Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

32 reviews

jonwood's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I was quite disappointed with this boo and found it more gimmick than good. Sure, the nonlinear story telling may have been new at the time, but just because something is the first dose not make it the best. Perhaps Doctor Who and Christopher Nolan have spoiled me with a diverse selection of nonlinear story telling (both well and not so well executed), but even removing comparisons of executions, I didn't find that much substance buried within Slaughterhouse-5. I've read and seen much better reflections on tragedy and post-traumatic stress (just tune into MASH or China Beach). My take away is that the main character is losing his mind and that the aliens and time travel really aren't there, just metaphors and illusions, but I feel that is giving the author too much credit. There's a lot of disgusting things litter in the book, weather it's about people urinating/vowel movements, one character taking glee in describing tutor methods, or just how the narrator describes women (one example is of the narrator describing a woman as dull, but having a body that makes men want to fill her up with babies) that left a bad taste in my mouth.

 Frankly, I don't think there was much reflections going on. I suppose the theme is that there are moments in time we are powerless to change, and sometimes there's no fighting it, one person can't always make a difference, "so it goes." However, it would have been more interesting seeing that struggle play out and the character learn the lesson via failure (like Clark Kent in the 100th episode of Smallville unable to prevent tragedy completely, and altering events only made other things worst), but instead the narrator just tells us this and the protagonist, Billy, just accepts this form of "enlightenment" without ever trying to fight it. Also, I did not find this book all that funny, despite it supposedly being funny at the same time as being traumatic, the book just lack heart for me.

Between the lack of entertainment, and the gross nature of some of the narration, I highly doubt I'll want to try to read another Vonnegut novel, and am left wondering why he has the reputation of literally genius that he does.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

imogenclendinning's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Gore, and War

shoohoob's review against another edition

challenging dark funny relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Super interesting book! I wasn’t into the first half but I’m glad I kept reading. The last half really brought me in and I felt the cynicism come to a head. It’s fascinating that a book written about a war almost 80 years ago is still relevant today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Sexual content, and War

ssoha's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Rape, and War

megb64's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, Violence, Torture, Gore, Excrement, Death, Confinement, Gun violence, Grief, and Genocide

Moderate: Infidelity, Animal death, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Vomit

sarareadingpiles's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I was upset to be honest. It was upsetting, really dark and couldn't find a motive. Definitely not a bad one, but it's the type of book, where you think back to the time you've read it and you get a headache. From the perspective of Billy it seemed that nothing in his life had a point. He was just drifting with the tide. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Mental illness, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, Gore, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

agw622's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

1.5

It's weird. It's so odd, and I find Billy such an unappealing unreliable narrator. It jumps so much that you never really get a good pace of reading. I personally am not a big fan of an unreliable narrator, and I also dislike spastic time jumping. This made it an unpleasant read for me. Although I appreciate what it is conveying, I don't think I will reread it nor recommend it in good faith.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Antisemitism, Genocide, Grief, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

dlsmk's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Torture, War, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Gore, Death, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Excrement, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

cptnstphy's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.25

It took me a while to get into it, but I was pleased when it clicked for me. It went from “this is a bit too odd for me without enough reward to get over it” to “alright I see what Vonnegut is doing here! I’m on board” 
I found the main character Billy’s experience of time and space very interesting and worth contemplating, even if just to pull ourselves out of our always-linear understanding of time. I also enjoy some fantasy and worldbuilding, so his recollections of the alien planet were creative and well-received. 
I did also appreciate the moral undercurrent to things that he says that are expressed as casual but read as subtly poignant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, War, Animal cruelty, Genocide, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Pregnancy

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Confinement, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Gun violence, War, Death, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Gore, Ableism, Antisemitism, and Blood

Minor: Murder, Suicide, Sexual content, Animal death, Slavery, Medical trauma, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Excrement