Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

23 reviews

mirissab's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was not what I was expecting, but it was ultimately worth my time despite it taking me three attempts to start it. My niche is books that are multi-generational (preferably matrilineal) with a little history weaved through it. This book captures all of that but with more magic and surrealism sprinkled in.  While beautifully written with poetic prose and melancholic storylines, I found it perhaps a little too fantastical for my personal preference. I appreciate the layers and complexity of the characters and storylines even though I would say there wasn't much of a (fast-moving) plot: the harsh realities of being an immigrant in the USA, what makes or breaks a family, how history shapes the present, and how we are capable of more than we know (both good and bad). This book made me feel like I understood nothing and everything at the same time. It was oftentimes confusing and I felt like I was missing something, but I could likely attribute at least a part of it to my ignorance (for example, I'm not that great with symbolism). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and War

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Racism

jess_18's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

was so weird but i thought it was great. the mother daughter relationships shown got to me. definitely not for everyone 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Medical content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Dementia, and Excrement

_kairhone_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Excrement

Moderate: War and Sexual content

brianareads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, Gore, Excrement, and Body horror

readingjaunt's review against another edition

5.0

I’ve never read a book with so much pissing in it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Animal death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Sexual assault, War, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, and Violence

maksipad's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-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

I like weird books and this fits in that category for sure. The prose was absolutely beautiful and I really loved the story. However, it was also fairly slow and I could only read small chunks of the book before I had to put it back down for awhile. Also, as others have mentioned, there are manyyy bodily function references.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Abandonment, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Dementia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gore, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jacq_s's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Gore

caleykapowski's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Excrement, and Violence

snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.

Brimming with imagery and symbolism, vulgarity and rawness, Bestiary by K-Ming Chang is a familiar story of alienation, resilience and survival told in (while being made unfamiliar by) bizarre prose saturated with magical realism. There are layers upon layers in this story, made complex by two main factors.

The first of which is that there is no traditional plot structure as the story unravels without linearity. It jumps from one point of view to another, switching between Daughter, Mother and Grandmother without much care for order. But, despite this, it is clear that Bestiary is a story of identity, though there’s a notable lack of names.

The other is the significance of vulgarity in this book. Now, I’m not someone who shies away from vulgarity in literature, but there is just way too much of it here. The first half of the book is especially bursting with mentions of body parts and bodily functions. A small part of me hesitantly believes that the closeness of filth and the Asian characters here are meant to be ironic because Asians have been stereotyped as dirty. But, a greater part of me is unsure of their significance within the story and outside of it—the potential contexts elude me despite the familiarity.

Everything considered, this book was difficult for me to read and took a lot out of me while I attempted to understand it. It is powerful, yes, and the parts I did understand broke my heart. Even so, I remain undecided if Bestiary is brilliantly creative or has a tad too much surrealism.

Nevertheless, I recommend this book for anyone who loves Asian literature and magical realism, and who has the brain power to process its rich imagery and symbolism. If you get squeamish easily but really want to read this book, be prepared to take lots of breaks in between pages.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Excrement

Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Minor: Racism and Suicide attempt

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a really strange and beautiful book. I didn’t love it, but I can appreciate it for what it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Xenophobia, Death, Violence, Vomit, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, and Domestic abuse