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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's amazingly sad and depressing how relevant this 1933 protest novel is to 1942 and 1955 and 2001, and hell, even 2022, all of it's so sad. It reads like a true stream of conciseness, so in that way, grammar and proper sentence structure are sometimes thrown out the window in favor of mindless rambles. However, this is the point, to make it feel like you are a part of Joe, and make his mental decay and torture yours. I found it difficult to get into and hard to follow so reading along with an audiobook helped with some of the middle parts that are more words just strung together. The last two chapters' monologues were the most hard-hitting of the entire book. The message and the prose were just moving in a way that I can't really describe, I don't know, it just hit me. I think it's because no matter what this keeps happening, and nothing can stop it. One thing that I thought would erk me but didn't was the complete lack of a plot and sometimes even a story. Because it takes place post-bomb attack, the first section is "The dead", and shows Joe's life before the military as well as him becoming what he would later refer to as a stump (getting the dead parts of himself cut off). This means that sometimes they are legitimately just long, kinda boring stories of someone's life, either way, the 2nd half makes up for it. This is a ramble now, I'm going to sleep.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A raw, grotesque, and terrifying anti-war novel that portrays a human-wreck of war; hopelessly wounded, blinded, voiceless, and deaf.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a story about the ravenges of war. Not so much the acts of war, but more the damage war does to the human soul. The story is about a man trapped in his own mind after fighting in WWI, and the trauma it has on his sanity. The book was ok, it was a bit on the depressing side, the entire story line was the main character's stream of conciousness which I personally found a bit tedious and wanted more background information, either as an introduction or a epilogue.
