Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira by José Saramago

14 reviews

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

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

citrusandwords's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Death, Excrement, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Violence, and Vomit

thenoboshow's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I found this book hard to look away from in some sort of morbid fascination. This book hits different after living through a pandemic teeming with selfish idiots. "This is exactly what would happen if this were to happen." An unfortunate mantra throught the reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Chronic illness, Confinement, Excrement, Sexual violence, Ableism, Medical content, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Misogyny, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Infidelity

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

elemandoline's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, and Murder

lucimolri's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

3.5

Me ha gustado bastante! Mi mayor problema ha sido lo de que no estén marcados los diálogos y que se nota bastante que está escrito por un hombre, if you know what I mean…
Ha sido durillo y tenso, no es para todo el mundo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Infidelity, Vomit, Gun violence, Confinement, Chronic illness, Animal death, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Rape

aerolich's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Medical content, Suicide, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

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