Reviews tagging 'Violence'

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

42 reviews

readwthsam's review

emotional inspiring 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, War, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

camortiz26's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Mental illness, Cursing, Murder, War, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Death

Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Violence

kmhst25's review

Misogynistic garbage dressed up as philosophy. I forced myself to finish all 600 pages of this trash so I could come here and tell you not to. The takeaway is supposed to be that all men contain good and evil. We are apparently supposed to take the men part literally, since it excludes the female antagonist of the novel, who is the male epitomy of female evil in the most comically stupid and over-the-top manner. 

Conveniently, almost all of the evil committed by men in the book is committed against women, including (trigger warning: rape)

a woman being gang-raped to death while giving birth.

But hey, the book says, don't hate those men! They loved that baby! This book is the moral equivalent of saying that all prisons should be abolished, and responding "Who cares?!" when someone asks "But what about all the serial killers and rapists?" This is a book by a man for men who can only perceive the world as a male place; it lacks any humanity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Trafficking, Racial slurs, Murder, Grief, Rape, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide and Animal cruelty

zworlund's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

bookerbride's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abortion, Suicide, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: War and Alcohol

junglejelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

Wanting a challenge and a classic, I picked up Steinbeck's East of Eden and got both.

The writing style is so easy to read and follow which helps with the slow pace of the novel.

The characters are the best part of the novel, I became very emotionally invested in them whether it was happiness or anger. These sets of families will not leave me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, Death, and Violence

Minor: War and Abortion

clemrain's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

A story paced with characters, and yet none of them are neglected. The careful, slow developments of plot beside characters is rewarding from part to part. I felt like I was listening to a family member trace back a fascinating part of the family history. Or just town gossip told by a stranger.

The first three parts of the story were strong and I was eager to continue reading them. The fourth part is slow and, in my opinion, didn’t pay off well at a first glance. It’s because I just wanted to know the ending, and as it approached it just wasn’t what I wanted. However, I think in this book, that’s sort of the point.

The one major flaw of the story is

Cathy’s suicide. Just doesn’t line up with her character. She had too much ambition and plan. I’m not sure why the pressures and her son’s outburst could’ve led her to that.

The depth of the novel is fun to sit on and think about. I don’t see a strong agenda in the writing. Just a few different perspectives. At the end of the day, no matter what we believe we’re all just gonna die. Good point. 

Maybe some takes in this books might be sour to some. Like comparing the church to brothels. But nothing felt too outrageous to me.

I’m not sure why every female character had to have her chest detailed so much. Nevertheless, those female characters are strong and complicated. And I enjoyed their writing. None of the female characters were too alike which sometimes is a huge problem in classics. 

The biblical analogies are really strong. And I enjoyed the conversations characters had regarding them.

Overall, a long read but an accessible one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Animal death

Moderate: Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Classism, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual content, War, and Xenophobia

jakobmarleymommy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

mamatoca's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.5

Very difficult to read the ugliness in the first 2/3 of the book. But it is worth it to persevere. This book is about free will, that is, our ability to do good or to do evil. It is about the evil that we see in the world - what we create ourselves and that which we see befall others/that which we see others create. Steinbeck does not offer a simple explanation for this mystery, but ultimately he does offer a hopeful outlook, and one that rings true to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Bullying, and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion, Cursing, Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Violence

stormblessedt's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A novel that moved me deeply and engrossed me completely. This will stay with me for a long time, and I will probably revisit it after many years to see if I missed anything or if my perspective on parts of it or the whole changes. Would have given it a full 5 stars if not for some minor quibbles on how it meanders at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Xenophobia, and Suicide

Minor: War