Reviews tagging 'War'

Membrana by Chi Ta-wei

6 reviews

cleo_reads's review against another edition

4.0

Genuinely surprising 1990s queer Taiwanese cyber punk. This is a deeply weird, philosophically interesting and at times disturbing book.

The pacing was a little off. Initially I was put off by the repetitive writing but I relaxed into it and the writing style made sense when I got to the end. 

There are a lot of references, from Buddhism to Derrida to Ingmar Bergman and probably a lot that I missed. One of the most disturbing sequences in the book turned out to be a reference to the life and death of the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. (I had no idea reading it but learned it from a review). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

Minor: Child abuse and War

child molestation, body horror, surveillance, non-consensual surgery and medical treatments, voyeurism, mention of organ harvesting

maceydowns's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual content and Dysphoria

Minor: Rape, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

applesodaperson's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was amazing!!!! Like wow it was so incredibly unique.

I really did not see the plot twist coming, but it made so much sense after it happened.

This book had such a unique setting, with everyone living underneath the sea. But instead of just having this be the setting without any explanation, a significant portion of the book is dedicated to the history of the world and why they ended up under the sea. This allowed for some really interesting social commentary, about politics and race. 
I also loved the motif of the canary bird cage. It takes on a lot of different meanings throughout the story, which makes the symbolism even richer. 
And of course one of the standouts of this book was the gender aspect, which I think this book handled really well, and in its own unique way. 
Overall this book was masterful and a very enjoyable read.
Read from the BYU library. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: War

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Super fascinating setting and themes around bodily autonomy and privacy, intimacy, identity, and reality and perception. The writing style is a bit stilted and heavy on telling (Heinrich's translation of Last Words from Montmartre reads very differently, so I'm inclined to think this is also a quirk of the original); I think it generally suits the narrative but does make the twist come off a little overexplained. Heavier on philosophy than hard science, and definitely shows its age at certain points, neither of which I say as particular negatives -- overall, very interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Viral infection. Climate change/pollution in the setup.

scifi_rat's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail