Reviews

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

julievanloon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

ique's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

3.0

uncreativeoops's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

3.0

Visual writing that worked well with the gothic genre. It's pretty slow (and there isn't a lot of plot in general) but I only minded the long philosophical discussions that were had by very unlikeable people, not the pace in general. The protagonist was great though. Very confused by the resolution.

jurgen's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.5

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

"Epilogue:
All misogynistic views in this novel are paraphrases of passages by the following authors: Aurelius Augustinus, William S. Burroughs, Cato the Elder, Bernard of Cluny, Charles Darwin, Émile Durkheim, Henry Fielding, Sigmund Freud, H. Rider Haggard, Hesiod, Jack Kerouac, David Herbert Lawrence, Cesare Lombroso, W. Somerset Maugham, John Milton, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ovid, Plato, Ezra Pound, Jean Racine, François de La Rochefoucauld, Jean-Paul Sartre, Arthur Schopenhauer, William Shakespeare, August Strindberg, Jonathan Swift, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Simonides of Ceos, Tertullian, Thomas Aquinas, Richard Wagner, Frank Wedekind, John Webster, Otto Weininger, William Butler Yeats."

I always struggle with the mythical elements in Tokarczuk's works, but I also always highly appreciate her social and political comments.
I think there are some beautiful scenes and statements in this book with regard to being

queer

or intersex

, although they are quite subtle, due to the character of this story. Everything else would have come across as too modern, so it makes total sense. 

Although I was not interested in the story per se, I'm impressed by Tokarczuk's ability to hit the tone of a story leaning on The Magic Mountain and a story of that particular time in history. It's definitely an achievement being able to consequently uphold this successfully for a whole book. That shows the quality of her writing and talent for sure.

annalicesnape's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

placuszekzmango's review against another edition

5.0

„Empuzjon” to przede wszystkim dzieło, które zachwyca swoim synkretyzmem, a oprócz tego narracją. Tutaj czytelnik musi kartka po kartce rozmyślać, kto opowiada historię i dlaczego robi to z daleka, czasem spod stołu, a nawet przez dziurkę od klucza. Jednak odkrycie robi piorunujące wrażenie. Pierwsze skrzypce gra jednak rzeczywistość nadzmysłowa i niezwykła wrażliwość, które August nazywa szarą strefą między sensualizmem, a racjonalizmem, czyli element pióra Tokarczuk, który zawsze rozpala czytelników do czerwoności. Każdy malutki element jest integralną częścià czy to portretu postaci, czy charakteru przedziwnego uzdrowiska. Moimi krótkimi zachwytami to przede wszystkim dyskursy naukowe prowadzone przez kuracjuszy, okraszone niestety, stosownie zresztą do tego okresu historycznego mizoginizmem oraz skrupulatność przedstawiania potraw, ubiorów i oddania jesiennego, podmokłego klimatu miejsca, de facto znajdującego się poza czasem. W moim mniemaniu, jednak najbardziej brawurowymi elementami są: sama postać Mieczysława, persony, którą poznajemy jako rozchwianą między teraźniejszością, a swoimi wspomnieniami (odblokowującymi się przez zmysły w sanatorium), między swoim prawdziwym obliczem, a tożsamością narzucaną mu przez ojca, wuja i innych kuracjuszy oraz kwestia anomalii, które dzieją się w uzdrowisku. Zarówno sprawa Miecia, jak i nieodgadnionego charakteru Görbersdorfu, zostają mistrzowską rozwikłane w trakcie ostatnich kilkudziesięciu stron, sic! Ale jakich kilkudziesięciu stron. I dla tej bizarności uniwersum Empuzjona i dynamicznej persony młodego studenta warto się zatracić. Ale pytanie czy tak bardzo jak w piciu ukochanej Schwärmerei kuracjuszy?

cute_emo_bookboy's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.25

Now I don't know how to reffer to the main character... lol... we say no to misgendering fictional characters

Really nice book... at least the first ¾. I really liked the mysterous charm that this book had, also the emotions and trauma of the main character but by the end, I didn't feel that tension

He/she, how do you prefer to call them, just put on some female clothes and left? Like, what? The gender implications were nice but it just didn't fit in this book. I'm saying this as a trans person

I thought that the paranormal stuff will be more important to the plot. Also, I've seen some people having problem with Tokarczuk's "feminism". Personally, I thought that these dialogue like "if women dislike something then it's good" were more like a joke...? Okay then...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Terminal illness

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, and Medical content

Minor: War and Vomit

itsgoodtobea's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

Ein feministisch-ökologischer Schauerroman, so wird das Buch angepriesen. Nichts davon kann ich bestätigen. Viel zu langatmig, kommt nicht auf den Punkt und häufig sehr konfus. Hat mich leider gar nicht überzeugt.

xxfelixxreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75