Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

52 reviews

luisatkinson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

redmarten83's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

linsolv's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Medical content, Murder, and War

fatherofmysteries's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

There is no review I could write that could begin to sum up the journey that this book took me on

He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

matthewgrayson's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

You shouldn't read this book if you:

• Struggle with graphic depictions of violence and gore
• Don't like stories that focus on characters of low moral character
• Do not like poetic writing
• Are uncomfortable with allusions to child abuse and pedophilia
• Are offended or uncomfortable with realistic depictions of historical racism
• Avoid occasional nudity in literature
• Do not like stories based in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico in the 1800's
• Want something light to read
• Are nihilistic or are prone to nahilism

You should read this book if you:

• The above list can be tolerated
• Have a strong moral compass
• Are able to analyze and find meaning in the literature you consume

Version:

• Audiobook (Borrowed through the Libby app)
• Publisher: Recorded Books Inc. 
• Narrator: Richard Poe

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West is about:

• The moral degradation and depravity of man after reaching the pinical of its societal achievement
• War
• Peoples, cultures, and groups striving to live up to the supposed achievements their predecessors with only the knowledge of their virtues and the absence of their faults
• The results of pride, racism, natural justice (or the justice of God), alliances with the immoral and depraved, colonization, genocide, violence, greed, nihilism
• Those that dance, and those that do not dance
• 
  

The most brutal violence is abrupt and sometimes out of nowhere. The book does not relish in the violence, but rushes the violence in a concentrated burst. It can be jarring, however, it helps illustrate the sudden finality of life and how something can be so quickly made into nothing... (unfinished)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder

jimbo_cheezemas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

angelinalaramie's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a near impossible book to review. How do you review a book that represents so much about America and the human condition? How can you review the horrors presented? This book should be required reading for everyone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Xenophobia, and War

nyxlexica's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

3.0

Difficult to read. Very slow, very distant, no character to get behind. An intense depiction of a period in history I knew nothing about, though, with an incredible villain. Happy I've read it but can't say I enjoyed the process, exactly.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

blueshirt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful book about horrible people doing horrible things.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia

ddavare's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

This is a purely violent book. I did not enjoy this at all. It's supposedly considered a great American novel?? I understand what the author was trying to convey (fate vs. free will, humanity's taste for violence, hipocrisy of Christianity), but this could have been done with at least 70% less violence. Whatever happened to the power of suggestion? JEEZ!!! - I mean the author suggests what happens to the protagonist (I use the word "protagonist" very lightly) at the end and leaves it up to the audience to imagine it. I would not recommend this book (as a person who is not white or a man) as it's triggering in every regard. Unless you are a lit major, writer, or enjoy reading literary challenges (the writing is interesting and challenging), I don't recommend. I think the average reader would not draw out the author's point, and would not be able to see through all this violence. This has not added any value to my knowledge and just created unnecessary stress and disappointment in Western culture (and I'm already disappointed with our political climate). This is a rant. I was set up to read this as part of a group read, and I am not happy about it and am using Storygraph as a way to vent.