Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh

47 reviews

kclark's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The first 40% of this book or so was extremely disorienting which makes sense given the plot of the novel. I appreciate a story that does something I don't expect, but I also see why people might bounce off of it, but I liked it. 

The book deals a lot with memory and it's ephemeral nature of memory, constructions of masculinity and how that intersects with friendships and sexuality, and how class distorts how our culture views guilt and innocence, among much else. 

The protagonist reminded me of other Moshveigh protagonists: lonely outsiders struggling to connect to society but this time in the mold of a drunken sailor. That sort of archetypical writing is understandable given this is Moshveigh's first published work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, and Addiction

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Excrement, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder

gracetrimper's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Excrement, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Violence, Body horror, Sexual content, Murder, Gore, Child death, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Confinement, and Addiction

toffishay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I really just struggled to follow this story. It is very stream of consciousness from an inebriated and unreliable narrator. It definitely could have gone over my head or just wasn't for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Violence and Alcoholism

Minor: Murder

elise_allberry's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is very well written in the way that it conveys alcoholism, however for this reason the prose can often be very confusing and difficult to understand. Despite this, I found myself very attached and sad for the main character by the time I got to the end. A very open ended and ambivalent ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Self harm

olivianw's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

I really like Moshfegh’s style. She is quickly becoming one of my favourite writers. 
But I just could not get into this story at all, and upon reaching the end of the book, I still only have a very vague idea of what’s going on. I understand that this is possibly intentional, reflecting McGlue’s disorientation, but it didn’t work for me. 
Moshfegh does write great sentences though! And this book, an early work of hers, still has plenty of examples of them! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Homophobia, Violence, and Alcoholism

marytckm's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Gore

Moderate: Racial slurs

ripangelica's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Homophobia, and Racism

maureelee's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

liviahalltari's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Body horror

labinsky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

this book felt like the way my best friend writes in the best way possible. moshfegh’s first book is literary fiction in both the most classic way and the most unconventional way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs