My apologies on my poor phrasing and expression when reviewing Sangre en el ojo by Lina Meruane. My intention was not to insinuate that blind people are utterly helpless, and of course, the book does not deride blind people whatsoever. The book touches more on the medical discrimination that Latin American women face in Chile and the US. Lina’s personal dependency and fears stem from the fact that she lacks resources and help when becoming blind, and that her particular form of blindness is physically gruesome and painful. It also places an emphasis on the ruptures in interpersonal relationships that such a condition causes for Lina, who comes face to face with the cultural prejudices and fears that people have around the concept of blindness. Indeed, it’s this prejudice around blindness that makes it so disturbing, not blindness itself. Blind people are not dependent, helpless people, and being blind is not an inherently negative quality of people. However, blindness, as well as most other disabilities, do present themselves as calamitous and horrifying for marginalized people and in certain regions of the world where people are surrounded by ableist and discriminatory sentiments. It was very poor expressive skills on my part, and I apologize for coming across as ableist.
As a woman who has been the victim of a lot of violence, with most of it coming from people who claimed to love me, I think the reason I love transgressive fiction so much is it is not only cathartic, seeing the things I’ve gone thru be dragged out in the open, rather than being an “invisible carrot” that I’m expected to bury deep inside myself so-as not to upset others, but it’s also a good outlet for trauma-related fantasy and untangling complex feelings in a way that’s just not socially acceptable usually. I personally started working thru my trauma by writing and drawing EXTREMELY transgressive art and stories, which a lot of people took as a sign I was dangerous rather than that i felt powerless and broken. I wrote a short story about torturing a set of bullies, one who pushed me to a suicide attempt and one who stalked and threatened me for 2 years, in a style that could be seen as something between ero guro and a splatter film, bc they both nearly killed me and I never got any justice, and know I never will. I made a painting that showed my rapist as being as monstrous and horrifying as I see him now, similar to Dorian Grey. I wrote a love story about a woman living in a remote cabin with the decaying body of her lover to express my feelings of isolation and loneliness, and the pain of loss after losing both a child to pregnancy complications and a fiancé to emotional breakdown. I sometimes hate to admit it but I find myself really drawn to stories that involve rape, child abuse, domestic violence, and body mutilation even tho these subjects can sometimes be triggering for me, bc it speaks viscerally to my reality, and in a sick way it kinda makes me feel better having these actions recognized as horrors that deserve a retribution they almost never get in real life and knowing that for these works to exist they must be occurring to a lot of other people… I don’t like that it is, god I wish no one ever had to go thru what I have and will fight it every chance I get, but there’s a real soothing that comes with suddenly feeling like you aren’t alone in something that always brought you shame and isolation.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and I identify with a lot of what you lay out. I recommend the writings of Elfriede Jelinek, if you haven’t read her already. She was very healing for me for these precise reasons.
@@PlaguedbyVisions I haven’t read her yet, but I definitely will. I have a long “to read” list based on your channel alone. Right now I’m working my way thru “Haunted”, but I think my next summit is going to be “Eva’s Man” bc your description of feeling as if your own body, your own life is itself a type of prison as a marginalized person really struck a chord with me… that’s pretty much exactly how I feel, as someone who came from a poor, mixed raced, and deeply dysfunctional family who grew into queerness, neurodivergence, and physical disability on top of severe PTSD… I often feel like people judge me extremely harshly for things I have little control over, ask me to open up but immediately shut me down when I do bc what I experience is just too much for them, and strip me of both opportunities and humanity based on the fundamentals of who I am as a person. I was actually an English major and something of a child prodigy in the field until my worsening mental health necessitated dropping out of school, and I’m hoping to be a published author one day. I’m currently working on a book of short stories that would include the two I described above, and a semi-autobiography called “Object” that would be a novel but with poetry, comics, and illustrations mixed in both to help express some things that may be hard for me to put into words and to give off the same feeling I get of my semi-suppressed, muddy, melted, and mixed up memories that have been damaged by trauma the same way an old film reel degrades with time and physical damage. I’m fairly new to the channel so I’m still working my way thru your videos, but I’ve been basically binging them since I found you, and I really REALLY love what you do here and am really looking forward to following your work. I think you do something here that can be kinda rare in the “disturbing content” side of UA-cam, cutting thru the spectacle to help explain to people WHY transgressive media is important and why people are drawn to it. You strike me as a very safe person, as someone who truly understands that people who consume this kind of media aren’t psychopaths getting kicks from it but hurt people struggling to reconcile what they’ve experienced with a world that’s often painted as much simpler and more gentle than it actually is. It means a great deal to me, and I’m sure it does to a lot of others too.
