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carolinalopes's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Stalking
isa1404's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
At times the story dragged on a bit, but after two thirds I couldn’t put the book aside.
Also, this was an edition translated into German. Some words and phrases did not seem to work for me which kind of affected my sympathy for the characters and even their relationship. Although this also could have been because the story is set in the 1950s. I definitely need to read it in English as well!
Apart from that the story is just tragically beautiful and written in such a detail you easily find yourself relating to Therese.
Also, this was an edition translated into German. Some words and phrases did not seem to work for me which kind of affected my sympathy for the characters and even their relationship. Although this also could have been because the story is set in the 1950s. I definitely need to read it in English as well!
Apart from that the story is just tragically beautiful and written in such a detail you easily find yourself relating to Therese.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia
vee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
for_esme_with_love's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I wanted to read this important piece of wlw literary history before watching the movie. The concept of the romance is overall very beautiful, but I found the characters quite hard to relate to. The movie version of the characters are much more sympathetic and the visual medium helps capture the tenderness between the two woman that they often can only express through a longing glance or lingering touch. The in the book, Carol and Therese seem at best somewhat prickly and at worst do not seem to even like each other very much. While this may have been a reflection of deep repression and internalized homophobia, it did make it a bit hard to root for them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content
sophieduncan's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Infidelity
snowhitereads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Merry Christmas everyone.
I hope everyone is well.
For my Christmas book, I read Carol by Patricia Highsmith.
Carol (originally titled The Price of Salt) is a classic of LGBTQ+ literature. Written in the 1950s, and of course Highsmith doesn't paint a picture of an alternative utopian society in the early 1950s where being LGBT is suddenly universally accepted, there are a fair number of obstacles for the two to overcome.
However, this book is a bit slow for my taste and i didn’t really like the characters. Their behaviours are at times toxic.
Of course I think it is easy to sometimes overlook how truly revolutionary this novel was at the time it was first published.
Despite my personal opinion on this book, it is a really important piece of LGBT literature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
srm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I might write a fuller review at some point, but I just want to note that I really like the writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
valereads's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"It was still Carol and no one else. It would be Carol, in a thousand cities, a thousand houses, in foreign lands where they would go together, in heaven and in hell."
Carol (originally titled The Price of Salt) is a classic of LGBTQ+ literature. Written in the 1950s, an era where lesbian pulp fiction was a popular genre with one major rule: the main couple can't end up happy and together. In many ways I feel Highsmith's Carol is comparable to Forster's Maurice; to use Forster's own words "the happy ending was imperative" for both Maurice and Carol.
This book has a slow start but it's well written and draws the reader in and the plot makes you want to keep reading. This book is unusual in that it manages to fit the tropes of both "slow burn" and "instalove". Therese is infatuated with Carol from the first moment she lays eyes on Carol but neither she nor the reader get any confirmation that her feelings are mutual until two thirds into the book. If I didn't already know what this book was about I wouldn't have known Carol was even interested in women until this point.
My one main criticism of this book is that I don't like Carol, the character that is. I dislike her personality and the way she treats Therese at times. In other novels with romance at their centre I sometimes find myself falling in love with the love interest along with the protagonist but in this I found myself less and less fond of Carol with each page. Kind of put a downer on the whole happy ending.
On the whole I would definitely recommend this especially to any queer readers who have yet to pick it up. Highsmith's compelling prose really compliments the wonderful lesbian love story making it clear why this book is considered a classic of LGBTQ+ literature.
Content Warnings: homophobia, depression, divorce
Carol (originally titled The Price of Salt) is a classic of LGBTQ+ literature. Written in the 1950s, an era where lesbian pulp fiction was a popular genre with one major rule: the main couple can't end up happy and together. In many ways I feel Highsmith's Carol is comparable to Forster's Maurice; to use Forster's own words "the happy ending was imperative" for both Maurice and Carol.
This book has a slow start but it's well written and draws the reader in and the plot makes you want to keep reading. This book is unusual in that it manages to fit the tropes of both "slow burn" and "instalove". Therese is infatuated with Carol from the first moment she lays eyes on Carol but neither she nor the reader get any confirmation that her feelings are mutual until two thirds into the book. If I didn't already know what this book was about I wouldn't have known Carol was even interested in women until this point.
My one main criticism of this book is that I don't like Carol, the character that is. I dislike her personality and the way she treats Therese at times. In other novels with romance at their centre I sometimes find myself falling in love with the love interest along with the protagonist but in this I found myself less and less fond of Carol with each page. Kind of put a downer on the whole happy ending.
On the whole I would definitely recommend this especially to any queer readers who have yet to pick it up. Highsmith's compelling prose really compliments the wonderful lesbian love story making it clear why this book is considered a classic of LGBTQ+ literature.
Content Warnings: homophobia, depression, divorce
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
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