Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

4 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

Upon completion, I enjoyed Shawshank Redemption more than I thought I was during the moment.

I liked hearing how Andy was sort of this inspiring and living legend, but really was a normal guy just living in hope for justice.
I enjoyed Red's telling of the story, it felt more endearing than I think it would have been had Andy been telling it himself.

I loved the ending, that made me feel really happy and it had this hopeful air to it.

Of course, being King, we has his typical rascim, homophobia and sexisim sprinkled in there. Surprised it wasn't much more, if I'm honest, but I guess this is only a small book. I can't write this review without at least mentioning this.

Overall, this was a solid character study and an interesting look at life in prison from around the 1940's onwards. I'd pin this as more of a historical, slice-of-life short story, with mystery and thriller elements.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Vomit, Confinement, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, and Torture

gimmiiie's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Mental illness, Excrement, Racial slurs, Murder, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Racism, Alcohol, Ableism, Drug use, Confinement, and Addiction

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

annaledbetter's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Great short story! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Confinement, Homophobia, and Torture

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Excrement

bluejayreads's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

 My husband loves Stephen King's books and really wanted me to try another one after I really wasn't sure what I thought about Salem's Lot. He recommended this one. I've watched the movie version of The Shawshank Redemption twice and loved it both times, so I decided to give the book a shot. 

I think novellas are a good thing for Stephen King, because one of my main criticisms of Salem's Lot is that the dude knows how to write but the book was about a hundred pages too long. The Shawshank Redemption is much better because as a novella, there isn't time for meandering descriptions. 

The narration doesn't really allow for a lot of flowery anything, anyway. It's narrated as a manuscript written by Red, a prisoner serving a life sentence in Shawshank Prison who is so impressed with fellow prisoner Andy Dufresne that he writes down Andy's story in Shawshank. It's not very heavy on description or even dialogue, but it manages to be engaging and evocative anyway. Reserved, intelligent, and selfpossessed Andy is so different from the average Shawshank inmate that he makes an impression on everyone - guards, wardens, other inmates, and other prisoners alike. Red, the man in Shawshank who can get you anything for the right price, grows to respect him. 

If you've seen the movie, it sticks pretty close to the book so you're going to know all the major plot points. But it's the little details that really make this story. How prison works, backgrounds on the crime that put Andy in prison, Andy's interest in geology - it all wraps together into a remarkably good story. If you listen to this as an audiobook, it almost feels like you're listening to an old guy tell interesting stories about his time in prison for four hours. 

I am very glad I read this book, and if you like the movie you'll probably like it in book form too. I might try The Green Mile next, since it's another of Stephen King's non-horror works and my husband thinks since I liked this one so much I'll like that one too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Gun violence

Prison, institutional abuse, forced labor