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Reviews tagging 'Rape'
Le infernali macchine del desiderio del dottor Hoffman by Angela Carter
12 reviews
melissa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The last 50 odd pages made the book for me. The full realisation of Desiderio's namesake desire was really powerfully shown. I enjoyed how desire was explored overall, and the more I think about the book through the lens of desire, the more I can make 'sense' of it.
I appreciated the lurid craziness of this book and thought the aesthetics were fantastic. But I was sometimes lost from the book, it was just too much. I don't think I understood the world of the book enough to feel connected to the stories and especially the theory.
I appreciated the lurid craziness of this book and thought the aesthetics were fantastic. But I was sometimes lost from the book, it was just too much. I don't think I understood the world of the book enough to feel connected to the stories and especially the theory.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and War
mykingdomforacommune's review against another edition
CW: Sexual violence, racism, paedophillia, gore inc cannibalism
Be warned: this review contains spoilers and mention of some truly horrific things. Please read with caution.
At which questionable scene does it becomes apparent that this book is simply not for you? Is it the two instances of gratuitous paedophillia (inc sonophilipa)? How about the cannibal natives? This book has native American ("river Indians") AND African varieties. Maybe, it's the graphic gang rape, or the prostitutes turned into animals and flayed? Or maybe it's the continued use of seriously racist stereotypes about black people in description and action?
The thing is, each instance I get. I understand the depiction of power, the consequences of the unbridled passions at the heart of humanity and the selfish, wanton destruction created via passion, though what a bleak picture!
And in the end, the relentless depiction of the grotesque became too much. At which questionable scene did I realise this book isn't for me? African "Amazonian warriors" with a cannibalistic appetite.
Be warned: this review contains spoilers and mention of some truly horrific things. Please read with caution.
At which questionable scene does it becomes apparent that this book is simply not for you? Is it the two instances of gratuitous paedophillia (inc sonophilipa)? How about the cannibal natives? This book has native American ("river Indians") AND African varieties. Maybe, it's the graphic gang rape, or the prostitutes turned into animals and flayed? Or maybe it's the continued use of seriously racist stereotypes about black people in description and action?
The thing is, each instance I get. I understand the depiction of power, the consequences of the unbridled passions at the heart of humanity and the selfish, wanton destruction created via passion, though what a bleak picture!
And in the end, the relentless depiction of the grotesque became too much. At which questionable scene did I realise this book isn't for me? African "Amazonian warriors" with a cannibalistic appetite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism, and Colonisation
subdue_provide75's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.5
Wild! An fantastical and perverse Odyssey as only Carter can draw. Maybe my second-favorite of hers so far, after The Night Circus? As wild and delicious as Wise Children.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
squidknees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
70s erotic fiction. Surreal porn with plot told through the lens of an unreliable narrator. Characters are diverse but subject to heavy fetishization.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and War
miekookeim's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Despite almost putting down the book halfway through, I’m glad I read it; it was an adventure. The multiple gratuitous, graphic, and nonconsensual sex/rape scenes made much of the book difficult to stomach and are a large thing to overlook, but if one is capable of doing so, Carter’s writing is captivating and the vignettes of Desiderio’s journey surreal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism
Minor: Excrement
toffishay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Just a very strange book overall with some heavy topics and hard to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Blood, Cannibalism, and War
bickley_moon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
nadesreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.25
This was not an enjoyable read. Whilst thought provoking and in some of it's more lucid moments interesting themes and ideas (language and it's impact on the way we percieve the world) are explored, the many rapes that occur in the book feel excessive and meaningless. The language she uses is actively hostile, why use risible when you could use ludicrous or refer to cholera as a spirochete, unless you're trying to break a readers immersion by forcing them to check a dictionary every half a page. Between the language used, two dimensional depictions of other cultures (satiric??) and again the excessive rape this is not a book that wants you to feel comfortable while reading it. If you're into metaphysics and references to classic 19th century writing then this book is more likely to interest you, but most of the references went over my head.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
mdpenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This was a big disappointment and I really didn't like it much at all. I'm not saying it was unreadable or completely bad, but I found it tedious and wordy. The descriptions of the surreal scenes often felt sterile and each paragraph of description had at least one or two sentences more than they should have. I'd also like to think that I'd have found the metaphysical musings that defined the world this was set in to be trite and half-baked even if I hadn't studied the transcendental phenomenologists so heavily in college. And, of course, this was written during that period of time that English-language literary criticism loved sex described in the most crude fashion possible, so that's a major focus of the book. Most of the sex is rape with limited consequences for either the perpetrator or the victim. There's a ton of stereotypes of minorities and everyone who isn't of European Christendom is identified through their race or ethnicity, even if they're historical figures. Aboriginal peoples are cannibalistic, of course. But, hey, this was the 70's and we have to accept it because of the times or something, right? Honestly, it wasn't even like it was offensive so much as tedious as hell. The racism and the crude use of sex to describe nearly all relationship dynamics seemed mostly to be laziness to me, honestly. With all that said, there were a few parts where I found myself somewhat drawn into the story and I'm pretty sure that I could have read through all of the stuff I complained about above if it actually said anything meaningful to me, but it really didn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Cannibalism
cannot_cross_water's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Rape