Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

5 reviews

meekumoh's review

challenging dark funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

First book of Vonnegut's I've finished. You can really tell he's been trying to unclog that pipe for a while (he says so in the prologue). His view of American humanity is both a wide lens yet steeped in underfoot ugliness. I can't say I enjoyed the commentary on racism but overall it was a provoking read. A little like being fed eight experimental meals at once. Would recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Addiction, Death, Grief, Ableism, and Death of parent

krisroll's review

dark emotional 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

1.0

I usually love Vonnegut, this one was very scattered. It kept my attention throughout the first half, but the last parts of the book I found myself skimming. I understand the nuances, but the ending was very hard to push through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Car accident, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Rape, Self harm, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Slavery, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

zosiablue's review

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

We all know Vonnegut juxtaposes tragic and absurd because that's exactly what life is and through the first half of this, I thought - ah, we're going only absurd here, OK, I'm in. And then there was an astonishing perspective change that nailed me so hard I started crying! I'm not a crier and it came on so suddenly that I shocked myself. He does this every fucking time to me. What's this book about? A writer on a road trip to speak at an arts festival. What's this book about? The festival of everything (TM).

(Though I know what he's doing, the race stuff doesn't age well at all. That's worth more than a parenthetical for sure, but just a warning.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexism, Classism, Suicide, and Grief

leoniefnk's review against another edition

dark medium-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

1.25

Though there are moments that make you think (I like the idea of an author inserting themselves in a very meta way), overall, I found this vulgar and extremely unfunny. The random scatterbrain-ness of it is something which I've enjoyed in the past, but in books like Hitchhiker's guide, where there is far less offensive language for - what seems to be - the sake of offensive language. Was this supposed to make me think of something new or groundbreaking? What's worse, was this supposed to make me laugh?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Sexual violence, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Classism

basilaquinas's review

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Slavery