Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

30 reviews

daughterofatom's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.0

I enjoyed this. I appreciate the authors non judgemental perspective, never casting blame or guilt on any party, and keeps first hand accounts of native people in perspective. It's a tale of mutiny and horrible situations, but you never think "dang what a villain", you see the motivations of each party and are given ample details about the people to not just see them as pawns. They all had families at home they hoped to return to, some were on their first voyage, some were seasoned enough to doubt some choices. Great read for anyone looking to learn about 1700s seafaring, British navy shenanigans, or for folks looking for empathetic compelling tales of souls stuck in a true no win scenario 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Colonisation, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, War, Gun violence, Genocide, and Animal death

Minor: Medical content, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Classism, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, and Racism

kelsea's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Eating disorder, Murder, and Medical content

taeli's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Violence, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Murder, Slavery, Racism, and Trafficking

pferdina's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

3.5

In 1740, the English sent a fleet to the southern tip of South America to hunt for Spanish ships. Several ships were lost in the dangerous seas, and the Wager was wrecked. This book tells the story of what happened to the crew, Ho had already suffered hardships like severe scurvy and then spent months on a desolate cold island without much food or hope. Only a few of the 250 original crew made it home, after several years, and all of them had tales to tell. Mutiny, murder, abandonment, starvation, abuse, and privation all appear.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Slavery, Cannibalism, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Medical content, Blood, and Murder

isaacbereading's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Death, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

kimmykelly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

5.0

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann is a gripping and thought-provoking account of the voyage and shipwreck of HMS Wager in the 1740s. Drawing on primary sources and thorough archival research, Grann reconstructs the hardships of the voyage from before the ships set sail, through its perilous journey, shipwreck, mutiny, and court-martial. If you are squeamish about descriptions of disease and death, take care, but I do think Grann tow the lines of factual without going into excessive details. 

The story of the Wager is heartbreaking and amazing, with falliable human ingenuity and the unrelenting power of hope coming up against the forces of nature, disease, delerium, and himan depravity. 

I really enjoyed Grann's writing. He made the story feel engaging as a living narrative rather than a historical account. I also appreciated how he took the time to call out the intrisic racism and imperialist motives of the venture. He made space for the indigenous peoples of South America, the African slave trade, and even class divides amongst the British. 

I was mainly surprised by how the court martial ended, and I appreciated Grann's discussion of why it went the way it did. 

Overall, a fantastic book.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Animal death, War, Medical content, Violence, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Slavery, Child death, and Cannibalism

marioosa517's review against another edition

adventurous informative tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, War, Excrement, Cannibalism, Confinement, Vomit, and Child death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

3.5

This book is well written and has a fascinating subject, but it just didn’t grab me for some reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Colonisation, Animal death, Death, Child death, Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Chronic illness

Minor: Cannibalism

pvbobrien's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Gun violence, War, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal death, and Medical content

Minor: Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, and Slavery