Another interesting video on disturbing books. I have read Tender is the flesh but not heard of the other works. Thanks for the recommendations. You are doing a great work brother.
Thank you very much for watching and commenting. If you liked Tender is the Flesh, give Fever Dream a shot. As I said, they share overarching themes and are both written in maddening, sickening prose.
First of all I have to say that I love this series of yours. I’ve been looking for disturbing books to read, so this series is perfect for finding recommendations. I’ve read two books from this list, Tender Is the Flesh and Fever Dream. I read both of them in Finnish. Things We Lost in the Fire is coming out in Finnish soon, and I’m so excited to read it as well. I didn’t really understand Fever Dream sadly, maybe I should try to reread at some point. Tender Is the Flesh was really graphic with description, which made me think even more about the cruelty animals have to suffer because people eat meat. I also liked the end of the book a lot. Can’t wait to hear more recommedations from you! Also loving your bookshelves, seeing some interesting books there. I dream of having a huge book collection someday as well.
Hey, thank you so much for your comment! I really appreciate it. Fever Dream can be confusing, given that it’s told as recollections, but once you uncover the environmental subtext it’s really unsettling. Thank you so much for all your kind words!
Thank you for raising these issues! And of course for providing an insightful discussion around these books. 🤗 (belated) happy intl women’s day to all the strong, brilliant, beautiful women in your life!
WOW! Thank you for doing this! I haven’t heard of any of these books except the last one and the info you provided at the beginning was very helpful for understanding where these female authors are writing from. Great stuff. I will check out Tender is the flesh and Hurricane season. Another great video! 👏🏻
I loved every minute of this video and as a half Hispanic woman I appreciate it, I will be looking for these reads, all of them are highly enticing. Thanks for the list!
I would love to sit and speak with you for a brief conversation lasting no more than, say, two hundred or so years. Thank you for your videos and the empathic and erudite and socially conscious takes you bring. And I absolutely agree with your statements on the importance of transgressive literature. I recently began Tender is the Flesh and was taken in instantly ( I was unable to get very far as my kindle reset and I lost it and many other books. I've since gotten new versions of it, Things We Lost in the Fire, and about 60 others I can't read fast enough). Thank you for doing what you're doing. Keep being rad as hell.
I would love to sit and speak with you, too, and with all my viewers! But I feel like discussions in the comments make for a great stand-in! Thank YOU for watching and seeing value in what I have to say. I wish you some happy reading, and you will definitely “enjoy” those titles you mentioned! Thank you for your wonderful, lovely words! ❤️
Very interesting video. Even though Brasil doesn't speak Spanish, I think the same conditions exist there. Violence towards women and poverty are something constant on the news and it's unsettling. Even with specific laws, created to protect women, the society is so 'macho' that in many cases they try to twist the truth and end up blaming the women. I completely agree with the point of view that shocking descriptions, even fictional, regarding this matter are in fact contributing towards awareness to the issue. This is a subject that needs to be discussed over and over, stressed to the point that the discussions become, at some point, a start for better conditions to women. Not only the punishment must be very severe on this, but we also need to think about prevention. If people listened, I mean, truly listened to the problems a lot of these women face at home, we could avoid the scalation of those problems, which includes beating, raping and murder. Again, keep it up man, your videos are very entertaining!
Thank you so much for watching and for your thorough and informative comment. I think this is my overall goal with this “disturbing books” project I have going here: To show that “disturbing literature” is not just an endurance test or a gross-out diversion, but rather an important kind of literature that affords powerful and thought-provoking concepts. It can definitely be weaponized and mobilized as protest work, as we see all across Latin America.
omg I loved watching this video because the first two books you went over I absolutely love!! the second book is what got me into reading and another book of hers "the dangers of smoking in bed" was recently translated into English and I was so happy!
Yes! Mariana Enriquez is an amazing author. Her newest novel, “Nuestra parte de noche,” was incredible, and I can’t wait for it to be translated so I can recommend it to my English-speaking viewers! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the video and hopefully give some of the other books a chance!
Another great list... I’m going to have to stop watching so my TBR doesn’t get too long 😂 (JK). Tender Is the Flesh is already near the top of my list.
Hey, Dave! Thank you for watching! I honestly wouldn’t fault you for that. It can be very overwhelming having constant recommendations! I think you will “enjoy” Tender is the Flesh. It is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Like I said, not much of a novel rather than a kind of report or witness statement. Very strange, horrid stuff.
Wow. I have been struggling to digest Fever Dream ever since I read it last summer. The way you framed it makes so much sense. I really appreciate you introducing it through a feminist lens, which I suppose is very fitting considering the theme of motherhood and the motherly instinct that is discussed throughout the book. Really insightful ideas!!
