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Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'
Der Wolkenatlas by David Mitchell, Volker Oldenburg
20 reviews
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
godspeed to any ESL speaker who tries to read this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation
Moderate: Fatphobia, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It had a lot to say about slavery, how horrible colonialism is, and connection through time. Regardless, it lost me multiple times due to how the stories switched so violently in writing style and voice, and though I understood why, it did just get a bit contrived at times which brought me out of it at one point to such an extent that I nearly DNF'd it.
Warning: the slavery, death, suicide, violence, sexual assault and racism can be really intense and graphic so please take care with this book, you cannot really avoid those aspects in this book as it happens in multiple contexts all over and repeatedly so if you're sensitive to that and don't want to/can't read it stay away from this book.
My biggest question wasWas the level of detail of the racism and slavery and rape really necessary to advance the plot or to describe the horrors? Because at a certain point it really began to feel like this White dude writer David was getting a bit Trauma-Porn for the gruesomeness of it, especially in Adam Ewing with the Slavery and Racism, and that part "oiled up his hole..." in Sloosha's Crossin' an' everythin' after. There are so many ways to say things and get points across, you have to ask if this was necessary, and also was the formatting of the stories at all helpful or good in advancing the plot? And was this a sensitive way - especially for a white writer - to address these topics? I guess that's just experimental literature for you though.
I loved House of Leaves and I really hope I would get into this one but to be honest I had to speed read some parts just to get through the monotony of some of it. Orison of Sonni really just threw me as well as Timothy Cavendish I found him to be intolerable to follow.
Also a diversity of characters and perspectives would have been nice, why were they pretty much all white men? I know, it's because they are the oppressors, I get it, but like WE'VE HEARD THE OPPRESSORS VOICES everywhere all the time believe it or not Mr. Mitchell!
To wrap up, I'm just glad I'm done with it, I liked the ending but this book could have been so much better in my opinion.
Warning: the slavery, death, suicide, violence, sexual assault and racism can be really intense and graphic so please take care with this book, you cannot really avoid those aspects in this book as it happens in multiple contexts all over and repeatedly so if you're sensitive to that and don't want to/can't read it stay away from this book.
My biggest question was
I loved House of Leaves and I really hope I would get into this one but to be honest I had to speed read some parts just to get through the monotony of some of it. Orison of Sonni really just threw me as well as Timothy Cavendish I found him to be intolerable to follow.
Also a diversity of characters and perspectives would have been nice, why were they pretty much all white men? I know, it's because they are the oppressors, I get it, but like WE'VE HEARD THE OPPRESSORS VOICES everywhere all the time believe it or not Mr. Mitchell!
To wrap up, I'm just glad I'm done with it, I liked the ending but this book could have been so much better in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism
These themes are everywhere in this book you CANNOT read this book without reading about these. Period. Don't read if these themes in graphic contexts are a no-go for you.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A challenging read with really unique framing. David Mitchell manages to write with 5 voices in one book, each with its own powerful identity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Infidelity, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Murder
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Forced institutionalization
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Meditative look at humanity, civilisation, and the effect of an individual on the system at large. Some beautiful prose and impactful one-liners. Strong narrative voices of the individual POV characters.
Plot-wise, some of the short stories were individually quite weak. The letters from Frobisher the composer were among the most enjoyable parts for me style-wise, but in terms of plot ended up quite unimpressive. I’d also have appreciated a stronger interconnectedness of the stories, such as if perhaps the incarnations learned from their past lives or were somehow directly influenced by them. What we have instead are fleeting mentions and references that have zero impact on the events.An example for all - Frobisher commits suicide despite having read Adam Ewing’s diary, in which the latter laments the tragic suicide of a boy of about Frobisher’s age. But does this stop Frobisher or does he at the very least refer to it? Not at all.
Plot-wise, some of the short stories were individually quite weak. The letters from Frobisher the composer were among the most enjoyable parts for me style-wise, but in terms of plot ended up quite unimpressive. I’d also have appreciated a stronger interconnectedness of the stories, such as if perhaps the incarnations learned from their past lives or were somehow directly influenced by them. What we have instead are fleeting mentions and references that have zero impact on the events.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Car accident
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first the form of the book in the vernacular and perspective of each character in their context is quite jarring but as the fragmented pieces of the 6 stories that make up the book are tied together, the humanity of each character and the shared history of the cast comes together to a cohesive and profound whole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Colonisation
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Little library find. Six stories nested within each other - you pass halfway through each until you reach the center and work your way back through each second half in reverse order. While the stories are clearly linked together, I expected a stronger connection to reveal itself over time.
I admit most of them took a minute to get into and I almost quit the whole book about 5 pages in. But once you get the hang of each story's dialect it draws you in hard.
A lot of racism and I often wondered whether it was for effect, "historical accuracy," or why it was necessary. But ultimately it contributes to the overall track towards anticapitalism and environmentalism, a warning against white supremacy and the havoc it has and will wreak upon our planet and its people.
I was pleased to benefit from my recent reading of Brave New World and 1984, which are especially referenced in the 5th story.
I admit most of them took a minute to get into and I almost quit the whole book about 5 pages in. But once you get the hang of each story's dialect it draws you in hard.
A lot of racism and I often wondered whether it was for effect, "historical accuracy," or why it was necessary. But ultimately it contributes to the overall track towards anticapitalism and environmentalism, a warning against white supremacy and the havoc it has and will wreak upon our planet and its people.
I was pleased to benefit from my recent reading of Brave New World and 1984, which are especially referenced in the 5th story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this is probably one of the most confusing but extraordinary books i’ve ever come across. first, i particularly enjoyed the ways in which different storylines from various timelines all connected together through “easter eggs”, but i didn’t entirely understand the significance of how each storyline was connected to each other. i also didn’t like the storyline occurring in the middle. perhaps this is just me being uptight on my end, but when i read something that is difficult to decipher and takes a while to actually understand what the convoluted words are saying, i lose motivation to read on. in fact, i had to skim through that entire part just for the sake of finishing the story and seeing what happens in the end. i will say, however, that the other storylines were quite thrilling and kept me at the edge of my seat. when i noticed those easter eggs, i grew excited and wanted to find the significance—only to realize there wasn’t really one (unless i misread, or just completely skipped over it?) the concept itself was very interesting and the different writing styles (aside from the middle one) created a lively and visceral setting for the entire book. who knows, maybe i will have to give this a reread in the future to actually grasp it. this was definitely a confusing, thought provoking, and disoriented read that i weirdly enjoyed. 4.5/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's Mitchell, so, of course Cloud Atlas is beautifully written, each of his six worlds rendered such that they engulf the reader completely. It takes more than beautiful writing, though, to make a story engaging, and not all of Mitchell's six souls had stories that stood well on their own. I found myself racing through those chapters, less interested in the characters and their adventures, focussed instead on searching for the details that wove Mitchell's six, seemingly disparate, stories into one narrative. While some connections are clever, others are... thin. When the connective story elements are tenuous at best, they detract from the themes that would otherwise elegantly unify each chapter of this soul-journey into one novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma