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This story is a fascinating, and dark, look at humanity. The whole thing plays out like a social experiment - what would happen to us if we all suddenly went blind? By refusing to name the characters, it adds to the dehumanizing effects of the story. And by occasionally omitting to note which character is speaking, it adds to the confusion. Unfortunately, because of this lack of identifying information, I felt that some scenes dragged on a little too long. But overall, I enjoyed this bleak, hypothetical examination of the human race. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Grief, Rape, Excrement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Sexism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Police brutality

f_zanini's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, and Sexism

diana311's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

jodzy's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

I really don't like slandering someone's work, especially because Saramago is a Nobel Prize winner, but I really couldn't wait more for this book to be over. Not because it was so gruesome in a good way, that it shook me deeply - it was gruesome in a bad way. 
I listened to the audio book version on Audible (I liked the narrator), therefor I didn't have any experience with the "confusing" writing people are critiquing, so I can't have any say in that. However, I don't quite understand what he was trying to say with this book, I found it rather misanthropic for no good reason. One thing that particularly stood out to me was the way he wrote women characters and his fetishization of extremely disturbing SA scenes, that (in my opinion) brought no real substance to the general story. While reading, it's almost like I felt his enjoyment in writing that.
Overall, I think this book had some good ideas, I liked the concept, but I think the execution could have been done better. I wouldn't recommend this book to others personally, there are other dystopian works that would probably be a more enjoyable (or uncomfortable but valuable) experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Excrement, and Sexual assault

sappypatheticm's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Chronic illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Vomit, Confinement, and Gun violence

thebigemmt505's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

“It even used to be said there is no such thing as blindness, only blind people, when the experience of time has taught us nothing other than that there are no blind people, but only blindness.”

The premise of Blindness is this: the population slowly behind to go blind without any explanation. The world quickly devolves into chaos as human nature is stripped down to its bare bones. There remains only one sighted person throughout the book. 

It’s difficult to review this one. The writing style is difficult to get used to, with long run on sentences and no breaks between character dialogue. The author stays grounded in the plot while also being quite philosophical. The pace of the book is mixed ;  the progression of the narrative feels extremely fast while the way it’s written slows it down.  The characters are meant to fill simple roles, not even having names, and while this is intentional, the behavior of these characters throughout the book does actually give them a lot of distinguishing characteristics. It’s technically a very well-done book, but the whole product feels…odd, in a sense. 

It’s thesis is both obvious and vague. Breaking the fragile threads that bind society is not difficult, in the sense it takes just one disaster, just one collapse, just one event that’s too difficult to manage before all social cohesion dissipates. It’s cliche almost, pointing out the fragility of society. I think the book depicts a collapse much more obscene and rapid than what would actually happen, even if there are now some very real life parallels to be drawn between this and the recent pandemic everyone faced in the real world. Though way over the top, I think it puts into perspective how ephemeral society and it’s constructs are, and how quickly their artificial importance slips away in the face of crisis. Education has no importance. Money has no importance. Even names bear no importance anymore. If no one can see it, what power does it have? This, for better and for worse. 

There’s a lot of symbolism I likely missed, though, which makes it even harder for me to fully flesh out my thoughts on the overall meaning and impact of this book. 

My favorite moment in the book is definitely the first scene with the dog of tears. Through all the barbaric, disgusting, “animalistic” behavior of the blind masses, two sentient beings who can still see the humanity in one another bond. My interpretation likely isn’t what was meant to be drawn from it, but I found it beautiful nonetheless. 

All in all, it’s not an easy read, though I’d argue it’s a rewarding one. It’s a bit of a slog at points, if only after reading the same three lines seventeen times to try and figure out who is saying what, but still an intriguing and engaging read. It makes for an interesting experience, unsettling and disturbing, read. Give it a go, if you’re really in the mood for something dark and literary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Confinement, Death, Gore, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

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

francescabooks's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Vomit, and Murder