Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson

14 reviews

anomiques's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

karli_reads's review

dark slow-paced

3.5

This book is not only about the brutal account of the murder of Maggie Nelson’s Aunt. But it is also about life post tragedy, fractures of such events on a family, and a memoir like description of Maggie Nelson’s life. This book is advertised as an autobiography of a murder trial, but it delves much deeper into events Nelson experienced through her life and the subsequent aftermath that culminates in the experience and verdict of this trial. 

Content Warning for everything: Sexual/Physical Violence, Rape, Drug Abuse, Suicide, Loss, Grief. An extremely heavy read. Do not recommend if you’re not in healthy mental space.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Body horror, Grief, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

polestick's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Rape

dorottyagoston's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

arsenic_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Incest, and Pedophilia

nixiethepixie's review

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

I enjoyed the form and style of this - melding journal, essay and fact, across the trial of Nelson's aunt who was brutally murdered. Nelson captures this period of time with sharp and observed reflections, whilst reflecting her memories past and present, particularly with the death of her father, relationship with her mother and grieving a lost love. Loss and grief creates a web of mystery and what could have been. I particularly enjoyed the reflections on the act of writing and storytelling itself, and who and what the act is ultimately for. To immortalise, or let go of experiences? Is either possible? Why is she writing this book - for the live or for the deceased? And what does justice look like 30 years after the fact? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Sexual violence

lauradvb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Death

dorsetreader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

annecharlotte_reads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

In the vast expanse of true crime writing, this book brings dignity, depth and beauty -- there's no voyeuristic aesthetisation of the death of women but the writing itself is beautiful and soft and hard in all the right places. Maggie Nelson is both a poet and one of the most interesting thinkers of our time. She deals with autobiographic material in a subtle and powerful way, never relying too much on metaphor or obvious connections. I found particularly interesting to read this after The Argonauts and measure just how much, between these books, some of Nelson's central themes (women's bodies and autonomy, violence, mortality, what it means to be a family) and original thinking have developed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual violence, and Murder

jsfbec's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Body horror, Blood, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Abortion, Drug use, Murder, Rape, and Death of parent