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enika's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
alexiisreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
axel_p'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? N/A
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
_blue_linckia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
tofi_15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
ashs_ephemera's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Mental illness and Blood
Minor: Vomit
corvuscorax's review against another edition
3.5
And it struck me that death was the sole outcome of my erection, and if Simone and I were killed, then the universe of our unbearable personal vision was certain to be replaced by the pure stars, fully unrelated to any external hazes and realizing in a cold state, without human delays or detours, something that strikes me as the goal of my sexual licentiousness: a geometric incandescence (among other things, the coinciding point of life and death, being and nothingness), perfectly fulgurating.
This was one of the books that push you to reconsider your interpretation of art, vulgarity and how the two can (or can't?) combine. It was a tough read to be sure, but there was a certain aspect of playfulness generated by the sheer absurdity of the scenarios that were being presented. The essay at the end felt like a breath of fresh air, but then the almost mathematical correspondence that Bataille wanted to establish between details of his biography and elements of the metaphorical chains in the book made me feel uneasy, because they so contradicted my aversion to authorial "implication", especially when it comes to such intense and almost grotesquely exaggerated scenarios. It felt as though putting a real, living, breathing author next to the text would've been an insult to both.
Sontag's essay was interesting, but I found Barthes's takes to be more substantive and truly add to my experience of the book. This is one to chew on for a while, I think.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Murder
Minor: Suicide
christianpunk'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
2.0
The first half is intriguing and I genuinely enjoyed it. The relationship between the Narrator and Simone shows a deep look into how hedonistic relationships can make us not love eachother for the person but only for the body and fetishes, most of the time in vain. In Isolation. Their actions of pursuing these nasty ventures also get other people evolved, most of it non-consensual as they put them in an orgy, and start raping people like Marcelle. They get in trouble because of these acts with the Narrator leaving home before he's parents get to see him again. Attempting to commit suicide. But then decides to start living with Simone. They start however getting attached by Marcelle as they only want her to fill the gap in their relationship. Marcelle - after being tainted and ruined - commits suicide after mistaking the Narrator for a Cardinal Priest (Which I assume is probably because she started liking being hedonistic with her innocence turning from tainted to Bi-polor trauma). The Narrator and Simone Leave France after pursue their endeavours of lust in Spain.
The second half honestly made me sick and uneasy. If you have read the book you would know what I'm talking about. I was shocked not only by them doing the nasty and raping a priest but also because this felt incredibly out of place for me. Throughout the whole novella I felt like it was going to go somewhere interesting. But the last two chapters felt like an ugly deadend of foul nothingness. I do know the author was a catholic who converted to an atheist, but is that truly the point of the novella? To show you hate Catholicism by putting rampant smut and sex? Obviously I'm a little biased because I am catholic but was the second half already planned, and the first half was only the build for those last two chapters? I could go but Georges Bataille was clearly going through some demons during his life. Despite his renouncment of Catholicism I know God would have judged him well, rather he be going to hell or heaven. Thanks for reading and may God bless you.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Sexual harassment
benjaminwylie1'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
4.0
makes you kind of question what the point of a novel is, wonderful prose but horrible thematically
average french person etc etc
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and Sexual harassment
aevaaa's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Blood