Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Het huis met de geesten by Isabel Allende

35 reviews

kmaller's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Through the framework of a single family's story, Allende connects a thread directly from imperialism, patriarchal violence, and capitalism to fascism, culminating in the coup d'etat of Chile in 1973. It was neat to realize that The Poet was indeed Pablo Neruda, that The Candidate was Salvador Allende (with his final speech before his death written verbatim into the narrative), that the dictator has an "august mustache." 
Throughout the text, Allende presentsaa canny understanding of the corruption of the capitalist class and of the ways in which legitimately elected socialist governments are undermined (creating false scarcity, etc). The question of non-violent resistance is repeatedly raised, with varied answers which I respect. 
I was surprised by the seeming nihilism of the epilogue compared to the tone of the rest of the book, but it also seems to reinforce one of the underlying threads of the book, that individual rage is ineffective without collective action.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, and Murder

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, and Abortion

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

laurenleigh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Torture

Moderate: Medical content

lowkeymarie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, and Abortion

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, and Car accident

qingyibenshu's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Grief