Reviews

The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat

ohkrasias's review against another edition

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1.0

i never want to read anything comparing anything to the end of a cucumber ever again

(did enjoy this line though, it's 10/10: If it’s true that everyone has a star up in the heavens, then my star must be dark, far, and meaningless—maybe I didn’t have a star at all.

melissa_cosgrove's review against another edition

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

5.0

A misanthropic, brilliant, opium-fueled fever dream of a book. Disturbing, enchanting, and haunting, it reads like a bad trip with themes and phrases and images spiraling and repeating. Like watching a person’s psyche spin in circles in the dark and then collapse in on itself.

ce_miquiztli's review against another edition

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

5.0

k_reads_too_many_spooky_books's review against another edition

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4.0

Reading this, I was disgusted and disappointed but then I couldn't get it OUT OF MY HEAD! There's a lot to unpack here, and yet the academic introduction was silent on it. The reveal of the wine's origin recontextualizing the start. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart, but there's a gem here for fans of the genre. 

sillysausagezj's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad fast-paced

animamellita's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

arubarna's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5

arianna_magg's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

chauphammoc's review against another edition

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

4.5

leslie115's review against another edition

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2.0

The prose is more accessible than I expected and there are recurring symbols, but I lost track of the timeframe (past vs. present) and (un)conscious state. So, I would need to discuss this classic with someone in order to appreciate it more.