Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

5 reviews

kerrence30's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad tense 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? No

3.75

I struggled to get into this book, needing to go back and re-listen a few times particularly at the beginning. It picked up once the story properly started at about halfway through. 
The first half sets up the story in a slightly clunky way, introducing characters from various generations, without any links or understanding of how they are necessary to the story. This has not been an issue as a reader previously with other books with a similar set up. I would say all the characters are flawed, much like real life, which helps with familiarity as a reader, but doesn’t make them any more endearing. The style of conversation of the characters is very quirky and repetitive, which fits with the overall style of the book up until this point, but I’ll admit it gets a bit tiresome after a while.
The second half is mostly about the main storyline and ties in the other generational throwbacks as it goes which helps with understanding and the flow of the story. By the end I really enjoyed this story itself. I’m not sure how faithful or otherwise it is to the goings on in Ukraine at this time, but it feels like a worthwhile story to tell. I'm not sure how the use of specific literary devices could have been tweaked to improve the overall impression of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Xenophobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Infidelity

Moderate: Vomit and Gun violence

Minor: Rape

strange_abalone's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I do not understand the point of Jonathan’s grandfathers sexual exploits becoming such a focal point in the latter half of the book, it was so distracting from the deeper parts of the story that I have lost all interest in the parts I did enjoy in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, War, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

_yumitsang_'s review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Rape, Hate crime, Violence, Grief, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia

leilorenzo's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

There's one trigger warning after the next. They might not (always) be described in perfect detail, but they are there. I tried my best to include them all.

 

The back and forth narration (it took me an embarrassingly long time to notice the chapter title’s format, oops) was a great tool.  The characters were left vulnerable to the reader thanks to being vulnerable to each other in their correspondence. 

I found SO many gems throughout it that practically every page has some annotation.

It is a strong punch delivered so beautifully that you don’t realize it until the book's last third.

The use of language was crafted just right, entwining humour with tragedy, and laughter amidst the terror. 

It is now proudly resting on my favourite’s shelf.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, War, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Blood, Sexual assault, Death, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, and Genocide

Minor: Vomit, Violence, Police brutality, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury

chandle5's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, War, Suicide, Rape, Grief, Death, Child abuse, Child death, and Adult/minor relationship