Reviews tagging 'Death'

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

15 reviews

the_birk's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I would not expect more from an anti war book than this book gave me, and the story of Joe makes suck a powerful symbolism of the horrors of war.
I bought the book out og curiosity and also to face my fears a little bit. The song called “One” written by Metallica is based on this book.

It is haunting and dark I I kind of wanted to know the whole story behind the soldier who lost his legs, arms, mouth, eyes, hearing etc.

In some aspects I was expecting more horrors happen in this book, and I’m not saying I was not horrified now and then.

I was expected more torment from Joe in his time in the womb, I sometimes felt like he took things too lightly on his situation, like come on, he soendnsix years during this book doing absolutely nothing but being a piece of meat with a brain. I was also surprised that he didn’t show any sign of wanting to die. I know it makes a major part in the movie adaption, and I guess there would probably not be much reflection to read in the book if his only goal was to make someone end his misery.

Regarding the war, the big picture. I really felt the feelings going directly from the author onto the story. The pointlessness of war from the perspective of the individual American, the cruelty towards the wounded soldiers and the dead soldiers with no voice.

Joe is dead and Joe is alive and his voice is denied even though he at the end finds a way to communicate. It is not because we can’t her then, it’s because we won’t hear them.

Some sections really felt like preaching with poetic wordings describing the disgusting nature of powerful individuals sending innocent people into wars and the harsh reality revealing that no person would actually accept their death for the sake of democracy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

inica's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad

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

5.0

Foundational anti-war book that kind of destroys you from the inside out. Lovely read and my favorite book ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

juliaxgulia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

coolfoolmoon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was mentioned by one of my film professors in our class about the Hollywood blacklist era and I'm so glad I remembered it. You can see why HUAC hated his ass he was a genius!

The audiobook was performed so well but also the intro from the mom really made me emotional. Then I was like fuck this book is gonna fuck me up too isn't it? And then it did. I didn't cry but you really feel every emotion. A book that can truly be universally understood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Slavery

add_a_little_spook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

squeegi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

This is a beautiful, but gruesome and devastating call to pacifism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Death of parent

christmaskid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

This is a difficult read to give a numbered rating. The narrative is difficult to follow in places because it drifts in and out of dream states between past, present, reality and dream. However: a very necessary read when historical context is taken into account as well as the way the novel holds itself today - ‘you point the way and we will point the way.’ Beautiful prose forges a powerful anti war message, especially in Trumbo’s forward and his last few pages

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

bear_oskar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs and Xenophobia

spooderman's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Alcohol

2busyreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Racial slurs