Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

4 reviews

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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challenging reflective 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

4.0

I definitely need to reread this on paper to fully absorb the story, and honestly will probably rate it higher once I do. I loved the vibes of this book and the scenes I felt I fully understood were beautifully written. I am very interested in reading more of the author's works. 

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svblvna's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

3.0

what a strange book. the writing was beautiful, yes, and the format interesting but the story was not nearly as devastating as i'd been told. in fact i didn't really feel much for any of the characters.

it's a shame the story takes so little from the myth except for names. maybe i'm not familiar enough with this particular myth and i've missed some references but i would've liked a more poignant ending, i was expecting more.

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criticalgayze's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Autobiography of Red was recommended to me as part of my 30 Before 30 reading challenge where I enlisted 30 friends to share a book each I should read before my 30th birthday this year.

Going in, I had no clue about Anne Carson. I figured she was some fringe author and that this was a sort of one-off text (although I knew it had a less praised sequel). I had no idea she was a critically acclaimed poet or that this work was a NBCC award finalist.

The text itself is a phenomenal piece of novel in verse. The way repetition, especially of symbolism is use to tie in a cohesive narrative, and the way both the source text and its biographical history are weaved in was masterful.

Even more than the text itself, I was blown away by Carson's opening essays. The opening essay starts with the line, "He came after Homer and before Gertrude Stein, a difficult interval for a poet." In a year that has found me obsessed with writers on writing and reading, I was immediately hooked and practically salivating for a full work of LitCrit by Anne Carson.

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hasmazlom13's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5


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