Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

4 reviews

asolis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, Cannibalism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Genocide, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Death, and Confinement

artmuseam's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Racial slurs, Blood, Cannibalism, Slavery, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Animal death, and Sexual assault

sr_marshrat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective tense

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Infidelity, Colonisation, Slavery, Genocide, Medical trauma, Racism, Gun violence, and Child death