Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

3 reviews

fatherofmysteries's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

There is no review I could write that could begin to sum up the journey that this book took me on

He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Vomit, Genocide, Murder, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Confinement, War, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gore, Stalking, Torture, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Medical content, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Incest, Addiction, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Grief

ak9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Brutal and disgusting but beautiful and poignant 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Cursing, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, and Xenophobia

namizaela's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

"The way of the world is to bloom and to flower and die but in the affairs of men there is no waning and the noon of his expression signals the onset of night. His spirit is exhausted at the peak of its achievement. His meridian is at once his darkening and the evening of his day."

Granted, I didn't know much going into this book, but I feel like no one talks about how incredibly racist it is? McCarthy writes as if he's getting paid $50 for every slur he uses. In addition, he treats Native Americans and Black people as nothing more than cannon fodder to show how violent the white protagonists are.
Apart from the appalling racism, the plot is basically nonexistent, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but made reading this book confusing. I honestly didn't know what was going on half of the time. I didn't even remember any characters besides the kid, the fool, and the judge.
The saving graces of this book are the prose and the character of the judge, both of which chilled me. However, these merits don't make up for the glaring flaws. I'm disappointed, because The Road was my favorite book of 2020. It looks like Blood Meridian might be my least favorite book of 2021.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence