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r8chl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
ericfheiman's review against another edition
2.0
I just couldn't get through this. The book raises some interesting issues, but is a bit too academic and impressed with itself, to the point where I began to lose sight of the book's larger points amidst all the intellectual posturing. Which is unfortunate because the points being raised—violence in art, censorship, etc.—deserve a wider audience.
zsakos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
daniellesewell16's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
pero_tefi's review against another edition
5.0
It started as 3 stars, but that is because I was expecting something else. For some reason I took it literally and thought it would be some kind of history of torture or the search of cruelty, the book is actually about the way media, and specifically cruel media, affects humanity. It questions how the events are shown, how emotions are processed, and the role of art in this understanding (art being art, literature, and cinema). So I was a bit confused, and my brain took a little while to boot up, but Maggie Nelsons intellect and way of analyzing and talking about these topics soon had me in a grip. Different to talking from only one perspective, her way of addressing the problems and questions comes from a variety of perspectives and puts each one in doubt, understanding and doubt mixed together.
I plan on buying it physically, so I can look into my notes more easily. It truly is a great book to talk about art, cruelty, and humanity.
I plan on buying it physically, so I can look into my notes more easily. It truly is a great book to talk about art, cruelty, and humanity.
jessbook's review against another edition
3.75
i enjoyed this, i think, although i’m not sure i digested it all fully. it’s essentially a work of art criticism that examines how and why artists portray and inflict cruelty through their work and to what ends. nelson’s observations felt grounded and it felt like a good balance between her own descriptions and analyses of pieces of art and more theoretical philosophy frames. i will say that hearing about some of these extremely cruel and violent works in detail made me a little sick at times, though maybe i should have known that was what i was getting myself into here
neonpeg's review against another edition
5.0
Stunning like everything by Maggie Nelson. I know I'm going to return to this again and again and it has made me re-think so much of the art that I consume as well as my own practice. So readable too though! So it's never a chore to grow with her ideas.
calliejarvis's review against another edition
Despite how much I love Nelson’s writing, I couldn’t get into this one.