Reviews

The Discomfort of Evening by Lucas Rijneveld

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livrawds's review against another edition

5.0

I mean like what the fuck did I just read

Many trigger warnings uncomfortable scenes

SA

Earthlings type shit

But my god the writing

Like a fever dream Dutch horror type shit

Annotated to fuck

But also just wtf wassss this book

jgrady93's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

pkiwi's review

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3.0

3,5 ster voor een heel indringend boek waar de literatuur duimendik bovenop ligt. Interessante schets van het Nederlandse, gereformeerde platteland anno 2000, maar af en toe saai en meermaals in de herhaling vallend.

dre_'s review against another edition

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5.0

Unforgettable. I can agree with the 1s and the 5s on this one.

I’m struck by the absence of comment on the religious indoctrination and the insulated insanity of parents obsessed with piety, punishment, cruelty and repentance. In the absence of eduction or parenting, and in the presence of grief and trauma, in a community of batshit end-of-dayers - it’s really no wonder that these farm kiddos came of age with delusion, confusion, fear and a preoccupation with sacrifice and absolution. The Old Testament is not exactly silent on these matters and they seem to know it by heart.

The squeamishness of readers (sure, discomfort) around the scatology is fair but I saw past it to recognize Jas’ desire for autonomy and control when none was available to her. Their lives were, literally and figuratively, shitty. The abuse is hard to read but I’m glad I stuck with them all to the end.

holmartell's review

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.25

morenowagain's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I was very fascinated by the themes and characters in this book, but maybe due to the translation I found it hard to enjoy on a literary level. Far too many similes, things that needed more explanation and depth had none whereas things that were explored greatly seemed to have no purpose. I felt reading this that I was only scratching the surface of what was happening and I couldn't really get invested. Maybe the original Dutch is much better, who knows!

Content Warnings