So glad to hear that my video helped! Yes, I think the relationship between gender and environment is so prescient, especially in the Latin American tradition.
Couple I'd recommend: 'Lullaby For Little Criminals' - A coming of age book involving abandonment, drugs, poverty and underage prostitution. I generally don't really like first person narratives especially as remembrances but this is written in one of the most impactful voices in prose I've ever read. It is a mix of reflection but still with the voice of the child so matter of fact; “Childhood is the most valuable thing that's taken away from you in life, if you think about it.” Or, “If you want to get a child to love you, then you should just go hide in the closet for three or for hours. They get down on their knees and pray for you to return. That child will turn you into God. Lonely children probably wrote the Bible.” Devil All The Time' - This is a more popular book and there's plenty of reviews of it but in short its three stories that weave together at the end of a father son where the father has violent PTSD from WWII and a sort of fanatic religious belief where sacrifices at the 'prayer log' in the woods will get God to save his dying wife, A preacher who abuses young girls, and a sexual serial kill couple where he takes photos of men having sex with his wife under gun point before he kills them. The voice is the disturbing oppressiveness of inevitability: “Unless he had whiskey running through his veins, Willard came to the clearing every morning and evening to talk to God. Arvin didn't know which was worse, the drinking or the praying. As far back as he could remember, it seemed that his father had fought the Devil all the time.” 'Let the Right One In' - Story of a 12 year old vampire, "I am 12, but I've been 12 for a very long time", and 12 year old school boy whose mother is kind of a nut job and whose father has all but abandoned him after a divorce and their relationship. Bullying and abandonment plus repressing his anger makes him sort of proto-serial killer type while her relationship with an older man who poses as her father but is in actuallity her drudge (vampire's mortal servent) deteriorates. There are a couple of movies but the original Swedish film more closely fits the novel than the American version. The novel is more disturbing with Eli's backstory and Oskar's inner struggles.
Holyyy, thank you so much for such a wonderful and detailed comment! I had never heard of Lullaby for Little Criminals before. I’m definitely very interested! Just a few days ago, I finished the Heavenly Table and really enjoyed it, so I’m definitely down for some more Donald Ray Pollock. I have read Let the Right One In and while of course the undercurrents of abuse and violence are unsettling, it really struck more of an emotional chord with me. Emotional chords, of course, can most definitely be disturbing. Again, thank you for the recommendations, and thank you so much for watching! I really enjoyed the quotes you included.
Just found your channel, excellent coverage by the way. Hope it's okay that I can recommend a few books that I have read in the past. These books are not disturbing as in the content but as some passages that stay with you. Some of these books are not just horror in category. Again in particular order. 1) the face that must die. Ramsey Campbell. 2) testament. David Morrell. 3) last exit to Brooklyn. Hurbet Selby Jr.
Hey, thank you so much for watching! Glad to have you here. :) It’s always okay to recommend books! I’ve had a bunch of Ramsey Campbell books that I want to read, and I haven’t read a single one of them! I’ve been recommended The Doll Who Ate His Mother, but now this one seems intriguing, too! I just saw there’s a version with an introduction by Poppy Z. Brite. I need that! I have read The Totem by David Morrell, and I found it fascinating. I haven’t read First Blood, nor Testament, but I have a feeling I would really enjoy them as well! I talked briefly about Last Exit to Brooklyn in one of these “Most Disturbing Books” installments. A bit more poetic than The Room or The Demon, but yes, plenty disturbing as well. Thank you so much for the recommendations! I just bought a copy of Testament as I was typing this. 😂
Damn, what you said at the beginning is heartbreaking. Thank you for bringing awareness to this and sharing the links that you did. I have Tender is the Flesh and can't wait to start. Stumbled upon it in a bookstore and was sold. Added Hurricane Season and I'm happy to see Fever Dream as I bought that recently
I thought it was only appropriate, given the subject matter that so many of these works touch upon. Hurricane Season really left me feeling… pummeled. I don’t know how else to describe it lol. Enjoy!
Such a devastating, creepy book. There was something so sinister about it, about the character of David specifically and his obsession with Amanda’s emotions and memories.
Hey, these suggestions are great, even though I'm from Argentina, I didn't know some of these books. I already have Cadaver Exquisito, now I want to read it even more. I did not realize that I read very few authors from my own country. I suggest "Las Malas- Camila Sosa Villada" that has left a deep imprint on me.
Thank you for the recommendation and for watching! I have heard of this book before and really look forward to reading it eventually. I am just about to start another novel by Schweblin - Kentukis. It sounds amazing.
