Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: Stories by Harlan Ellison

13 reviews

surdiablo's review

dark sad tense 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

2.0

Well, that was.. underwhelming at best. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough ride when the title story involved plenty of sexism ( Yes yes, I know

Spoiler

those people were already half-crazy with their minds twisted by the AI

) but the rest of the stories, including the endnotes confirmed my suspicion that it's just the author's views seeping into the book. It was simply distasteful and had me rolling my eyes on numerous occasions. I understand that he's a 'product of his time', except I wasn't impressed by the short stories at all to make up for the problematic elements. They are for the most part well-written, but I found the concepts to be much more interesting than the execution of it. The stories I enjoyed were too short with unsatisfying endings, while the rest of them left a bad aftertaste due to the misogynistic notions possessed by the majority of characters. I can see these concepts being innovative back then, but I don't see much in here otherwise that explains or justifies the reverence he gets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

archaicrobin's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A truly terrifying read about a super computer saving 5 humans for the sole purpose of torturing them. This was written in 1969 and its stance on technology and relying too much on AI is still relevant today. Unfortunately this story had a very misogynistic look at the female character, like many older novels, but it’s very aggressive in this one, and as a result it affected my enjoyment of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Cannibalism, Confinement, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault

julsreadinglist's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexism

toffishay's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

2.75

I liked "Eyes of Dust" and "Delusion for a Dragon Slayer"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Misogyny

Minor: Racial slurs

ak97x's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Rape, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Medical trauma

Spoiler

Human consciousness kept in limbo by cruel AI that believes it is enacting justice. Graphic depictions of sex, violence, assault, torture, etc.

Very sexist Very racist Very stupid But "intellectuals" of a certain type (re: fedorass') will rave about it. No, there's no real science in it

crxwley10's review against another edition

To be fair I only half-read the story with the name of the book. Not the whole book, but having this story as a first glance made me feel dissapointed. All the misoginy present in the story makes me uncomfortable as well as the phallocentrism that ted has about AM and the people he is near to. It made me sick and I could not finish this story, I got bored and uncomfortable easily. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

roytoybb's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

backyardjake's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

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

3.5

I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream:
Frightful future becoming more and more plausable as countries move towards using Super Intelligent AI for purposes of war. Personal interpretation altered to Ellison's words on the story in his accompaning memoir. I indeed did not notice Ellen was specifically black nor did I come away hopeful with the ending, but his words on the matter did change my outlook for the better.

The other stories:
All equally disparging to the human race and it's lowness. I would find it hard to see the bright side in these stories as the author means for the reader to in the first one. Except perhaps for the space circus, which is more sad than it is messed up like the others. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

ruslan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Interesting take on AI, especially given the time the short story was originally released. Very grim and bleak, the whole story is filled with a sense of hopelessness and despair through and through. Very enjoyable sci-fi/horror type of thing! Was a bit upset that it was so short but that makes it all the more impactful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Torture, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, War, and Suicide

breedawnwriter's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Weird short story.

Super messed up, but the plot concept is still one of the most intriguing things I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Self harm, and Gore

Minor: Sexual content, Cursing, Genocide, and Sexual assault