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A review by inediblecupcake
The Terror by Dan Simmons
slow-paced
0.0
I read this book as part of a book club. I don't think I ever would have picked it up otherwise.
While I did have a decent enough time listening to it, there were some very uncomfortable aspects that I had to put aside to do so.
The portrayal of the native people seemed questionable at best. I understand that the sailors would have their very of the time biases and racism, but the way the natives were written to behave seemed very odd to me. Having Crozier go on to marry and have children with the very young Silence made me deeply uncomfortable. That, and the way he was assimilated into the native culture the way he was felt icky. I'm not familiar with the culture being borrowed from here, so I'll refrain from saying more.
Beyond that, the things that stood out to me were the homophobia and the way the cannibalism went down.
Having the evil man of the ship be one of the only queer characters, and him and his lover being the only ones to be allowed to have sex - the Good Gays don't do that on the sea - was deeply uncomfortable to me.
The cannibalism being a thing that only the bad people do, while understandable as an urge to write, felt deeply unrealistic and optimistic. People do awful things when they feel they have no other options left, and making it so that only the evil queer man and his team partook in that added to the discomfort.
While I did have a decent enough time listening to it, there were some very uncomfortable aspects that I had to put aside to do so.
The portrayal of the native people seemed questionable at best. I understand that the sailors would have their very of the time biases and racism, but the way the natives were written to behave seemed very odd to me.
Beyond that, the things that stood out to me were the homophobia and the way the cannibalism went down.
The cannibalism being a thing that only the bad people do, while understandable as an urge to write, felt deeply unrealistic and optimistic. People do awful things when they feel they have no other options left, and making it so that only the evil queer man and his team partook in that added to the discomfort.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Cannibalism