Definitely don’t fault you! It’s not a book for everyone, and its proximity to real-life regional violence is something that definitely not everyone needs to expose themselves to.
I admin a fan page 'Psychobiddys and Visionary Women Who must Be Heard' I will be featuring this video on the page once i can formulate a considered introduction,,,unfortunately the first manifestation of the page...The Psycho Biddy Fan Page' was shut down due to an overly sensitive bot...I mention this only because posting it there would have exposed you to 6000 people everyday..wheras in the new page we are still only numbered in the hundreds at this point, though it grows everyday...thanks for all the vids
Hey! Thank you so much for the support! I really appreciate it! And I’m happy to hear the video was to your liking enough to feature it on your page! If you provide me a link I can be sure to likewise mention it in one of my future videos, if you’d be okay with that.
I didn't know Mexico also have faith healers... Filipinos (mostly the ones living in provinces) still and up to this day go to faith healers since they can't afford proper medical attention... Hurricane Season definitely moved up higher on my list now!
Mexico has a love-hate relationship with “curanderos” (healers) and “brujería” (witchcraft). A lot of people view it as spiritually healing and, as you described, an alternate to medicine for people of lower resources. A lot of the healing and “witchcraft” practices are also seen as culturally significant, prehispanic traditions. The “hate” comes from the fact that Mexico is a very religious nation and these healing practices are seen as secular and blasphemous. A very interesting subject indeed! I’m positive you’ll really enjoy Hurricane Season.
Also I may or may not have attended a couple of “cleanses” in the past. 🤭 Mexico is also (in)famous for its clandestine exorcisms... but that’s another story.
@@PlaguedbyVisions OMG!!! My aunt has a faith healer friend... As a christian, I been sus about him but I respect that it's part of their culture being passed down to generations... My nephew and nieces have this "anting-anting" which is scriptures of prayer that they pin on their pants to drive spirits away... Also, the faith healers chew leaves and spit it out on you to drive evil spirits that may have cursed you!! So interesting!
Thank you for this recommendation! I focus mostly on fiction in this channel, but yes, there’s so much important and highly informative nonfiction writing on this subject as well. Rosa Linda Fregoso is another author who tackles these issues.
I'm blind and I assure you I am as independent as any man. being blind is no big deal whatsoever! I don't see why people always think if you can't see your life is over, and it's some big disturbing issue. it's not.
My apologies on the poor phrasing of my review of that particular book! Of course, my intention was not to insinuate that blind people are utterly helpless, and of course, the book does not deride blind people whatsoever. The book touches more on the medical discrimination that Latin American women face in Chile and the US. Lina’s personal dependency stems from the fact that she lacks resources and help when becoming blind. It also focuses on the ruptures in interpersonal relationships that such a condition causes for Lina, who comes face to face with the cultural prejudices and fears that people have around the concept of blindness. Indeed, it’s this prejudice around blindness that makes it so disturbing, not blindness itself. Again, very poor phrasing on my part, and I apologize for coming across as ableist.
PART 4 OF MY “DISTURBING BOOKS” SERIES:
ua-cam.com/video/M9TSTVuza2I/v-deo.html
My apologies on my poor phrasing and expression when reviewing Sangre en el ojo by Lina Meruane. My intention was not to insinuate that blind people are utterly helpless, and of course, the book does not deride blind people whatsoever. The book touches more on the medical discrimination that Latin American women face in Chile and the US. Lina’s personal dependency and fears stem from the fact that she lacks resources and help when becoming blind, and that her particular form of blindness is physically gruesome and painful. It also places an emphasis on the ruptures in interpersonal relationships that such a condition causes for Lina, who comes face to face with the cultural prejudices and fears that people have around the concept of blindness. Indeed, it’s this prejudice around blindness that makes it so disturbing, not blindness itself. Blind people are not dependent, helpless people, and being blind is not an inherently negative quality of people. However, blindness, as well as most other disabilities, do present themselves as calamitous and horrifying for marginalized people and in certain regions of the world where people are surrounded by ableist and discriminatory sentiments. It was very poor expressive skills on my part, and I apologize for coming across as ableist.
As a woman who has been the victim of a lot of violence, with most of it coming from people who claimed to love me, I think the reason I love transgressive fiction so much is it is not only cathartic, seeing the things I’ve gone thru be dragged out in the open, rather than being an “invisible carrot” that I’m expected to bury deep inside myself so-as not to upset others, but it’s also a good outlet for trauma-related fantasy and untangling complex feelings in a way that’s just not socially acceptable usually.
