Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

This Other Eden by Paul Harding

17 reviews

deedireads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

As of this writing, This Other Eden is shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the National Book Award. Still, given that it got some lukewarm reviews in my personal circle, I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it. It’s not perfect, but it is gorgeously written and undeniably moving.

The book is a fully fictional story featuring fictional characters from a real place with a real history: Malaga Island off the coast of Maine, home of a mixed-race community that was evicted and partially institutionalized by the government. There are a lot of characters for a book, but not very many to serve as the sum total of all the island’s inhabitants; still, it’s easy to keep track of them (a testament to Harding’s skill) and even easier to love them.

My main complaint about this book was that it isn’t very researched at all; in an interview, Harding said that he heard about Malaga Island, got inspired, and then essentially stopped researching it (not even visiting), because he didn’t feel like those real people’s story was his to tell. That feels like a cop out to me.

Still, Harding succeeds in much of what he set out to do, at least: paint a devastating picture of eugenics, raise questions about the concept of paradise, and make his readers feel something deeply.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Incest, and Racism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

rei_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Incest, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal death

r_o_s_e's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Racism, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Pregnancy

taylormargaret's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Suicide attempt

jouljet's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Incest, Racism, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

mmccombs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

An interesting story and beautiful writing, but it didn’t really do much for me. I think part of the issue is that I just finished last year’s Booker prize island book, The Colony, right before this one, and the former is simply so much stronger. I found myself (perhaps unfairly) comparing the two, and I didn’t think This Other Eden had anything new to say, lacking the finesse and layered nuance I loved in The Colony. Maybe this book could have been structured differently? I enjoyed the paragraphs where we’d explore “an artifact” or piece of art with 50-100 years distance from the action of the novels, I feel like the author could have used that more. I leave this feeling underwhelmed, I understand why this made it onto the Booker longlist but don’t think it has that “edge” or groundbreaking vision that most nominated books have.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Racism, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal death

carrieclothwright's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

A tragic story told with resonant echoing prose.  

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation