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vinett's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, War, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Racism, and Murder
Minor: Pedophilia
rooree93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Animal death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Mass/school shootings, Cursing, Torture, Violence, and War
zhaneordo's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
A book full of quotes with no quotations, means a lot of rereading. The rereading is worth it in this death filled western. The only good thing that happens to you in this book is when you’re finished and you no longer have to experience it anymore.
It’s okay, randomly you’ll have a thought about how horrible these people were and hopefully we’ll all use it as our ethical meridian in life.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Torture, Gore, War, Stalking, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Death
geonox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Racism, Genocide, and War
Minor: Racial slurs
asuresh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Sexism, Sexual violence, Murder, Animal death, Hate crime, Rape, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Sexual harassment, Child death, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and War
shuzige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, War, Animal cruelty, Gore, and Gun violence
taicantfly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A heartbreaking book about the violence and wretchedness that went into building the American southwest. From the infamous monologue (that which exists without my knowledge...) to the Judge scappling away ancient paintings to the seemingly random genocide of whole tribes and their traditions, this book will desensitize you with its overwhelming and needless violence and cruelty and then it will be swept under the rug as the bones of vultures in the desert.
In the end the Judge asks if there were any witnesses to what had been. If apart from him and the Kid anyone had known or seen Glanton, the Jacksons, Toadvine, Bathcat, Tobin, Tate, Shelby. As he pulls the kid into the outhouse, we now know that all of that is lost to the arrow of time and no matter what, as says the Judge:
"Men's memories are uncertain and the past that was differs from the past that was not."
Judge Holden is the centrepiece around which the violence unfolds, a near-omniscient possibly-immortal god (or at least prophet) of war. Shocking character and completely unimitable.
This was the first McCarthy book I read and I was by no means disappointed. A flawless, soul-crushing and very difficult read which I would not recommend to anyone struggling with misanthropic thoughts.
I will be seeing a 7 foot tall bald albino in my nightmares for the rest of my life.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Blood, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, and Pedophilia
billyjepma's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
“In the days to come the frail black rebuses of blood in those sands would crack and break and drift away so that in the circuit of few suns all trace of the destruction of these people would be erased. The desert wind would salt their ruins and there would be nothing, nor ghost nor scribe, to tell to any pilgrim in his passing how it was that people had lived in this place and in this place died.”
There are a lot of quotes that speak to the intent of this book—a book I might someday understand better—but that one might be the one I latch into. McCarthy understood violence and its roots in the masculine soul better than almost any other American writer.
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Murder, Rape, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, and Sexual violence
Moderate: War, Alcoholism, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, and Cannibalism
heavens_night's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Colonisation, Gun violence, and Racism
Moderate: War, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Slavery
bheller77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Rape, Xenophobia, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, War, Excrement, Suicide, Torture, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Racism, and Stalking
Very dark. Violent. Gory.