Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - Jumalat juhlivat öisin

Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Jumalat juhlivat öisin by Donna Tartt

138 reviews

capricornrisingbby's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-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

5.0

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michaelcoleallen's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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

3.75

The Secret History by Donna Tartt has an incredibly developed main cast but its real strength is in how those personality traits and quirks manifest in such minor ways in the relaxed environment of a privileged east-coast liberal arts school, yet have the potential to slowly dominate a character when stress (i.e. murder) is applied.

The pacing was quite good. As the novel enters the last two hundred pages the main character, Richard, thinks less and reacts more in the face of consequences from the uh… thing that he must discuss in ancient greek when the gang is in public which builds a quicker finale of events.

I enjoyed my time with the novel and may even reread. I can recommend it on the basis of good prose, great character study, and a pretty gripping narrative even considering the opening spoiler. Just don’t expect it to be eye-opening, transcendent, etc. It’s a murder story told as a thoughtful page-turner and has allusions to things like Proust and The Iliad to boot.

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robi_locksley's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

1.5

I found this book to be incredibly overwritten. Tartt would use five analogies in a row to describe the exact same thing. There were multiple uses of pure filler with paragraphs devoted to something that did not serve to advance plot, character, atmosphere, or anything else other than the word count.

Unfortunately, this book is also packed full of bigotry. There is racism, homophobia, and misogyny all over the place. And it isn't simply down to the characters being jerks. An actual line from the text, during Richard's first class with Julian: "He poured the tea as solemnly as a mandarin." The only times that bigotry is ever challenged by the narrative is when the bigotry is cartoonishly overt and hostile.

The following is not a spoiler, and serves as an example of the bigotry in this book and the filler.

There is a full page dedicated to discussing a fictional Middle Eastern country which is named Isram. ISRAM. This fictional Middle Eastern country, with only one letter changed from the dominant religion of the Middle East, is described as a terrorist state and is said to have a jihad against the main character's Greek/Classics professor.

This is all pure filler, too. There's absolutely no reason for it to be there. But there it is. Isram.

There is no convincing me that Tartt isn't a horribly bigoted person after reading that.

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geilie's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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victoriak1197's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was very different than I thought it would be. It was a lot slower, with the murder mystery it was always advertised to me going very different than it typically would. A lot of this book is just theme and character exploration, as well as just vibes (mixed with foreshadowing). This book is not just a vibe, it is a state of mind. I was completely absorbed into this book, captivated by the romantic and gothic imagery and prose.

My only criticism for this book is that i wish that Camilla and Francis got a happier ending. I mean, Francis, although marrying someone boring who he won't love, is rich. it's just kinda unfair that Charles got a happier ending than Camilla. I also feel like Camilla could've married Francis, just so Francis didn't have to marry the blonde woman. I know that she didn't marry Richard because she loves Henry (although maybe it was because she just didn't like Richard enough, remember that Richard does describe her as an actress and is harsh to her after he finds out the Charles abused her), but she could've married Francis because it would be different.

But I get that unhappy endings are part of this book.

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winlei's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

3.0

I really had to sit with this book before giving it a rating because I’m so conflicted on so many levels. And maybe that’s what this book wants you to feel - conflict. It’s the simple fact of horrible people doing horrible things and then watching the fall out from it. It’s fascinating. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. It’s terrible but you can’t exactly look away. I had issues with the pacing. The first 250 pages - and yes TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY, at LEAST- were hell to get through. It dragged, so slowly, that I really thought that there was no way I’d be able to make it through. But then it kicked into another gear and while it was still slow, it was definitely well outside of the DNF range.

It’s fascinating to me that even though this book was written by a woman there’s no actual flushed out female representation. Camilla is a projection of all these men’s desires but with no actual agency herself. But maybe it’s about time women write poorly developed female characters? Like maybe that’s the real representation??Much to think about.

All in all? I still have no idea how I feel about this book, the story or the execution. I know I could never in good conscience recommend it to anyone else but I’m also at the very least glad I read it.

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