I personally started working thru my trauma by writing and drawing EXTREMELY transgressive art and stories, which a lot of people took as a sign I was dangerous rather than that i felt powerless and broken. I wrote a short story about torturing a set of bullies, one who pushed me to a suicide attempt and one who stalked and threatened me for 2 years, in a style that could be seen as something between ero guro and a splatter film, bc they both nearly killed me and I never got any justice, and know I never will. I made a painting that showed my rapist as being as monstrous and horrifying as I see him now, similar to Dorian Grey. I wrote a love story about a woman living in a remote cabin with the decaying body of her lover to express my feelings of isolation and loneliness, and the pain of loss after losing both a child to pregnancy complications and a fiancé to emotional breakdown. I sometimes hate to admit it but I find myself really drawn to stories that involve rape, child abuse, domestic violence, and body mutilation even tho these subjects can sometimes be triggering for me, bc it speaks viscerally to my reality, and in a sick way it kinda makes me feel better having these actions recognized as horrors that deserve a retribution they almost never get in real life and knowing that for these works to exist they must be occurring to a lot of other people… I don’t like that it is, god I wish no one ever had to go thru what I have and will fight it every chance I get, but there’s a real soothing that comes with suddenly feeling like you aren’t alone in something that always brought you shame and isolation.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and I identify with a lot of what you lay out. I recommend the writings of Elfriede Jelinek, if you haven’t read her already. She was very healing for me for these precise reasons.
@@PlaguedbyVisions I haven’t read her yet, but I definitely will. I have a long “to read” list based on your channel alone. Right now I’m working my way thru “Haunted”, but I think my next summit is going to be “Eva’s Man” bc your description of feeling as if your own body, your own life is itself a type of prison as a marginalized person really struck a chord with me… that’s pretty much exactly how I feel, as someone who came from a poor, mixed raced, and deeply dysfunctional family who grew into queerness, neurodivergence, and physical disability on top of severe PTSD… I often feel like people judge me extremely harshly for things I have little control over, ask me to open up but immediately shut me down when I do bc what I experience is just too much for them, and strip me of both opportunities and humanity based on the fundamentals of who I am as a person.
I was actually an English major and something of a child prodigy in the field until my worsening mental health necessitated dropping out of school, and I’m hoping to be a published author one day. I’m currently working on a book of short stories that would include the two I described above, and a semi-autobiography called “Object” that would be a novel but with poetry, comics, and illustrations mixed in both to help express some things that may be hard for me to put into words and to give off the same feeling I get of my semi-suppressed, muddy, melted, and mixed up memories that have been damaged by trauma the same way an old film reel degrades with time and physical damage.
I’m fairly new to the channel so I’m still working my way thru your videos, but I’ve been basically binging them since I found you, and I really REALLY love what you do here and am really looking forward to following your work. I think you do something here that can be kinda rare in the “disturbing content” side of UA-cam, cutting thru the spectacle to help explain to people WHY transgressive media is important and why people are drawn to it. You strike me as a very safe person, as someone who truly understands that people who consume this kind of media aren’t psychopaths getting kicks from it but hurt people struggling to reconcile what they’ve experienced with a world that’s often painted as much simpler and more gentle than it actually is. It means a great deal to me, and I’m sure it does to a lot of others too.
Another interesting video on disturbing books. I have read Tender is the flesh but not heard of the other works. Thanks for the recommendations. You are doing a great work brother.
Thank you very much for watching and commenting. If you liked Tender is the Flesh, give Fever Dream a shot. As I said, they share overarching themes and are both written in maddening, sickening prose.
This book messed me up
First of all I have to say that I love this series of yours. I’ve been looking for disturbing books to read, so this series is perfect for finding recommendations.
I’ve read two books from this list, Tender Is the Flesh and Fever Dream. I read both of them in Finnish. Things We Lost in the Fire is coming out in Finnish soon, and I’m so excited to read it as well. I didn’t really understand Fever Dream sadly, maybe I should try to reread at some point. Tender Is the Flesh was really graphic with description, which made me think even more about the cruelty animals have to suffer because people eat meat. I also liked the end of the book a lot.
Can’t wait to hear more recommedations from you! Also loving your bookshelves, seeing some interesting books there. I dream of having a huge book collection someday as well.
Hey, thank you so much for your comment! I really appreciate it.
Fever Dream can be confusing, given that it’s told as recollections, but once you uncover the environmental subtext it’s really unsettling.
Thank you so much for all your kind words!
Thank you for raising these issues! And of course for providing an insightful discussion around these books. 🤗 (belated) happy intl women’s day to all the strong, brilliant, beautiful women in your life!
Thank you for watching!
I’m glad you appreciated this message of this video. Let’s celebrate women EVERYDAY!
