Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Blindness by José Saramago

82 reviews

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

kschuster's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, and Violence

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

cultclassics's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

madihoney's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Loved the premise of the book but extremely difficult to read. About 1 paragraph break per page, no quotation marks to indicate dialogue and no one has a real name (ie the doctor's wife, the pharmacist’s assistant, etc)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, and Confinement

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