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Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
12 reviews
omair's review against another edition
4.0
After all of the hype and excitement I had for the film adaptation, I knew I had to read the source material as soon as possible. I had thought I would take to the book far more than the film, which I did thoroughly like, because I went into the film expecting more police procedural and less story of love
Yet as I read this book, I found myself agreeing more and more with the decisions the film made. This is not a slight against the book, but further praise for the film. The purposes of the film and the book are not one and the same, and so it is vital to anyone that, like me, is coming to read because/after the film to understand before they begin.
REVIEW THE BOOK INDEPENDENT OF THE FILM (which is what I intend to do)
Killers is as informative of a book as I could've imagined considering the personal story the primary focus is on. The book is overflowing with descriptors that will make you feel sorrow and anger, leave you wondering what humanity is and why it is missing. While only covering a handful of incidences, the cold factual presentation will leave you reeling, as if sensing how small a fraction the sample is compared to the population. All totaled, the official death count may
If you can make it through the pain and sadness, there is a beautiful story here of a people's survival. The heart to endure and rally is as much a light as the era is an inky darkness. The book may focus on Thomas White, his team of agents, and their investigation that finally tore down the veil behind which the atrocities hid, but the real heroes are the Osage people.
For as strong as the book is in its cold, clearly well-researched, tone, I also found this to be a slight undoing. The voice can feel rather impersonal at times, leaving the reader as a student of history rather than immersed in the moment. This is why I agree with the decisions made for the film adaptation. Maybe I would feel differently not having known the details from the film first, I can never know for sure. But the progression of the book, and some of the detours along the way, played loose with risking a reader to set the book down only to never return and finish.
Ultimately, I will recommend this read to anyone with an interest in the Reign of Terror, interest in the era, an interest in the realities of White American Exceptionalism, or a morbid curiosity of a casual genocide. Sticking through some of the uneven pacing is well worth it for the resulting reverence of the Osage, and Mollie in particular, all carrying inside of them something no man could ever kill.
Graphic: Death, Racism, Hate crime, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Classism, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Medical content, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Animal death, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Child death, and Cultural appropriation
fkshg8465's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Infidelity, Violence, Hate crime, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, and Racism
lindseylosers's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Grief, Hate crime, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Car accident
Minor: Animal death
phob's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Stalking, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Chronic illness, Blood, and Alcohol
jhbandcats's review against another edition
5.0
Killers of the Flower Moon is an especially difficult book to read, not because of the writing but because the subject is so painful. Grann documents how literally hundreds of Osage were murdered for riches in the early 20th C. As American Indians, their lives were worth less than that of dogs. An entire corrupt and venal society was arrayed against them. Well aware they were systematically being murdered, they had no recourse. The authorities, both political and legal, were complicit in the murders. No one would help save them from eradication.
This is an excellent telling of a dark and shameful time in our history. If only this much attention had been paid a hundred years ago some of the Osage who were murdered might have lived.
Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Abandonment, Blood, and Child death
kimmykelly's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Death, and Murder
rochelleisreading's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Classism, Stalking, Hate crime, Chronic illness, and Car accident
lorenag5's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Rape, and Sexism
markedwithanm's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Cancer, Chronic illness, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Alcohol, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Child death, Stalking, Addiction, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Car accident