Such a hard topic to bring up but desperately needs to be addressed. Thank you for this
❤️❤️❤️
WOW! Thank you for doing this! I haven’t heard of any of these books except the last one and the info you provided at the beginning was very helpful for understanding where these female authors are writing from. Great stuff. I will check out Tender is the flesh and Hurricane season. Another great video! 👏🏻
Thank you! I’m glad to hear this video brought you more awareness on Latin American women issues. I hope you find this literature valuable.
I loved every minute of this video and as a half Hispanic woman I appreciate it, I will be looking for these reads, all of them are highly enticing. Thanks for the list!
I’m glad to hear you loved the video! Let me know if you end up reading any of the titles!
I am loving these videos!! Thank you so much for the great recommendations and the thoughtful conversation 💖
Thank YOU so much for watching and for your support! I’m happy to hear you’ve gotten something meaningful from these videos.
Thank you for the video!! Truly appreciate the subject brought to this forum especially in book form. Keep up the great job!
Thank you so much! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the video.
I would love to sit and speak with you for a brief conversation lasting no more than, say, two hundred or so years. Thank you for your videos and the empathic and erudite and socially conscious takes you bring. And I absolutely agree with your statements on the importance of transgressive literature. I recently began Tender is the Flesh and was taken in instantly ( I was unable to get very far as my kindle reset and I lost it and many other books. I've since gotten new versions of it, Things We Lost in the Fire, and about 60 others I can't read fast enough). Thank you for doing what you're doing. Keep being rad as hell.
I would love to sit and speak with you, too, and with all my viewers! But I feel like discussions in the comments make for a great stand-in! Thank YOU for watching and seeing value in what I have to say. I wish you some happy reading, and you will definitely “enjoy” those titles you mentioned! Thank you for your wonderful, lovely words! ❤️
Really interesting vid! I like this new camera angle showing off the books and manga
Thanks, Jake! It’s not so much a new angle as just a complete rearrangement I did in my room!
@@PlaguedbyVisions well i appreciate the effort, looks awesome man!
Very interesting video.
Even though Brasil doesn't speak Spanish, I think the same conditions exist there. Violence towards women and poverty are something constant on the news and it's unsettling. Even with specific laws, created to protect women, the society is so 'macho' that in many cases they try to twist the truth and end up blaming the women.
I completely agree with the point of view that shocking descriptions, even fictional, regarding this matter are in fact contributing towards awareness to the issue. This is a subject that needs to be discussed over and over, stressed to the point that the discussions become, at some point, a start for better conditions to women. Not only the punishment must be very severe on this, but we also need to think about prevention. If people listened, I mean, truly listened to the problems a lot of these women face at home, we could avoid the scalation of those problems, which includes beating, raping and murder.
Again, keep it up man, your videos are very entertaining!
Thank you so much for watching and for your thorough and informative comment. I think this is my overall goal with this “disturbing books” project I have going here: To show that “disturbing literature” is not just an endurance test or a gross-out diversion, but rather an important kind of literature that affords powerful and thought-provoking concepts. It can definitely be weaponized and mobilized as protest work, as we see all across Latin America.
omg I loved watching this video because the first two books you went over I absolutely love!! the second book is what got me into reading and another book of hers "the dangers of smoking in bed" was recently translated into English and I was so happy!
Yes! Mariana Enriquez is an amazing author. Her newest novel, “Nuestra parte de noche,” was incredible, and I can’t wait for it to be translated so I can recommend it to my English-speaking viewers!
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the video and hopefully give some of the other books a chance!
Another great list... I’m going to have to stop watching so my TBR doesn’t get too long 😂 (JK). Tender Is the Flesh is already near the top of my list.
Hey, Dave! Thank you for watching! I honestly wouldn’t fault you for that. It can be very overwhelming having constant recommendations! I think you will “enjoy” Tender is the Flesh. It is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Like I said, not much of a novel rather than a kind of report or witness statement. Very strange, horrid stuff.
Wow. I have been struggling to digest Fever Dream ever since I read it last summer. The way you framed it makes so much sense. I really appreciate you introducing it through a feminist lens, which I suppose is very fitting considering the theme of motherhood and the motherly instinct that is discussed throughout the book. Really insightful ideas!!
So glad to hear that my video helped! Yes, I think the relationship between gender and environment is so prescient, especially in the Latin American tradition.
Thank you for using your voice in shedding light on what's happening to latin women and trans women...
Couple I'd recommend:
'Lullaby For Little Criminals' - A coming of age book involving abandonment, drugs, poverty and underage prostitution. I generally don't really like first person narratives especially as remembrances but this is written in one of the most impactful voices in prose I've ever read. It is a mix of reflection but still with the voice of the child so matter of fact; “Childhood is the most valuable thing that's taken away from you in life, if you think about it.” Or, “If you want to get a child to love you, then you should just go hide in the closet for three or for hours. They get down on their knees and pray for you to return. That child will turn you into God. Lonely children probably wrote the Bible.”
Devil All The Time' - This is a more popular book and there's plenty of reviews of it but in short its three stories that weave together at the end of a father son where the father has violent PTSD from WWII and a sort of fanatic religious belief where sacrifices at the 'prayer log' in the woods will get God to save his dying wife, A preacher who abuses young girls, and a sexual serial kill couple where he takes photos of men having sex with his wife under gun point before he kills them. The voice is the disturbing oppressiveness of inevitability: “Unless he had whiskey running through his veins, Willard came to the clearing every morning and evening to talk to God. Arvin didn't know which was worse, the drinking or the praying. As far back as he could remember, it seemed that his father had fought the Devil all the time.”
'Let the Right One In' - Story of a 12 year old vampire, "I am 12, but I've been 12 for a very long time", and 12 year old school boy whose mother is kind of a nut job and whose father has all but abandoned him after a divorce and their relationship. Bullying and abandonment plus repressing his anger makes him sort of proto-serial killer type while her relationship with an older man who poses as her father but is in actuallity her drudge (vampire's mortal servent) deteriorates. There are a couple of movies but the original Swedish film more closely fits the novel than the American version. The novel is more disturbing with Eli's backstory and Oskar's inner struggles.
Holyyy, thank you so much for such a wonderful and detailed comment! I had never heard of Lullaby for Little Criminals before. I’m definitely very interested!
Just a few days ago, I finished the Heavenly Table and really enjoyed it, so I’m definitely down for some more Donald Ray Pollock.
I have read Let the Right One In and while of course the undercurrents of abuse and violence are unsettling, it really struck more of an emotional chord with me. Emotional chords, of course, can most definitely be disturbing.
Again, thank you for the recommendations, and thank you so much for watching! I really enjoyed the quotes you included.
An excellent video, thank you so much for such quality content. I'm really looking forward to checking these books out !!!!
Thank YOU so much for watching! Enjoy your messed up reading!
Thank you beginning gets to me seeing everywhere growing up
Amazing list thank you going to check some of these out for sure. Maybe all of them! Have you read any Eduardo Galeano?
I have not! What do you recommend? :)
I have this video in my watch later, which is very long, and this video keeps getting unlisted and re-listed for some reason.
That’s very strange! UA-cam doesn’t want me to succeed 😤 but of course I appreciate your dedication! Thank you!
The fact that 'disturbing' books bore me instead of disturbing me is indeed a very disturbing fact about myself but I am not even disturbed about it.
THAT IS SO SCARY!!!
Just found your channel, excellent coverage by the way.
Hope it's okay that I can recommend a few books that I have read in the past. These books are not disturbing as in the content but as some passages that stay with you.
Some of these books are not just horror in category.
Again in particular order.
1) the face that must die. Ramsey Campbell.
2) testament. David Morrell.
3) last exit to Brooklyn. Hurbet Selby Jr.
Hey, thank you so much for watching! Glad to have you here. :)
It’s always okay to recommend books! I’ve had a bunch of Ramsey Campbell books that I want to read, and I haven’t read a single one of them! I’ve been recommended The Doll Who Ate His Mother, but now this one seems intriguing, too! I just saw there’s a version with an introduction by Poppy Z. Brite. I need that!
I have read The Totem by David Morrell, and I found it fascinating. I haven’t read First Blood, nor Testament, but I have a feeling I would really enjoy them as well!
I talked briefly about Last Exit to Brooklyn in one of these “Most Disturbing Books” installments. A bit more poetic than The Room or The Demon, but yes, plenty disturbing as well.
Thank you so much for the recommendations! I just bought a copy of Testament as I was typing this. 😂
Damn, what you said at the beginning is heartbreaking. Thank you for bringing awareness to this and sharing the links that you did.
I have Tender is the Flesh and can't wait to start. Stumbled upon it in a bookstore and was sold. Added Hurricane Season and I'm happy to see Fever Dream as I bought that recently
I thought it was only appropriate, given the subject matter that so many of these works touch upon. Hurricane Season really left me feeling… pummeled. I don’t know how else to describe it lol. Enjoy!
YESSS FEVER DREAM!!! THAT BOOK MESSED ME UP!
Such a devastating, creepy book. There was something so sinister about it, about the character of David specifically and his obsession with Amanda’s emotions and memories.
@@PlaguedbyVisions i thought the book was going somewhere but it DID a complete 180!!!
Hey, these suggestions are great, even though I'm from Argentina, I didn't know some of these books. I already have Cadaver Exquisito, now I want to read it even more. I did not realize that I read very few authors from my own country. I suggest "Las Malas- Camila Sosa Villada" that has left a deep imprint on me.
Thank you for the recommendation and for watching! I have heard of this book before and really look forward to reading it eventually. I am just about to start another novel by Schweblin - Kentukis. It sounds amazing.
I’ll say it again. You’re a beautiful person
Awww, you are! ❤️ Thank you so much. 🥹
Yesss thank you I been looking for good Spanish horror/thriller books ! ❤️👏
You're so welcome! Always happy to spread more awareness of Latin American literature!
Wow! Back-to-back video!!!!
I liked Fever Dream a lot. Schweblin's short story collection Mouthful of Birds is great, too.
I’ve yet to read that one! I really enjoyed her other novel, Kentukis (titled Little Eyes in English).
I think the handmaid's tale fits here.
In subject matter, yes, it would! There's a lot in that book that strongly resonates with the current state of Latin America.
Gracias, son recomendaciónes geniales para mi intento de aprender castellano.
I could hardly get through that Fernanda melchor book. I regret reading it with all the vulgarity and violence.
Definitely don’t fault you! It’s not a book for everyone, and its proximity to real-life regional violence is something that definitely not everyone needs to expose themselves to.
I admin a fan page 'Psychobiddys and Visionary Women Who must Be Heard' I will be featuring this video on the page once i can formulate a considered introduction,,,unfortunately the first manifestation of the page...The Psycho Biddy Fan Page' was shut down due to an overly sensitive bot...I mention this only because posting it there would have exposed you to 6000 people everyday..wheras in the new page we are still only numbered in the hundreds at this point, though it grows everyday...thanks for all the vids
Hey! Thank you so much for the support! I really appreciate it! And I’m happy to hear the video was to your liking enough to feature it on your page! If you provide me a link I can be sure to likewise mention it in one of my future videos, if you’d be okay with that.
I didn't know Mexico also have faith healers... Filipinos (mostly the ones living in provinces) still and up to this day go to faith healers since they can't afford proper medical attention... Hurricane Season definitely moved up higher on my list now!
Mexico has a love-hate relationship with “curanderos” (healers) and “brujería” (witchcraft). A lot of people view it as spiritually healing and, as you described, an alternate to medicine for people of lower resources. A lot of the healing and “witchcraft” practices are also seen as culturally significant, prehispanic traditions. The “hate” comes from the fact that Mexico is a very religious nation and these healing practices are seen as secular and blasphemous. A very interesting subject indeed! I’m positive you’ll really enjoy Hurricane Season.
Also I may or may not have attended a couple of “cleanses” in the past. 🤭 Mexico is also (in)famous for its clandestine exorcisms... but that’s another story.
@@PlaguedbyVisions OMG!!! My aunt has a faith healer friend... As a christian, I been sus about him but I respect that it's part of their culture being passed down to generations...
My nephew and nieces have this "anting-anting" which is scriptures of prayer that they pin on their pants to drive spirits away... Also, the faith healers chew leaves and spit it out on you to drive evil spirits that may have cursed you!! So interesting!
Your videos are great
Glad you like them! I really appreciate that!
Daughters of Juarez by Teresa Rodriguez. Non fiction
Thank you for this recommendation! I focus mostly on fiction in this channel, but yes, there’s so much important and highly informative nonfiction writing on this subject as well. Rosa Linda Fregoso is another author who tackles these issues.
Hay algo que no hagas bien mi amigo? I really like your content
Hay varias cosas que no hago bien. 😂 Pero al menos leer no es una de ellas. Muchísimas gracias por ver el video!
I'm blind and I assure you I am as independent as any man. being blind is no big deal whatsoever! I don't see why people always think if you can't see your life is over, and it's some big disturbing issue. it's not.
My apologies on the poor phrasing of my review of that particular book! Of course, my intention was not to insinuate that blind people are utterly helpless, and of course, the book does not deride blind people whatsoever. The book touches more on the medical discrimination that Latin American women face in Chile and the US. Lina’s personal dependency stems from the fact that she lacks resources and help when becoming blind. It also focuses on the ruptures in interpersonal relationships that such a condition causes for Lina, who comes face to face with the cultural prejudices and fears that people have around the concept of blindness. Indeed, it’s this prejudice around blindness that makes it so disturbing, not blindness itself. Again, very poor phrasing on my part, and I apologize for coming across as ableist.