Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Os Filhos da Meia-Noite by Salman Rushdie

6 reviews

maziodynes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was honestly one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read. 

Yes, it's meandering with an incredibly unreliable narrator. The pacing is challenging, and sometimes even frustrating. But the way every character and notable item is symbolic, representative of a deeply human feeling or a time in history - it's something that feels magical. It's a fantastical multi-generational story rooted in hard historical truths, and that's no easy task. 

I'll be thinking about Saleem's story for a long, long time. And I'll never look at pickles the same way again!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Suicide, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Police brutality and Dementia

babyseagull's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Colonisation

Moderate: War

Minor: Genocide and Torture

goldripred's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-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

4.5

Surprisingly good as everything wraps up at the end. I find this a characteristic charm of Rushdie where you find yourself longing for the end where he ties up all the characters, all of the disparate ends of history into an arc you can trace. I really enjoyed parts of this novel and found it informative in understanding the history. It had significant gravitas towards some of the most heart-breaking segments such as the Bangladeshi genocide. I felt exhausted and appalled after reading that segment which was the purpose of narrating that storyline. It was a book that aimed to explain ALL of India’s history 30 years after independence even through the tracks of Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was hopeful towards the beginning and slowly lost its optimism until the reader feels the legacy of being an Indian as Rushdie describes it: constantly trampled under the weight of history. Overall, an enlightening experience. Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Murder, and War

travisppe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious medium-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

4.25

This is a remarkable book. Uniquely written with a vibrancy that is rarely seen in literature. It is also very dense, difficult, and complex. I can’t say I always had a ton of fun reading it. I’m impressed and have nothing but respect for this accomplishment but I doubt I’d ever reread this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Infertility, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Classism, and Deportation

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

angelbabe_cj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• 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

3.5

As much as I liked the concept of the book,  per the blurb, the actual execution seems overblown and rambling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexism, and Torture

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Excrement