Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

34 reviews

seanamcphie's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Excrement, Bullying, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Classism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

gkgkgk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Toni Morrison was a visionary.  This, her first novel, was my first foray into her work, and I found it approachable, yet deep with meaning.  It borrows its structure from a children’s “Dick and Jane” story, which Toni reads like a haunting incantation.  Her narration of the entire book is flawless and stunning, like the text itself.  The novel circles around Pecola, who rarely narrates but whose story is largely told by other characters, often children.  Her story is traumatic yet minimally graphic, making it appropriate, even, for most sensitive readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Excrement, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Incest, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Violence, Pedophilia, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Abandonment

tannisahermansyah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

I absolutely loved this. I found the subject matter challenging but very reflective. I also found the prose a little challenging at times but I will get better at comprehension. It really makes you think about what beauty means and how you use it to construct your identity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

jme14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

Toni Morrison is officially in my top two authors of all time (next to Steinbeck, I can't choose between them). Morrison is a master at manipulating the form to tell her stories as they are supposed to be told. There are no rules: the story is out of order, the characters are unrelentingly disturbing and disturbed, and the language blunt. She is the master of empathy. She conjures such vile actors, then turns your rage into uncomfortable sadness, transferring that rage from the individual to the setting. I don't know how she can do it, but she's done it twice (in her labeled masterpiece "Beloved" and now in this). Her work is deeply disturbing, but there's no other way to convey these themes in a way as affecting as this. She is a true master and deserving in her place among the greatest authors of all time. 

I don't think this is QUITE as good as "Beloved" due to her clearly more unrefined style. This feels more restrained with its magical realism and slightly less comprehensive with its characters, but that is some extreme nit-picking. Seriously, read this book. I'm so excited (and emotionally nervous) to read the rest of her work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Racism, Grief, Excrement, Alcohol, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Animal death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, and Incest

booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Incest, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexism

rsngphoenix's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Addiction, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, and Incest

mari_pita's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Animal death, Excrement, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Incest, Racial slurs, and Adult/minor relationship

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

At first, I didn't get it. Then, I was starting to get it. Then, by the end, I thought I didn't get it. But apparently I got it the whole time, it's just that the time this book was written for is very different from the time of today. Things have changed a lot, but in many ways after reading this they haven't changed at all. I don't think I liked this book very much, but in some ways I did. I like Morrison's writing style and use of language. Something about it felt very familiar, very eerie, which made it unknown and familiar again. The things she wanted to say, to me, with the hindsight of 52 years in my 22 year old life, have been said again and again and I found myself asking "What was the point?" Which is never a good thing to have to ask. Not every book needs a lesson or a moral or a point. I know what the point was, I've seen it since I was as young as 3 years old, when my parents taught me black was beautiful and thus I never wished to be white, and I understood what race was, meant, and symbolized before I could write my own name down with a steady hand. I realize that the point was made 52 years ago when it was published, or 42 years ago, having been seen with the fresh eyes of a new decade, or even 32 years ago with the fresh eyes of a new generation. By the time I was born the book was probably just a memory of the shadow of an era. So now, personally, I don't like this book, but I do. I respect it. I'm sure had I been 22 when it was published in 1970 I would've loved this book. But again, things have changed and also things haven't. I see that it was important for the time, and it still kind of is, but now reading it I felt the sour feeling in my stomach I do reading and watching media from the decades that have come between then and now: it just felt like black trauma. Too much of it. I'm just tired. Been tired of it since before I was a teenager. Good book. Don't know if I would recommend it, but I certainly will reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Blood, Fatphobia, Abandonment, and Ableism

kry_yang's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Not the type of book I would "recommend" to people--in the same way that this book is not "enjoyable" to read. But the stories and ideas in this novel, especially around the intersections of race, class, and gender, are so so important to read and understand. What a haunting and humbling world we live in, to be able to experience Morrison's language in The Bluest Eye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Grief