Reviews with content warning for Violence - V for Vendetta

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

34 reviews

steveatwaywords's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Moore and Lloyd's work by now is quite (in)famous, sadly as a film, so looking at the original graphic novel was a must. To qualify this a bit, Moore himself admits this was fairly early in his career and several of the tropes and conceits are now a bit dated or even naive. I have to agree.

First, though, I have to praise the novel for its politics and references, far more complicated and layered than anything seen in the McTeigue film scripted by the Wachowskis. Moore's world--a mix of 1930s noir and post-apocalyptic totalitarian fantasy--is fairly thick in its home-front power relationships. This is really enjoyable for a dark immersion, if at times a bit bewildering. And while Portman made a fair Evey in the film, she is little like the much-challenged Evey of this work.

Where the story grew ever weaker for me was in the growing omniscience and omnipotence of the title character. Without spoilers, V has more control over these complex comings and goings than seems possible. He is ever-present at the right moments, ever-predicting the choices others will make, and somehow prepared for it all with an arsenal of resources. This is, unfortunately, too quickly explained away through a conspiratorial cliche. Ah, well. In this area, the scripting by the Wachowskis made a more satisfying tension of story, an improvement through film I rarely admit to.

Moore, as he was writing, confessed he was inspired by a bevy of classic writers, from Orwell to Bradbury to and from Harlan Ellison to Shakespeare. A worthy undertaking. But what each of these other writers accomplishes, along with their oppressive power structures resisted by citizenry, is the fallibility, the internal conflicts which center the drama around the characters themselves. Moore's symbolism for V--often clever and widely connected to history--is, unfortunately, too abstract for us to connect to in these ways. Evey, then, is a likely substitute for our empathy, and she works in this way, though she appears far too seldom to be as effective as she might be.

"V for Vendetta" is a great introduction to themes of resistance and totalitarianism for readers unfamiliar with other literature. But I've seen other graphic works accomplish far more in less space. Likely--though I haven't yet read them--Moore develops into a stronger writer in his later works. If anyone has a suggestion what I might read next, let me know.

Content Warnings

xenia_li's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Content Warnings

blitz_ramna's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

Content Warnings

berodatheelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

emilo's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

samferree's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I knew Alan Moore hated the movie (but he hates all adaptations of his comics) and now I understand why. It's not quite as egregious as Minority Report, which completely inverted both how the mechanics of the universe worked but also the message, but it's close. V for Vendetta the film was a commentary on the Bush administration, neo conservatism/liberalism, surveillance capitalism, but the comic is really about anarchism. Knowing that Moore was unhappy with the film kind of shaped the way that I read the comic, though, and I kind of think that the story has less to do with fascism (it's been done) and more of a philosophical exploration of the individual's relationship with the collective and government, essentially pointing out that The People are the responsible for whatever society they create and maintain, deserving all the credit and praise or ridicule and damnation.

Content Warnings

mzulli's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

booksdogsandcoffee's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.0

Still rings true in the modern politics of today. As V says “While I’ll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go in making the same lethal errors century after century seems to me nothing short of deliberate.”

As humans we continue to make the same mistakes over and over again and I think that is why V for Vendetta remains so timeless and relatable even 40 years after publication.

Cw
Genocide
Racism
Homophobia
Eugenics
Hate crime
Sexism
Rape
Death
Murder
Torture
Pedophilia
Antisemitism
Xenophobia

Content Warnings

samdalefox's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

V for Vendetta is a dark graphic novel based in dystopian England in the 1990s, that teaches very interesting lessons of fascism, anarchism and revolution. Obvious biases that affect my reception of the graphic novel: I'm a communist, and an anarchist sympathiser. I am vehemently anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian and pro-militant action. Of course I was always going to love this story! I preferred the comic to the film, there a couple of significant changes to the film that I feel diminish the story's message. I'd recommend reading the comics, you can buy the complete collection in one volume and I found the style very easy and enjoyable to read.

Pros

The inclusion of Valerie is incredibly important. To centre the story of a persecuted lesbian woman of integrity as the manifesto for resilience, resistance, hope, and love is just perfect.“...it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it’s all we have in this place. It is the very last inch of us, but in that inch we are free....It is strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years I had roses and apologized to nobody. I shall die here, every inch of me shall perish—except one” (156, 160).
The inclusion of arts as well as the sciences and philosophy. The symbolism of the roses is particuarly beautiful for socialists and communists, referencing Rose Schneiderman's "bread for all, and roses too".
The pacing and aesthetic was bang on for a dystopian vision. Heavy shade, stylised thought 'bubbles', interesting strip arrangement.
Accurate portrayal of various supporting systems of oppression propping up fascism; racism, homophobia, and notably patriarchy. At first I wanted to put the appallingly frequent slut shaming, misogyny, and sexism into the cons bucket as I didn't enjoy it, but tbh it's a hallmark of fascism so is probably best accepted charitably as accurate and not unecessarily used.

Cons

Dare I say, too much focus on the fascist government and not enough on the oppressed people? The novel does a good job at exploring the nuances of consciousness in the people in power; how they are negatively affected by fascism too. But in a graphic novel that claims to want to upset that very balance of power, it would have been nice to have the same nuance and diversity explored within people not in power (excluding V and Evey).
The
capture and torture of Evey
was VERY problematic. It was unjustified as a plotline and completely undermines the anarchism point the novel was trying to make in my opinion. I think Evey's liberation could and should have been achieved in a different way, and the story of Valerie could have been included via a different mechanism.
I would love a follow up about the BUILDING PHASE. Most dystopian fiction focuses on the destruction phase of anarchy. The building phase in V for Vendetta was at least mentioned, but was never focussed upon. The building phase is not as gritty, glorified, or glamorised, but it is still tough and a worthwhile story to tell. I think V for Vendetta missed a trick by not creating a short sequal or appendix covering the hardships of healing and creating.

Favorite Quotes:

“Everybody is special. Everybody. Everybody is a hero, a lover, a fool, a villain. Everybody. Everybody has their story to tell.”

“Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it.”

Content Warnings

More...