Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

9 reviews

arielamandah's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

What in the world did I just read? This is a strange, ambitious novel that’s part philosophy, part historical science, and part terrifying walk through the horrors of the modern world. And some very odd sexual scenes, to boot.  It feels like there’s a lot of mixing fiction and science here - blurring those lines. And, truly, it was very dark, violent, and explicit about the horrors of war and chemistry, and the scary parts of math and science. (It didn’t make me walk away from it feeling very good - mostly just sad, disgusted, and a little WTF.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, War, Violence, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

lipka's review

dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

        Un verdor terrible is... blue, black, and devastating. It's a strange moment: the reality and unreality folded together, nonlinear and noneuclidean. You really could blot out the sun with this book. Hold it just high enough—the shadow it casts is a dark, ancient thing.

        The chapters fling themselves in all directions at breakneck speed. A comet, and a coma. "What wind drags it off with the fury of an angel cast out from heaven, falling, and falling, and falling?" Only the tail end of it can tell.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Suicide, Suicide attempt, War, Medical content, Sexual content, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Dysphoria, Antisemitism, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Rape, Vomit, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia

albernikolauras's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

This is a complicated book that wavers on the line between nonfiction and fiction. It starts out near nonfiction and then as we get further in time and into science, the line blurs further. It's a book that plays with how famous scientists reached through reality to pull their theories into fruition. It's disturbing, discomfiting, near hallucinogenic, and I don't know what to think of part of it.

It's something that still haunts me, and it brings to question the morality of a scientist entangled in his worth as a scientist in the times of war that these men lived through. It's a quick read, but it does require some background knowledge on different physicists that made key quantum discoveries. I would recommend it, but definitely look at some of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Antisemitism

Minor: War

caties_books's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

2.75

I am fully ready to admit that maybe I'm not as smart as all the people who love this book or maybe I'm not the right audience, but I didn't understand this book at all. It's a very confusing type of not understanding because I read the description again after reading and yes, I did read about and comprehend all the things mentioned, but overall, I was just left unsettled and confused. I don't like not knowing which parts were true and which weren't. I don't understand the point of the book. There wasn't any sort of cohesion that felt solid to me, it felt scattered and separate. Idk. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicide, Antisemitism, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Death of parent, War, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Violence

samferree's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

The closest comparison I can think of to the style and content is Erik Larson's narrative non-fiction. I'm honestly not sure what parts are fiction since I was already familiar with some of the history and biographies of the characters and none of the major points appear to be inaccurate. I assume people just are not sure how to classify it and so opted for "fiction." While I enjoyed and was fascinated by this book, I also do worry that it promotes a somewhat unfortunate and harmful narrative as a "mad genius" who discovers knowledge so profound and devastating that it ruins them as people. Though, that appears to be what did actually happen to several of greatest minds of the 20th century who developed theories in physics, mathematics, and chemistry that have changed our world and not always for the better. Which I do appreciate as a foil against the tendency to celebrate genius and breakthroughs as necessarily good when that is not always the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Drug use, Genocide, Addiction, Mental illness, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

A lot of the book is preoccupied with some of the worst atrocities in human history and how our understanding of science made them possible. It's inevitably extremely disturbing, but I don't think the author was needlessly graphic so much as frank.

alyx's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I'm still trying to figure this book out. I'm not sure what I think about it, but I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time. A frequent word I've heard used to describe When We Cease to Understand the World is "haunting," and I can't imagine a more apt descriptor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Animal death, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Cancer, Child death, Antisemitism, Drug use, and Genocide

penguiniq's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

This right here is why Real Person Fic has a certain stigma in fanfic circles. To call this anything other than bougie early 20th century mathematician RPF wrapped up in philosophical rambling would be a lie. 

I will readily admit that my personal bias against the trend in lit fic to portray the Holocaust / Nazism caused a gut negative reaction in the early sections of the book.

Overall my low rating comes down to a lack of comfort: I was simply uncomfortable with the line being walked between fiction and biography, and with a non-Jewish person using the Holocaust to wax poetic.

In fact, the book was fleetingly salvaged at the end when the author treaded into auto-fiction. The scenes in Chile lacked the gut feeling of exploitation that many of the previous scenes were draped in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Mental illness

Moderate: War and Antisemitism

Minor: Suicide

whatsnewpussykat's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism

Minor: Suicide

hanz's review against another edition

Pseudo non fiction but also fiction style is not really for me. Particularly the almost stream of consciousness / word association format. Read the first story but wasn't interested in continuing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Suicide