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hgbush's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Violence
Minor: War
ecourtis'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
3.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Animal death, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Bullying
Minor: War
toffishay's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Infidelity
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Racism
Minor: Gore, Death, Animal death, War, Misogyny, and Xenophobia
lay_kone's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Bullying, Cursing, and Racism
renicula's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Addiction
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
storyorc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I understand from researching the title and Hemmingway's comments on the book that it's intended to show that the Lost Generation is not so lost but I struggle to see it. Our main character endures but seemingly only to be taken advantage of again and again by worse people of better breeding. Perhaps that willingness to hope and work hard (when not spending so much on holiday it makes you cringe) is a virtue in itself. However, even if you consider it hopeless, as I'm tempted to, it's a fantastic portrayal of that downtrodden acceptance of an imperfect life. Very much about settling and accepting a bad lot; perhaps that's why it wasn't set in America.
If nothing else, it's academically fascinating to watch Hemmingway pile on the weight of unsaid things atop his sparse and simple prose. Occasionally, a character does admit what they actually think about their grotesque little love polygon but the story is at its most tense when they're sat around talking about anything else. I didn't appreciate how there was an elephant behind the elephant in the room until this passage came after a simple dinner with friends:
It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening.
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexism
Antisemitism, including from the narrator, goes unchecked by the narrative beyond the general impression that all the characters are arseholes. Black characters are allowed very little personhood. K- and n-slurs used. A 34yr old woman seduces a 19yr old boy. General period-typical sexism abounds. The main character is wounded in a way that prevents them from having sex and it is implied the woman who loves him will not be with him because of it, though she doesn't seem to stay with uninjured men any better.annarbpollock's review against another edition
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
seanml's review against another edition
- 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
P.S.: There is a single page where the n-word is uttered casually something like 15 times. It doesn't seem malicious, but it's flagrant. Just be aware that if you read this book about problematic people, understand that the author also was a problematic person in a lost world. 8.5/10.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Death, Stalking, Cursing, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Infertility, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, War, Violence, and Vomit
ezulc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Infidelity and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, Blood, and Antisemitism
Minor: Racism, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Racial slurs
lilac_rose's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Sexism and Alcoholism