Reviews

History of Violence by Édouard Louis

dianacoco's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

ahmedaminea's review against another edition

2.0

Livre très impactant, dont la forme laisse à désirer. Le choix de narration m'a vraiment déplu, surtout la partie racontée sous l'angle de sa sœur.

En revanche, les thèmes abordés m'ont extrêmement touché. Le récit mêle violence sociétale et institutionnelle, homophobie, racisme et xénophobie. Le discours interne d'Édouard est tout aussi marquant par son ambivalence et sa perte de repères, oscillant entre tristesse, vide émotionnel, colère et compassion...

En tout cas, un livre qui m'a marqué sur le fond mais dont la forme laisse à désirer.

ratherberead's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

robbiericardo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

everynothing's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Although the story is deeply structured, having been told over and over again, it's all a blur. The narrative situation creates a distance that helps to see (and perhaps to tell) a deeply ambiguous story of violence and instant intimacy, of the cruelty of those who ask and pity, and the confusion of those who feel they must protect their story by protecting those who wrote it. Somehow Louis manages to make the oldest literary techniques look new and compelling. 

sissiemilia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Luin tämän muutama kuukausi sen jälkeen kun minut huumattiin baarissa. Väkivalta ei tasoltaan ole tietenkään sama, mutta Louis kuvailee väkivallan jälkeistä aikaa tavalla, jota en tiennyt ollenkaan mahdolliseksi. Tuntui siltä, niin kuin lukisin omasta elämästäni tapahtumia seuranneen parin kuukauden ajalta. Tunne oli niin vapauttava, alistava, traumaattinen kuin katarsista. 

Louis on ensimmäinen kirjailija, jonka tyyli on melko ajatuksenvirtamainen, josta tykkään. Kieli on kaunista ja tekee kuvauksista entistäkin riipivän. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

eliathereader's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.0

…onlardan biriydim artık, gözümü açtığımdan beri olmayı reddettiğim şeye dönüşmüştüm-insan, elindeki tüm diğer ihtimalleri, tüm alternatif yaşamları reddederek başka bir şeye dönüşür; geçmişte bıraktığım o ihtimallerden biri şimdi tekrar karşıma çıkmıştı.
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Edouard Louis kalemini oldukça başarılı bulduğum çağdaş Fransız edebiyatı yazarlarından. Babamı Kim Öldürdü ve Eddy’nin Sonu oldukça güçlü kitaplardandı. Queer kimliğini ve edebiyatı iyi bir şekilde harmanlamayı başardığını düşünüyorum. Şiddetin Tarihi zor bir kitap çünkü en başından sonuna dek başına gelen korkunç bir olayı bize aktarıyor. Bu olayın nasıl gerçekleştiğini, o zamana dek olanları ve sonrasında yaşadıklarını hiçbir sansüre uğratmadan anlatıyor. Bu sebeple yer yer boğucu bir hisse sahip. Ne yazık ki ben diğer kitapları kadar sevemedim. Bunda en büyük etmen olayları kendini soyutlayarak anlatmış olmasıydı, sanki kendinin değil yabancı bir insanın başından geçmiş hissi vardı ki muhtemelen bu tercihi kendi zihnini korumak için almış olabilir. Bir de Clara’nın monologlar halinde Edouard’ın başından geçenleri anlatmasını okumak beni boğdu. Daha farklı ele alınabilir miydi emin değilim çünkü gerçekten korkunç bir olay ve inanılmaz bir analizle yazılmış. Ama dediğim gibi bana geçmeyen bir tarafı vardı. 

sunfloweronmylap's review against another edition

5.0

It is not an easy book to review perhaps because you cannot analyze the literary value of a personal account trauma post an attempted murder and rape.

All I can say is it was a cleverly crafted novel with beautiful prose that touched upon the topics of racism, homophobia and victim shaming while giving an unfiltered and raw account of trauma.

tomleetang's review against another edition

3.0

More than violence, this autobiographical novel is a history of the shameless narcissism of the human soul, obsessed with its own curiosities. That makes it sound like I didn't enjoy it; I did, precisely because it doesn't shy away from these unsavoury details, both in the personality of the protagonist and those around him, as he tries to make sense of the brutal rape and attempted homicide (but was it attempted homicide?) that has dissolved his sense of himself and the world.

Louis places a layer between himself and the description of his rape by a Kabyle man from Algeria (race and colour are important here), separating himself from it by using his sister as a prop - the story is largely relatedthrough her retelling of the event to her husband as Louis eavesdrops out of sight, with Louis chipping in mentally to correct her retelling, which is warped by her views on race and sexuality (what happened is also warped by the police, hence the question mark hanging over 'attempted homicide').

This book reminded me actually of the catharsis of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, because History of Violence is also shot through with philosophy, using the experience of writing to reflect and heal - perhaps not completely, but as much as one can

lunaseline's review against another edition

3.0

Det här är den 9:e översatta boken jag läser i år. Och förmodligen den första som hade fått högre betyg om jag läst den i original. Inte så underligt; de andra har främst varit danska och norska (vilket brukar fungera rätt smärtfritt), och så några, som denna, franska (ev hade landsmaninnans "Olyckan" också fallit bättre ut om jag hade kunnat språket, men där var det även innehållsliga detaljer jag ogillade).
Att Louis kan skriva och skapa fattar man ju, redan efter första meningen faktiskt. Historian - våldets - är en tät och ingående berättelse ur en annorlunda vinkel än den vanliga. Brottet, det våldsamma, har skett - nu får vi ta del av konsekvenserna. Det är snyggt och eget.
Problemet är att Louis även väljer en ovanlig berättarvinkel: större delen av det inträffade får vi reda på genom att hans syster berättar, det han har berättat för henne - men med egna ord, för sin make. Och de där egna orden går totalt vilse. Jag inser ju att (och har sett det i andra franska böckers översättningar) att dialektala skillnader är viktiga i landet, och här får de symbolisera skillnaden på "syrran som blev kvar i byn" och brodern som började studera i Paris. Problemet är att det lantliga språket i svenska kläder låter... imbecilla. "Han" istället för "honom", "prata" istället för "pratade", "gamlare" istället för "äldre"... grammatiken är värre än en treårings, och då har jag inte ens gått in på alla idiotiska uttryck - som tycks hämtade från skilda decennier, med det enda gemensamma att ingen i dagens Sverige skulle använda dem.
Det stör och förstör. När Louis låter Eduardo själv berätta och känna och fundera så sitter varenda stavelse, och den kontrasten hade kunnat bli intressant - om jag inte tyckt så illa om att läsa systern utsaga.
Några franskastudier står inte på schemat i nuläget, och ibland -som här - känns det faktiskt lite synd.
(Undra om de engelska översättningarna är bättre...? Borde testa det nästa gång!)