Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Heimweh nach einer anderen Welt by Ottessa Moshfegh

38 reviews

vickyoyarzun's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

"Nostalgia de otro mundo" es una recopilación de catorce relatos que marca mi primer encuentro con la escritura de Ottessa Moshfegh. Buscaba comprender su tono como autora y puedo afirmar que posee un estilo distintivo. Su humor, en ocasiones, es intensamente negro, y sus personajes carecen de filtros, encajando perfectamente en la categoría de narradores poco fiables ("unreliable narrator", como se conoce popularmente). Moshfegh sitúa a estos personajes en situaciones cotidianas, resaltando el contraste entre individuos "normales" y aquellos con una moralidad compleja y excentricidades notables, que los hacen parecer más libres que el común de las personas, con esta pizca de rebeldía característico.

Temas recurrentes en sus relatos incluyen la comida, la figura materna, la presencia de extranjeros y el contraste entre clases sociales. Según una reseña en The New York Times (en donde creo que están todos los cuentos de este libro separados por si quieren leer alguno en particular), Moshfegh se centra en personajes marginados y aislados, explorando sus intentos fallidos de conexión. 

Mis cuentos favoritos de la colección son: "The Weirdos", "The Beach Boy", "Dancing in the Moonlight" y "A Better Place". Este último, en particular, me impactó profundamente; es un relato excepcional.

Es notable cómo la autora opta por dejar las historias en su clímax, con finales abiertos. Este enfoque contemporáneo puede no ser del agrado de todos; he leído críticas al respecto. Si prefieren conclusiones más cerradas, quizás este libro no sea de su agrado. Me dejó con ganas de leer alguna de sus novelas en el futuro!
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blacksails03's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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

3.0

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readahrita's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Extremely uncomfortable. Incredibly interesting. I will never read this again though. 
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acarasotti's review against another edition

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DN at 46%. I enjoyed Ottessa's book "Eileen", but this book was definitely not for me. The compilation of short stories was intriguing to me at first, before I realized that every chapter would be about a character who was ableist, racist, fatphobic, etc.. Her extremely frequent use of slurs held no significance to the stories. I know Ottessa usually writes in a way that makes people uncomfortable, but this was just way too far and felt extremely distasteful. 
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arianaf's review against another edition

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dark medium-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

2.5

Well...eh.
I really like Otessa Moshfegh's writing style, and I think she's incredibly clever, but this collection is a big flop for me. I've been reading these short stories for a month now, and I can barely remember any of them. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters. They're dry and emotionless, and there's an insane amount of fatphobic characters.
That being said, I loved 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' and 'Eileen,' and what I concluded from this experience is that her characters can only work in long-form writing.
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emilyhunterr's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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literatur_unterwegs's review

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dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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vivica's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to give this book 2 stars, but the very last story broke my heart to pieces, and it's for these emotions that I give this book 3 stars. However it if far from perfect - the author writes like a man who read a little bit too much of Bukowski's prose and let it get into his head. To say the least.
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apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

4.0

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