brnineworms's review
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Violence: Humans in Dark Times disappointed me somewhat, but it fails in interesting ways, I think.
The interview format does the book no favours – trains of thought are constantly derailed by the interviewer interrupting or the chapter simply coming to an end. Perhaps it could have worked better as a series of short essays? That way the writers would have the space to properly explore their ideas and express them clearly, with better consideration of pacing and phrasing.
Something else that bothered me is the sense of detachment that permeates the text. I expected a book about violence to be visceral and to pack a punch (no pun intended), but instead there’s this reluctance to tackle the subject head-on. Most chapters are only tangentially related to violence, and even those that do address it tend to do so from a safe distance – as something that happens in other places to other people.
What I will say is that this book serves as a nice sample platter of contemporary artists and philosophers. There are definitely some interviewees whose work I want to check out. But Violence: Humans in Dark Times itself doesn’t really deliver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Transphobia
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Colonisation, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, and Self harm
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