Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

10 reviews

kerrence30's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Similar to other books from this time period there is a lack of purpose for many of the characters. The upper and middle classes are basking in their free time, living without cares or responsibility, and life is to be enjoyed. This does leave the story without a real plot, but it is an interesting reflection on life for the privileged and hedonistic during this time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder and Antisemitism

aj_m's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

Minor: Religious bigotry

katsweirdbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: War

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Violence

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

Hemingway's thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the world are deeply flawed due to his racism, sexism, and antisemitism, but goddamn do I love the way he writes. I love his short, sharp prose though. Each word is thoughtfully chosen and deployed.

The main character is Jake—who is so clearly a self-insert that it’s almost laughable—and we see the world only through his eyes. He’s self-centered, broken by war, desperately sad, and serious. In between jazz age parties, you watch this man crumble beneath the weight of his suffering, and even though he kind of sucks, you can’t help but feel sorry for the guy.

Jake's travels in France and Spain read like a journal/travelogue. He’s simultaneously numb and in pain, but he also sees beauty in everything. He’s a walking, talking contradiction.

The prose is melancholy, wistful, and reflective. You end up feeling bad for almost all the characters, who have all wrecked their own lives or been wrecked by others or some combination. This is the first novel of Hemingway's that I’ve read, and despite some of my qualms with it, it makes me want to pick up more of his work. He's writes a compelling, fascinating read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: War

renicula's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

seanml's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-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

4.25

"The Sun Also Rises" defined the Lost Generation, and it certainly feels lost. It's very reminiscent of the very household name The Great Gatsby, published only a year earlier. We follow a group of affluent white folk who live in a world feeling jaded. They hope that each new day will be better, but their freedom brings them to poor conclusions. The characters are put in situations where they don't HAVE to do the right thing, and so each decision is just a little selfish. Usually not grossly so: they're all human, and we would act the same. But these little building disagreements, without distraction, gradually build into conflict. I like our protagonist well enough. I like Bill. I want to like Brett, I want to like Robert, and Mike, and Romero. In the end there's no reason to dislike them either. They're all lost and hurt people, formed by circumstance.
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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Antisemitism, Stalking, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and War

bookish_bry's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

I'll admit from the beginning that I don't really jive with Hemingway's style. I appreciate it as someone who writes themself, but as a reader, it makes it hard to get into. The entire first part of the book was very slow and the style made it hard to connect to any of the characters. However, later in the book I did start to enjoy it a lot more. While Hemingway doesn't use many metaphors the ones he does (pretty much just bullfighting) are used very effectively. I ended up being able to see the complexity of the characters and their relationship, and I appreciated them by the end.

It was a good representation of the lost generation and that sense of hopelessness and loss of real identity. It's definitely an important read, and I'm sure there are people who would appreciate the style more than I do at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

A big part of this book is about watching bullfighting with all of the violence towards animals and all of the danger to humans that implies. Bulls are killed by bullfighters, steers are injured by bulls, and a man is killed by a bull.

shadestate's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Misogyny and War

roclarenett's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Death, Blood, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Classism