chpatilde's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
juusosalmi_'s review against another edition
5.0
TRIGGER WARNINGS: rape, attempt of murder and racism
4.5-stars is probably a more accurate rating but this book was good enough for me to round it up to 5-stars!
Anyways, History of Violence by Édouard Louis (whom book, [b:The End of Eddy|31574750|The End of Eddy|Édouard Louis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493822268l/31574750._SX50_.jpg|71037054], I have read before) is a book where he recounts getting raped and almost killed. Majority of the story is told through his sister, who tells Édouard's experience to her husband while he listens somewhere (without them knowing he is also there, I suppose.)
This book wasn't really chronological and the same situation was often recounted multiple times throughout this book. But I think the way this story was told made it more real. The humanity of it all made it much more intense to read about and therefore made also reading the disgusting details a lot harder.
I think Louis is becoming my new favorite author! He has a talent that I rarely find anywhere else. His books are quite famous in France (the country he is from) but I truly wish he could get the worldwide recognization he truly deserves. He writes so beautiful sentences and the way he tells his stories really is unique. I really recommend reading this book, to those who are comfortable with reading about hard topics!
4.5-stars is probably a more accurate rating but this book was good enough for me to round it up to 5-stars!
Anyways, History of Violence by Édouard Louis (whom book, [b:The End of Eddy|31574750|The End of Eddy|Édouard Louis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493822268l/31574750._SX50_.jpg|71037054], I have read before) is a book where he recounts getting raped and almost killed. Majority of the story is told through his sister, who tells Édouard's experience to her husband while he listens somewhere (without them knowing he is also there, I suppose.)
This book wasn't really chronological and the same situation was often recounted multiple times throughout this book. But I think the way this story was told made it more real. The humanity of it all made it much more intense to read about and therefore made also reading the disgusting details a lot harder.
I think Louis is becoming my new favorite author! He has a talent that I rarely find anywhere else. His books are quite famous in France (the country he is from) but I truly wish he could get the worldwide recognization he truly deserves. He writes so beautiful sentences and the way he tells his stories really is unique. I really recommend reading this book, to those who are comfortable with reading about hard topics!
chirson's review against another edition
3.0
Przeczytałam tekst o autofikcji i zwrocie biograficznym w literaturze, który wspomniał o tej książce w przelocie, ale tak pozytywnie, że zachciałam ją natychmiast przeczytać. Nie wiem, czy aż tak mi podeszła literacko, a tłumaczenie pewnie nie całkiem daje radę oddać głos, ale fragmentaryzacja jest tutaj bardzo ciekawym zabiegiem, a filtry i mediacja narracji, jej zapośredniczenie, bardzo mnie zaciekawiły. Polecałabym przeczytać do pary z In the Dream House Carmen Marii Machado - podobieństwa i różnice między tymi dwiema historiami o intymności, przemocy i nieheteroseksualności zasługują na uwagę.
gertrudski's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Medical content
ipb1's review against another edition
3.0
3.5* whilst the subject matter is, or should be, harrowing, the tone is mostly clinical and unemotional. In fact much of the narrative is entirely stolen from Louis himself and is voiced by his sister - delivered in an oddly sceptical, almost hostile, monologue. If this is a narrative device to echo the disempowerment of the victim it undermines rather than enhances understanding.
gorecki's review against another edition
3.0
I believe our minds often delete painful memories to protect us: they leave blank spaces where there used to be hurt so we feel that little bit more capable to move. But this is a process that happens on its own - things just blur and fade and you wake up one morning and they’re not there anymore, or they’re too hazy to make sense of.
It’s different when you try to forget something on purpose - it never works. In order to force yourself to forget a specific thing, you need to focus on that thing, envisage it, think about it and know what it is you’re trying to forget, but once you do, you just instil it and give it even more weight. You don’t forget by talking. And when you’re made to talk, when you’re made to repeat, when you’re made to feel not only that this horrible thing has happened to you, but also that you have been somehow stupid or weak or sick to let it happen in the first place, that memory becomes impossible to get rid of. It becomes a part of your physical body.
This is a short and harrowing book: blind trust leading to rape, denial and then obsession. It’s uncomfortable and painful and unsettling. An extremely personal and harrowing account, a sort of exorcism for Louis, who tells his story through his sister’s narration of the events while he sits silently and listens to her describing the events to her husband. A way of keeping himself distanced from his story, maybe (this didn’t happen to me, she’s telling the story), it also kept me distanced, at an arm’s length, and feeling as if his sister is telling the story of someone completely unrelated. Combined with the many political observations and unrelated childhood memories, it slightly lost some of the gripping power I have experienced in Louis’s writing before.
It’s different when you try to forget something on purpose - it never works. In order to force yourself to forget a specific thing, you need to focus on that thing, envisage it, think about it and know what it is you’re trying to forget, but once you do, you just instil it and give it even more weight. You don’t forget by talking. And when you’re made to talk, when you’re made to repeat, when you’re made to feel not only that this horrible thing has happened to you, but also that you have been somehow stupid or weak or sick to let it happen in the first place, that memory becomes impossible to get rid of. It becomes a part of your physical body.
This is a short and harrowing book: blind trust leading to rape, denial and then obsession. It’s uncomfortable and painful and unsettling. An extremely personal and harrowing account, a sort of exorcism for Louis, who tells his story through his sister’s narration of the events while he sits silently and listens to her describing the events to her husband. A way of keeping himself distanced from his story, maybe (this didn’t happen to me, she’s telling the story), it also kept me distanced, at an arm’s length, and feeling as if his sister is telling the story of someone completely unrelated. Combined with the many political observations and unrelated childhood memories, it slightly lost some of the gripping power I have experienced in Louis’s writing before.
m_kinclova's review against another edition
I just don’t have it in me. Super important to read but I’m not in the right place to be facing all the problems, violence and struggles :(
amalielc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
tonimeter's review against another edition
4.0
A very uncomfortable and uneasy read. There's no that much of graphic violence that shocks the reader; it's emotionally and psychologically disturbing, which is much worse.