Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

15 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional informative slow-paced

2.75

I’m unsure why this book has become so popular. The theory the author puts forth is somewhat incoherent and is held together by a bunch of anecdata. I’m glad I read it so that I can be aware of its presence in the zeitgeist, but I got very little of the actual content. The author contends her little with colonization in her book, which I feel is a huge absence. She seems like the kind of person who wants to “save the soul” of America, when I’m over here shouting #landback. At the end she gives an impassioned plea for everyone to just be exposed to the true nature of US history, that that would cause everyone to wake up and fight for justice. I really don’t think that’s the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Classism, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, War, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Colonisation, Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Drug use

Casteism

cnjg88's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Murder, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, War, Classism, Xenophobia, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Racism, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Car accident, Blood, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Deportation, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse

readandfindout's review

informative slow-paced

4.0

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Child death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Hate crime, Genocide, Death, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Antisemitism, Torture, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Gore, and War

Moderate: Misogyny

elisalasater's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Medical trauma, and Hate crime

lpfoley's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A really brilliant take on the history of what it means to be Black in America and the social constructs that create and perpetuate oppression. Accessible, thorough, and inviting, Wilkerson walks the line between calling out the behaviors and attitudes that have created what she designated as a caste system in the US as well as discussing the broader pressures at work to sustain it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Genocide, Violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Medical trauma, and Hate crime

grubloved's review

it spends so much time trying to assure the reader that racism is real that it doesn't actually do any meaningful analysis?? it kind of reads like a baby's first racism primer. weird also that it kind of handwaves the entire existence of every racial group other than black and white; it makes sense once you understand it is specifically a book about antiblack racism in america, but even the book seems confused about what its purpose is, continually claiming to describe an entire system and then only fixating on one aspect -- feels a little shallow. 

also weird that india's caste system is a selling point but is honestly barely present in the book, and that nazi germany is consistently held up as another state creating an underclass (the goal wasn't an underclass of jews. it was no more jews. this is not very analogous to a caste system). 

the alpha wolf chapter was also absolutely atrocious and i think is a really good example of a lot of the problems i had with the text. it was really strange for the book to claim that racism's big downsides are largely that naturally superior people who happen to be in the wrong caste can't assume their rightful place as leaders, and that naturally inferior people who are in the upper caste should be allowed to be ruled by their betters ??? it continually seems to insist that hierarchy is not the problem, but that it is simply a wrong hierarchy and that we should adjust to follow a better natural order. just really really strange to read in a book about racism.

i really enjoyed the pillars of caste section but the rest of it just wasn't the indepth reading i was here for. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Confinement, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Classism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Child death, Colonisation, Torture, Racism, and Murder

arthur_harris's review

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This book pulls absolutely no punches. It lays out the facts of its subject matter with a kind of frank, unflinching look at the truth that is so constantly softened and blunted in history. Deeply, grimly informative on the true history of the Black experience in the United States. A harsh reality check for those - like me - who grew up with a whitewashed view of American history. While this book is a difficult read in many ways, that is part of what makes it such a necessary one. It forces the reader to examine the deeply ingrained racism baked into the foundation of America, and the subsequent role of the (non-Black) reader in that racist system. An absolutely vital piece of literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Police brutality, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Colonisation, Slavery, Blood, Medical trauma, Racism, Child death, and Murder

horizonous's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Violence, Antisemitism, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Genocide, Rape, and Medical content

buttermellow's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Antisemitism, Death, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Grief, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Rape

Minor: Gun violence and Police brutality

khum's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Police brutality, and Racism