Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

De stad der blinden by José Saramago

17 reviews

thesara99's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Sexual violence

anna220310's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I've never read a dystopia that felt so real and that truly exposed so much of the realities of society and human nature. It shows perfectly how brittle the security of our modern world is and how unprepared we are to survive disasters. By taking away everyone's sight, you also take away government, morality, hygiene, food security and everything else which is a founding pillar of our society. Be mindful of the very graphic content though (check the trigger warnings!), it's not for the faint of heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content

csteidl93's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

carolab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

shelvedbysara's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Review: This book is emotional torture, but it is brilliant. It provides such a visceral depiction of human suffering and of the fight for survival. The eminent presence of death makes the reading experience quite tense and even agonising - sometimes it’s hard to put some distance between your world and and the one you're absorbed in for you can feel the characters’ pain as if you were experiencing it yourself. The white blindness is also a great metaphor and Saramago uncovers its’ subtle meaning quite brilliantly by questioning whether the blindness of the eyes is also one of the mind.

Summary: When a man goes mysteriously blind as he is driving home, an epidemic of white blindness spreads around the country. The first cases are transferred to a closed complex to complete a period of quarantine and they form a group whose journey we follow throughout the entire narrative. They are nameless people living in a nameless city during a nameless era in time. Only their experiences are ever labelled - blindness, abuse, suffering, despair, hope - which grants them a universal meaning. Ensaios Sobre a Cegueira (Blindness) is a literary analysis of what it means to be blinded not just by eyes that cannot see, but also by fear.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity and Vomit

rosalind's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Excrement, and Vomit

therowdypi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Police brutality