Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

8 reviews

boring_samizdat's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-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

A bleak and masterful study on grief, existence, and the nature of reality. Often dialogue heavy, swapping back and forth between the main character's sister (whose sections are all italicized, making a jarring start to the story) and different sequences in the protagonist's life, which are told on a non-linear timeline that often shifts without warning, sometimes mid-chapter or even paragraph. It really benefits from a second reading of it and the companion/sequel Stella Maris, as lots of context and sequences of events are given out slowly throughout the course.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Incest

unboxedjack's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I've been thinking on why I liked this book, as perplexing as it is to read. McCarthy's narrative is not really a narrative, from how I see it.  Rather, it feels like a selection of asides we're invited to eavesdrop in on, not fully understanding the undertones of dialogue or plot. They're more like a literary academician's version of "The Moth", where not much happens, but we're still dragged along. In a sense, McCarthy is making us the passenger, leaving us with no option but to stay with the story and his characters' navigation of the events unfolding. Well, no: there is the option to DNF, but I think McCarthy reflects on that with the death of the protagonist's sister. 

McCarthy's obviously meditating on the mindless and possibly meaningless minutiae of existence here. He seems to propose that we're passengers in life in general, being torn from one life event to the next without much rhyme or reason. The protagonist is thrown around from situation to situation, seemingly without any actual will. If we have no control over our lives, then what is the point? This could be a nihilistic view, but I disagree. McCarthy is offering us an opportunity to be engaged in the passenger role. We can choose to focus on the things outside of our control and despair. We can focus only on the hedonism of living only in the moment. Both those perspectives make us passive passengers in life. To be active is to embrace the dialectic that the mindlessness &  meaninglessness can be both a source of pain, but brilliance, too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Incest, Dementia, Death of parent, and Self harm

travisslater's review

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Suicide, Self harm, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Miscarriage

knorkemann's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

tobsi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness

Minor: Self harm

johannawilbur's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

davidh12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

The Passenger wasn’t at all what I expected. You are onboarded into this world with a mystery surrounding a crashed airplane and a missing passenger, but this plot is mostly abandoned over time. In its place, we follow Bobby Western as he converses with a diverse assortment of people he meets in his travels as he struggles to cope with his personal demons. By the end of his journey I can’t say I fully understood everything McCarthy was trying to say but I FELT it. There are some beautiful and haunting passages in this book I won’t soon forget

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Transphobia, Suicide, and Incest

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, War, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Animal death, Incest, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, and Self harm