Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - McGlue

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh

47 reviews

jedisuckerpunch's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

3 stars even though i liked the book. i think I'm over this dark phase of ottessa moshfegh. everything I've read so far has characters that reveal their truest, darkest side, and it's too real sometimes. doesn't do well for my mental health.

she's a spectacular write, brilliant, to be able to capture characters like that. i read an interview where she said she was glad to be done writing mcglue, it was a dark time for her as well. and it truly is.

the book is about a drunk sailor who wakes up only to be found accused for the murder of one his closest friends. he does or does not recall murdering him. and the whole book is written from his perspective, him being drunk, sobering, failing, an it feels like a fever dream. no, it actually feels like trying to go through a foggy mind, while drunk - throughout the whole book. its amazes me how she can capture that feeling and make the reader feel nauseous and drunk while reading it. truly brilliant writer.

Content Warnings

kutreen's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I picked this up because I have been hearing a lot about this author but thought that reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation would sink me deeper into depression.

Damn! I'm really impressed by Moshfegh. She reeled me into the drunken stupor/brain damaged/denial-stage-of-grief cloudiness of McGlue's mind without getting too abstract or confusing. McGlue is in and out of consciousness as memories from his time spent with the man he allegedly killed (but had a quite vulnerable brother-like bond--which you can guess what that means when it's between two sailors in the 1850s) intermix with memories from his poor and emotionally neglected childhood, intermix with him currently trying to process his situation as he awaits trial while withdrawing from alcoholism and having a huge untreated gash in his head. We can empathize with McGlue's pain much more than he could allow himself to at that time.

The most unpalatable parts for me were the ways McGlue referred to gay men, women, and black people, but I suppose it's true to how a man like that at that time would have referred to them.

Looking back not sure I could get through this if I was more emotionally vulnerable right now, but luckily it was a quick read.

Content Warnings

uuuultraviolennnnt's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-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

3.0

Scrawny little sailor thinks he’s the shit, dies as his mind swims in nothing but red liquor

Content Warnings

teaselkie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective slow-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

Content Warnings

avern's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

amynoelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-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

2.25

look, i love otessa moshfegh’s writing style, but i can’t looks past the recurrent use of slurs throughout the book. it would be different if they only appeared every once in a while, but there were times when there were 3+ slurs on a single page. and i didn’t fuck with that. i understand what she was trying to pull off with the narrator, but it was too extreme. i love a good unlikeable or unreliable narrator—if done right. mcglue was not done right. it could’ve been done right if it had been written as “gay pirates with internalized homophobia learn to love each other and themselves.” sadly, i would instead describe this as “the narrator drops the f slur and racist comments every ten sentences while pining for another man.” disappointment.

Content Warnings