Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Blindness by José Saramago

102 reviews

jeanjacquesrousseau's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

4,5/5 arrondît 

« Je pense que nous ne sommes pas devenus aveugles, je pense que nous étions aveugles, Des aveugles qui voient, Des aveugles qui, voyant, ne voient pas. » 

👏👏👏 tout dit

Pour José (de ce que j’ai interprété du livre):

-La peur nous rend aveugle et, dans des cas extrêmes, mène à la déchéance humaine, jusqu’à être réduit à un état animal.
-Aimer et aider son prochain, c’est être humain.

big slay señor Saramago 💅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infidelity, Gun violence, Excrement, Death, and Confinement

teawiththefates's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

1.0

This is the absolute bleakest view of humanity and I hated it. As well, I found the stylistic choices made it impossible to read - every page was a wall of text with almost no differentiation to signal who was speaking. The audio version made it more accessible but because of the incredibly dark content, I would never have finished this book if it wasn’t what my book club was reading that month. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Ableism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Excrement, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Violence

moonymars's review against another edition

dark reflective

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

5.0

 When names, possessions, money, the government, institutions etc. all lose their value, what happens?

In Saramago's "Ensaio sobre a Cegueira" (Blindness) an epidemic of blindness takes over the world. We follow characters that were looked up a mental hospital so their blindness doesn't spread. However, one of the characters never blinds, she never loses her vision and ends up being a witness to the horror that came over the country.

I hate writing big reviews, so overall, this is a great book with good social critiques and a good analysis of the human condition.

book tw: violence, rape (heavy on this one), dead, murder 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Violence

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

mrsmishler's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Violence, Excrement, Death, and Sexual violence

othermoony's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Sexual violence

hihayley's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Sexual violence

emmastevvenson's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

Really interesting read, a style which at times was difficult to follow- intimidating blocks of text with few paragraphs and speech broken by commas, but was fine once you get used to it. The story was really intriguing and I enjoyed the idea, some parts felt too deeply explored but on the whole there was a good balance. I enjoyed reading most of this book,

bar the scenes of SA in the middle of the novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

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

silversomber's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad slow-paced

5.0

It can take a little adjusting to the lack of quotation marks for speech, but that is one of the only 'faults' I can think of. This is book is beautiful, sad, and a look into humanity at it's core- the darkest parts and the lightest. Reflecting back on it post pandemic gives it new light, seeing how that first sweeping panic and uncertainty gripped the world, and the last impact it can leave.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Ableism, and Sexual assault