Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

 The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

3 reviews

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This is the first Louise Erdrich's book I've read and, all in all, I liked it. It was not a bad reading experience and I'd like to try out some of her other books.

The chapters are quite short so you can get through them quickly and the book doesn't really feel as long as it is. 
There are multiple point of views and it is interesting to experience so many different voices; still, inevitably, some characters were more captivating than others to me, and the overall narrative could feel a bit disjointed. 

I really appreciated how the author constructed the characters, they were flashed out well and felt very vivid on the page.
Also, I've read very few stories about Native American communities, so I enjoyed getting a glimpse into their history and culture.

It took me a bit to tune into the writing style, and there were still some bits where I struggled a little with the language and I'm not sure I really understood what was being said (but I am not a native speaker) or what was going on.

At times it got a touch strange for my personal taste 

just to name a few examples: dogs talking, chapters from a horse's POV, mention of a horse's vulva

, or the story took quite dark and disturbing turns abruptly, leaving me a bit discombobulated.

I wasn't completely sold on the ending, I think that a lot was left unexplored and untold, which is comprehensible given that there were a lot of narrative threads, but it still left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Medical content, Kidnapping, Violence, Gun violence, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, and War

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Such a good story - based upon the true fight by the Turtle Mountain band of the Chippewa against the government's plan for the termination of the reservation and support of their people. She brings to life so many different characters and elements of reservation life in the 1950s.  I love these characters and hated to leave them when the book ended.  I'll be reading more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, and Incest

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

Um ok this just came right out of left field for me and I am so glad it did. I picked this up on a complete whim while scanning a huge chunk of documents at work one day. I've of course heard of Louise Erdrich, but have admittedly been intimidated by her work, which has often been lauded as modern classics. While some of this book definitely did go over my head, I really really enjoyed it!! The main thread of this story, which is based on the author's grandfather, follows Thomas, the chairman of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indian Advisory Council, as he works to fight House Resolution 108, which sought to terminate Indian tribes and end treaties put into place in perpetua by the U.S. government in recompense for the theft of Native lands. The story is gorgeously written, and in being told from a range of different perspectives, gives an in-depth look into life on the reservation in the 1950s. I learned alot, and would have given this 5 stars except for one scene that was just not my cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, and Trafficking