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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Dysphoria
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment
Minor: Vomit
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma
Minor: Sexual content
As an addict in recovery, I am and always will be a sucker for an addiction story. I had already seen the film a million times before going in, so nothing here shocked me. However, Selby’s excellent understanding of the compulsive need to fill that hole to make yourself feel whole? That shit hit me right where it hurts. Aronofsky’s adaptation is extremely loyal to its source material & does an excellent job conveying all of this... but as with any novel, it helps to hear those voices in their heads.
Excited to read more from him in the future... but definitely going to space them out. I’m a sad sack for sure, but I don’t need to bring myself down constantly.
Excited to read more from him in the future... but definitely going to space them out. I’m a sad sack for sure, but I don’t need to bring myself down constantly.
I tried.
Staggered through a few pages and it's just completely unreadable and incoherent.
"No way I'm reading another 270 pages of this", I thought.
Notice above: paragraphs, punctuation, grammar, and spelling in general. None of that in this book.
Staggered through a few pages and it's just completely unreadable and incoherent.
"No way I'm reading another 270 pages of this", I thought.
Notice above: paragraphs, punctuation, grammar, and spelling in general. None of that in this book.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book is very disturbing and very depressing. not for the faint of heart for sure - but extremely powerful, extremely.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Better than the film was for me. I quite liked this there's something so oddly healing about Hubert Selby Jr's exploration of American depravity through the lives of addicts who never achieve redemption. While there is not exactly a character redemption, the addiction descends which is a development in itself shedding light on the reality of it evident perhaps through Harry later pimping out Marion for drugs and having to suffer the excruciating pain of an infected arm within a men's prison. I think Hubert Selby Jr might be amongst my favourite authors ever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes