Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

3 reviews

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Cancer, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Sexism, Police brutality, Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical content, Gore, Violence, Terminal illness, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Colonisation, Murder, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Classism, Vomit, Rape, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism

addictedtoanntations's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense

• 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? Yes

5.0

absolutely adored this book. It takes risks, is raw, dark, satirical, funny, with the wittiest dialogue I’ve ever read. It doesn’t shy away from showing grit, and morally questionable sides of war, from violence, to how institutions are run, to prostitution. To this day it draws parallels to flaws in today’s society which was refreshing, eye-opening, and terrifying all into one. Phenomenal. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Racial slurs, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Terminal illness and Sexual assault

haleyd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Excrement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Vomit

A sometimes humorous, sometimes depressing classic full of paradoxes and contradictions that only prove themselves true, this take on WWII was a bit difficult for me to get through. Once I knew the writing style was to intentionally include these opposites, I became bored and would fall asleep after a few pages. It went more quickly toward the end, but then it was just so sad in some of the final pages, it was that what became the challenge for me. I'm reading this as part of a goal to get through several lists of "banned books" I've found. While I don't think any books should be truly banned, this one made me think several times, "Eek. This is part of the reason this was banned." Most of that is because it is so repulsive and very graphic. But also, things were quite different when this book was written which is evidenced by some of the behaviors wherein described. It could possibly be argued that children's minds are too vulnerable, but I would personally argue that I'd be confident letting my own teenage child read this, knowing that I've raised her well. However, I would definitely warn her that she likely wouldn't want to.