Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

94 reviews

taradoesreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

“I often felt there was something wired weird in my brain, a problem so complicated only a lobotomy could solve it—I’d need a whole new mind or a whole new life.”

What can I say—I love Ottessa Moshfegh. As a grad student, I had a brief period of hating unlikeable narrators, but now I can’t get enough of them. Eileen is just the kind of main character I love—messy, weird, angry, and with an utter lack of self awareness. I was fascinated by her, I pitied her, and I couldn’t look away from each misstep and mistake. I didn’t even read the back of the book before I started, so I had no idea what I was getting into, but the prose and Eileen’s narration pulled me in right away.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

The ending, though, didn’t quite do it for me. I enjoyed Rebecca as a reference to Daphne du Maurier’s book (one of my favorites), but I couldn’t quite get a handle on her character. Why did she come to X-ville in the first place? Why blow up your whole job just a few days after starting it by getting overly involved in one random child’s case? Maybe we’re meant to draw our own conclusions (especially since Eileen’s recollections can’t always be counted on), but I didn’t feel like I really connected with her motives.

Despite that, I will definitely be adding this one to my list of favorite books with unhinged female narrators. No one can do it like Ottessa Moshfegh (except maybe Mona Awad).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

kay4eva's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Death of parent

brinnavirginia's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I'm apt to love a book in which nothing much happens and of course welcome a book rich in plot. This book is at least 50% exposition and then attempts to squeeze the rest of a plot into the final third or so--one that's just-ok and simply not worth trudging through what comes first to get there.
I'm down with an unlikable protagonist, but Eileen was not interesting enough to warrant her detestable character (and intense, over-the-top, makes-me-think-it-might-be-the-author fatphobia). I enjoyed the womanly yuckiness at first until it was just soooo much puke.
This book could have been, like, a hundred fewer pages. I had to read the Wikipedia plot summary to convince myself to just finish reading it (pulled through for book club <3). In the end, it wasn't worth the effort.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amsswim's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.25

I'm not sure really what to say about this. I enjoyed it. This is the second book by the author Ottessa Moshfegh I have read, the other being 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation', and just as that one this book is just unhinged. I think this one may be more based in reality but still gave me the feeling of unsettlement. If you like weird things this may be for you. 

I am now very interested in watching the movie they made recently based on this starring Anne Hathaway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Car accident

aedinnx's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Incest, Excrement, and Vomit

kmcgraw's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.25

I felt at times it was slow and repetitive but I was truly enthralled from the beginning. I read this in two days and couldn’t put it down. Deals with very dark/heavy themes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Abortion

riotgrrrl92's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

Ottessa Moshfegh lets us into the minds of people we would never want to get to know in real life. Her narrators are fascinating, horrible, darkly satirical, and sometimes relatable in very shameful ways. In fact, I think shame is the main theme of this book. I typically don’t like slow-paced novels but every sentence of this book kept me hooked. Eileen’s inner world is twisted and disturbing, making even the most mundane tasks a freakish horror. I love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Excrement, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

nyah_lou's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

miriam_mal's review against another edition

I read about 70% of Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh before DNF’ing and I just…needed to process my thoughts. (SPOILERS BELOW)

Before I get into it I guess it’s only fair to say this: I had an impression of what Ottessa Moshfegh’s books were like and stayed away for a long time bc it’s really just not my cuppa Joe. I think the only thing that compelled me to check out Eileen was that there’s a movie coming out, and I thought it was a murder mystery, or thriller maybe. Knew there was a murder involved. 

Since I am interested in how people write, like in a mechanical, technical sense, I thought I’d give it a go. Wish I hadn’t. While I think she writes vividly, going back and forth from memory to current day pretty smoothly, praising someone’s form can only go so far. 

Eileen as a character is a repressed mid-20s woman, super isolated and emotionally abused who feels trapped in her situation. She’s self destructive, body-obsessed, and I saw another review call her “psychosexual”, a term I’d never heard before but which seems apt. Like she’s repulsed by her own body, hardly showers, hardly eats, drinks with her dad, their house is in utter squalor, and then when she does encounter other people she hyper sexualizes them to the extreme, and weaponizes their appearances against herself to confirm her own shortcomings.   there are passages that say I preferred the struggle, the problem, because it emphasized her own misery to herself, sort of validated her victimhood and struggle. 
Definitely some grim descriptions not for the faint of heart or if you’re in a tough place mentally. 
Character definitely in a horrible place in life and lacks the gumption to pull herself together enough to look after herself, and is so horrified by her own physical being. Jarring read to say the least, and not a nice place to linger mentally. Again it was for that reason I expected not to like it. 

I couldn’t help but think if the character were male and the book was popular, being made into a movie with a major Hollywood actor in a leading role, the reception would be so wildly different. 

There seems to be a movement or trend currently of books written about womanhood that are just carnal, or “irreverent” is a word I come across a lot when talking about these books, but I just can’t get past how unhealthy the behaviour is. I’m not really sure what the appeal is in having characters have no boundaries or discipline and just allowing themselves to be utterly derailed by their intrusive thoughts. Its just gross. I understand that our own internal monologues are not always clean or kind but I’m of the opinion that overindulging these tendancies is more self destructive than anything (both for a reader and a writer). 

I added content warnings and put them all as graphic, not that they're all super vivid but just discussed constantly. So anyone looking to avoid these topics really should steer clear of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, and Death of parent

mreisen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

3.75

Major trigger warning for multiple types of abuse and addiction. Read if you like introspective character studies and enjoy a winding, convoluted, sometimes unclear plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail