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gotnoculture's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
George is a simultaneously relatable and repugnant character. It is difficult to parse whether his racist and misogynistic biases are the fault of his author’s own prejudices, or simply the product of his time. Either way, his misogynistic and racial asides often took me out of the narrative, and left me frustrated. To see a character so driven by his own countercultural identities and experiences be completely blind to his hegemonic and reductive opinions of minorities is annoying to say the least. But, you get what you pay for when you read a book from the 60s.
The greatest strength of this book, despite its ideological faults, was the author and George’s intense affection for other men and for the virtues of youth and virility. Unfortunately often contrasted by derision of women, Isherwood’s fascination with masculine beauty and male sexuality makes his work come alive with tactility and wonder. This book read as a love letter to gayness, to unabashed sexuality, to masculine passion. The novel faces death, aging, and grief in fullness and urges the reader to enjoy life despite, and often because of, the inevitability of death.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Racism, Car accident, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and War
sylexlibris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Suicide, and Sexual content
mme_carton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Infidelity, Car accident, Death, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: War and Drug use
ashsparrow's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Misogyny and Racial slurs
Minor: Racism and Car accident
elzmri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Sexual content, and Homophobia
gabriel_dingle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Only issue I have, is that there are some scenes and details in the novel which seem a bit random and irrelevant, which don’t affect the story at all.
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Car accident
azrealia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Racial slurs
redheadorganist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Sexual content and Grief
nuage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I didn't give 5 stars because the racial slurs often appeared, even tho it was written in the sixties it was a lot (such as the N-word).
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, and Racial slurs
maria_winther's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident