Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

1984 by George Orwell

18 reviews

tiana_king's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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? Yes

3.75

The world building could’ve been done much better but when you get to the last quarter of the book, it’s most interesting. It was all a set up for the author to monologue about human nature, the cyclic nature of society, and the very Voldemort-esque final message of “power for the sake of power”. Despite it being a monologue it’s pretty thought provoking so I still think it was decent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, and War

toodeadtoread's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Body horror

Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual violence, Classism, Misogyny, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

remytherat's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

3.75

It's easy to see why this is a classic, and why it's so important to read. There were, however, things that I didn't love. It's clear Orwell has never met a woman, for one, and some parts in the middle dragged quite a lot. There were moments where the writing didn't flow as well as it did in Animal Farm; moments that were written to be dreamlike felt a bit too stiff. While this is definitely an impactful book, if only to understand the cultural references and the themes brought up, it's nowhere near my favourite classic.

Somehow, it feels different when a lot of the contents of the book already happen in one way or another; less like it's a dystopian future, and more like it's a worse version of the present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Torture

Moderate: Classism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts

manu_k's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully horrifying, this book is a ride from start to finish. We know it has been a cornerstone for the dystopian fiction genre, but reading it makes me realize just how much this book has shaped this genre.

On the writing style: I thought it was very beautifully written, descriptive but not very much so, the exact kind of thing I like. The way it was written and the analogies and the non - linear storytelling in some parts came together so well, it was immersive in the best way.

On the story:

the first part was almost boring, which I thought was the point. It showed us how the regime worked, some background to Winston, but didn't actually contribute to advancing the story line as such. The second part was much more fast paced and actually exciting in regards to the advancement of the story, and by far some of the chapters in this part are my favorites. I didn't appreciate the whole 'I love you' debacle in the beginning, but I guess it shows how much sexually and emotionally repressed these people are. I believe it seems very fitting that Julia is introduced as a central character at the start of the second part and her role ends at the end of the second part. The third part was one of the most difficult parts to get through, despite me having experience with reading torture scenes (I read The Surgeon when I was 15, it still haunts me). It was brutal no holds barred kind of writing, with the descriptions, O'Brien's almost - almost - loving teacher like treatment of Winston, and then the change in the way of Winston's thinking, how different it was from the other two parts. The ending was surprising to me, despite knowing that it won't end happily as other dystopian books I have read.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gore, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, and Vomit

f18's review

challenging dark reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Police brutality

Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, and War

Minor: Sexual content, Gore, Rape, Racism, Excrement, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Sexism, Antisemitism, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Slavery, Vomit, Alcohol, Ableism, and Fire/Fire injury

descriptions of hangings, child labor, tooth trauma,

involuntary shock therapy

marsisred's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, and Violence

scruffie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It was 12 years ago, the last time I read this book. I remember feeling empty and hopeless after finishing it. Now, the second time, was a little different. I was able to appreciate the quality and precision of the writing. Dark, brutal, relentless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: War, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery

therobinjoyce's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Winston, the main character, lives in a dystopian country where individual thought is banned and where only the leader, an entity known as Big Brother, is allowed to reason and to decide. He is conflicted by his own thoughts and urged by his natural instincts to question the wisdom of Big Brother. Throughout the pages of the book he moves hopefully toward his own liberation and the liberation of all mankind from Big Brother’s terrifying regime, but in defying Big Brother with his own thoughts, he dooms himself to the full wrath of this totalitarian government.

This book really isn’t for the faint of heart. Obviously, 1984 was written well before our day and the style of writing evidently shows that, but the principles and concepts conveyed in the pages of this book are very thought-provoking (as all of George Orwell's books are) and relevant even today.

Amazingly, he has created a dystopian world far different from what the reality of 1984 was actually like, but one, nonetheless, that is a stark warning to mankind if they continue down certain paths even nowadays.

Throughout the pages of the book, Orwell warns of the serious danger totalitarianism poses to society and goes to extreme lengths to demonstrate the terrifying degree of power and control which a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain even without the use of much modern technology.

It was truly frightening to behold at certain points and definitely one to read. If you're after a gripping, dark, dystopian tale of seemingly doomed hope and espionage against a totalitarian government, you will most likely be thrilled to read this book. If however, you suffer from any kind of nervous disposition, please do not attempt this novel. One look at the content warnings below will give you a good understanding of why I say this...

TRIGGER WARNING: Torture, Violence, Physical Abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Death, Forced Institutionalization, Sexism, Gore, Sexual Content, Body Horror, Emotional Abuse, Rape, Sexual Violence, Suicidal Thoughts, Murder, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Blood, War, Alcohol, Hate Crime, Genocide, Body Shaming, Gun Violence, Alcoholism, Medical Content, Cursing, Child Death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Body horror, Body shaming, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Alcohol