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abernathy_33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Incest, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, and Death of parent
dan_black's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Mental illness and Suicide
jennysides's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
heylookitsvaheh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Suicide and Grief
tracytcamp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
boring_samizdat's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Incest, Suicide, and Death of parent
jimio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As it happens, the mystery of the missing passenger is not really a key theme of the book but provides a framework for a discussion of morality and grief, encompassing issues of mental illness, suicide, and the atomic bomb along the way.
Despite the horrors of some of his previous work, The Passenger somehow comes across as one of the strangest of McCarthy’s books. It doesn’t necessarily go anywhere but the journey leaves a sense of profound reflection and loss, possibly tinged by the real life death of McCarthy shortly after publication and the realisation that this book, along with its companion Stella Maris, will be the final work of this monumental American writer.
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Transphobia
christynhoover's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
I have liked the author's writing style in earlier work that I've read and I like this one too although occasionally the philosophical and scientific arguments were tedious. Still, overall, I found the work thought-provoking about loss, among other things.
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
k1ng_dippy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Incest and Suicide
unboxedjack's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Eating disorder, Incest, Self harm, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol