Scan barcode
letosias's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Pedophilia
myopicmars's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Racism
beautyandterror's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia
wipeout's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, and Classism
Minor: Miscarriage
bj66rk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.75
"our first confidants, though the word seems excessive, are our lovers"
— i would give this a 4 but after thinking it over i couldnt bring myself to do that and settled on a 3.75 LOL.. this book gets a bit hard to follow along as it continues and i found myself grazing over long paragraphs after losing interest. i do enjoy the collection of memories and switches between povs as the narrator reflects on snippets of her childhood, watching the young girl from her adult eyes and the eyes of the reader.
her relationship with her adult lover is strange. i feel for her with her relationship with him and her mother, how it felt like she clinged onto him because of her upbringing and societal belief that she as a young girl was nothing but a sexual object. you question whether it was love or merely just desire needing to be met—many things the lover did made me feel ill. its reminiscent of a lolita type relationship, but told from the pov of dolores.
the racism and whiteness is something i as a poc had trouble coming to terms with, but nonetheless it was a quick book i couldn't put down.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Racism
james1star's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Pedophilia
Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
stellabyproxy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
“We’re united in a fundamental shame at having to live.”
“I’ve never written, though I thought I wrote, never loved, though I thought I loved, never done anything but wait outside the closed door.”
“It’s while it’s being lived that life is immortal, while it’s still alive.”
“My memory of men is never lit up and illuminated like my memory of women.”
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Racism
Moderate: Addiction, Physical abuse, and Grief
Minor: Death, Drug use, Xenophobia, and War
empsea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, and Death of parent
cestarimm'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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Addiction and War
odpeppiatt'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
"I've never written, though I thought I wrote, never loved, though I thought I loved, never done anything but wait outside the closed door." (25)
the reason for my high rating is primarily bc of the voice. it's really hard to be conversational and poignant at the same time, but duras really nailed it I thought. she did this really weird thing with punctuation, using it in this intentionally incorrect (unless punctuation was different in France? in the '80s? doubt it but maybe) way, really unique & unlike anything I've seen (not that I've really been out here "seeing it all"), that made you have to read it with a certain rhythm, probably the way she wanted it to sound. it intensifies the inner monologue, suggests that the narrator isn't as blasé as she presents herself. like this: "I looked at her to try to find out, find out who she was, Marie-Claude Carpenter. Why she was there rather than somewhere else, why she was from so far away too, from Boston, why she was rich, why no one knew anything about her, not anything, no one, why these seemingly compulsory parties. and why, why, in her eyes, deep down in the depths of sight, that particle of death? Marie-Claude Carpenter. Why did all her dresses have something indefinable in common that made them look as if they didn't quite belong to her....." (66) a lot of the sentences are fragments, things like that, just ~musical~ as they say. but it sounds good like that, it's more like how people talk, reminisce. this book would definitely sound really good read aloud. her experience as a screenwriter is obvious (in a good way).
I read this to ring in Valentine's Day (based solely on the title)....... needless to say it was very UNceremonious..... between this and Anaïs nin, I have digested more unstigmatized pedophilia than I ever wanted to in my life. I just needed more acknowledgement that it's fucked up. and I get that that's maybe the point and the reader's reaction is enough commentary and whatever Duchamp said about the spectators making the art and whatnot, but what if the reader doesn't react "correctly"? it goes back to the whole fucking licorice pizza debate (there were real-life people Ginj/OS/I talked to who didn't consider the age gap the whole time they were watching the movie--ginj and I still thought the you were supposed to feel weird, OS disagreed). but regardless, I needed my uncomfy-ness to be validated more because I have a hard time trusting my own opinions as it is (**not that I didn't trust my vindication of my opinion here)
my other qualm is just that I wanted to know more about pretty much all of the characters, especially the younger brother. I felt like she reflected on a lot of big life moments
ok that's all my takeaways I think......
**had to bring it down a quarter of a star bc I don't know that I really loved reading it, even though I appreciate it.........
Graphic: Pedophilia