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swaggle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Both disturbing and heartbreaking. A horror novel, sure; but so much more than just that. You never know whether to feel bad for Francie or feel contempt for him. It took me a while to get used to the style of the book, it's sort of similar to Cormac McCarthy in that McCabe chooses not to use quotation marks, commas, things like that. After a while, I felt it began to add to the atmosphere of the book. I began to ask, can I really trust Francie's narration? I think McCabe's a better writer than McCarthy anyways. Read this book and judge for yourself.
bedroompunk's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Bullying, and Alcoholism
nuii's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.25
An already highly difficult book considering the themes. Plus, written in a stream-of-counsciousness(SOC) way, with no quotation and very minimum punctuation makes it a real challenge to read.
I usually dont enjoy SOC books, this one, however, seems to make sense, as we follow Francie's mental spirality into darkness. The way he thinks, how he perceives the world, how he processes traumas are laid out without any filter helps us understand this character in such an intimate way, my heart breaks for him over and over again.
The crime is horrific and not to be excused but it could be explained, imo the humanity and nuances are only achieveable to such a complex level (in this story) by using the SOC method.
Brutal, and deeply disturbing yet delicate and filled with childlike naiveté - This is a dark story about the distruction of a human being (a child at that) for his family, his community and society have failed him every step of the way. As a result, "evil" stems and grows from the ignorance of mental illness, the corruption of innocence, social indifference and many other hidden, unpunished crimes.
I usually dont enjoy SOC books, this one, however, seems to make sense, as we follow Francie's mental spirality into darkness. The way he thinks, how he perceives the world, how he processes traumas are laid out without any filter helps us understand this character in such an intimate way, my heart breaks for him over and over again.
The crime is horrific and not to be excused but it could be explained, imo the humanity and nuances are only achieveable to such a complex level (in this story) by using the SOC method.
Brutal, and deeply disturbing yet delicate and filled with childlike naiveté - This is a dark story about the distruction of a human being (a child at that) for his family, his community and society have failed him every step of the way. As a result, "evil" stems and grows from the ignorance of mental illness, the corruption of innocence, social indifference and many other hidden, unpunished crimes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Excrement
elspethm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
3.5
This book is about a boy in 1960s Ireland who is abused and maltreated, and ultimately goes crazy. I guess the point of the story could be that his reaction to the world he lives in and how the small town treats him is something that might be expected and it is surprising that more people didn't turn sociopathic after growing up in a similar situation. I just didn't find the characters or storyline to be worthy (as in many of these "1001 books you *must* read") of being recommended to future audiences.
arumyn's review against another edition
3.0
A literary achievement? Surely.
Creative to the bone? Why of course!
But also endlessly sickening. The author is a sadist I'll never want to meet and to claim one has"enjoyed" this novel is to confess one's a masochist.
Some passages can get excruciating. They lack the wit, or the humor, or the disturbing albeit interesting derangement that makes The Butcher Boy worth reading.
This one will fuck with your sanity, it certainly did with mine. Avoid if you're too sensitive.
Creative to the bone? Why of course!
But also endlessly sickening. The author is a sadist I'll never want to meet and to claim one has"enjoyed" this novel is to confess one's a masochist.
Some passages can get excruciating. They lack the wit, or the humor, or the disturbing albeit interesting derangement that makes The Butcher Boy worth reading.
This one will fuck with your sanity, it certainly did with mine. Avoid if you're too sensitive.
billymac1962's review against another edition
3.0
This is another one of those novels that has been on my reading list for years but could never find it well what do you know I found it in some little clearance book store what a stroke of luck I don't know if I liked this or not you see the writing was a little hard to get used to because it's written in the first person by a very disturbed Irish boy and the sentences tend to run on with sparse punctuation and no quotation marks for dialogue but what starts off as annoying becomes easier and puts you inside this disturbing little mind if you can put up with this kind of writing for 200 pages go for it it's not bad after all it was short-listed for the prestigious Booker prize and it's truly
a unique reading experience although if this were a 600 pager I couldn't have done it.
a unique reading experience although if this were a 600 pager I couldn't have done it.
cmcglinchey1982's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Loved this book. It's a sad and very darkly funny study of what, at the time ,would have been considered madness or insanity whereas these days it would relfect the impact of abuse, neglect, violence and abandonment of a young boy and the consequences of it all. Hilariously dark.
reallivejim's review against another edition
3.5
Classic Irish comedy—insanely depressing and depraved.