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Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
21 reviews
zsabella's review against another edition
Moderate: Death, War, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery, Racism, and Animal death
ekcd_'s review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Excrement, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Slavery, Cursing, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Trafficking, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, War, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Racism
kalaser's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Gun violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Slavery, and Violence
tigerkind's review against another edition
3.5
On a side note; I recommend looking up Wager Island on Maps after reading for a bit of a laugh.
Graphic: Classism, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Body horror, Animal death, Colonisation, Torture, Confinement, and Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Alcohol, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Vomit, and Slavery
mikaylawood's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Cannibalism, Death, Violence, and Animal death
Moderate: Blood and Medical trauma
Minor: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Excrement
crocus_and_clematis's review against another edition
4.25
Sailing into David Grann's The Wager was a departure from my usual reading preferences, but wow what a wild ride! This nonfiction masterpiece skillfully melds the gripping pace of a thriller with the scholarly depth expected in historical accounts. This is honestly the type of book I wouldn’t have read if it wasn’t for all the hype. The nonfiction I normally reach for tends to be memoirs or travelogues, so I was a little hesitant about going for a historical book. I was incredibly impressed—Wager reads like a thriller and more than once I caught myself audibly gasping and yelling at what was happening on the page.
Grann's writing prowess is commendable, as he maintains a dramatic narrative without sacrificing scholarly integrity. Having waded through my fair share of dry history books during college days, I was impressed by his ability to present facts, provide citations, and weave a compelling storyline simultaneously. While the story's trajectory may be somewhat predictable with the inevitable shipwreck of the Wager, the unfolding events read like a slow-motion disaster— you just can’t look away. The abundance of primary sources, especially the firsthand accounts of survivors, elevates the narrative, turning the men who chronicled their Wager experience into focal points. Grann's vivid descriptions instill a profound fear of the sea, dispelling any romanticized notions of maritime adventure (goodbye swinging around the rigging like Jack Sparrow, hello slowly wasting away to scurvy).
The Wager is a gorgeous historical thriller, and if you love (or have ever loved) true crime, adventure stories, or being on the ocean, I would recommend giving it a try. Its graphic portrayal of battles at sea, scurvy, starvation, and human resilience is not for the faint of heart, but weaves a story you won't be able to look away from. I was simultaneously horrified and entranced in the best possible way
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Murder, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Racism, Death, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
barkerjm's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, and Murder
koboldmartian's review against another edition
5.0
I do not really have any good experience reading non-fiction so forgive me if this review is not as eloquent, but this was the most gripping and fascinating non-fiction story I have ever read. David Grann's writing is so immersive and clear and painted such a vivid picture of the turmoil, and horrors that these men were put through.
The book is structured beautifully, it flowed well, I was angry at people, I sympathized with people, I was disgusted by what they did or what they had to do, I was all the proper emotions needed to read this book.
This book was so educating and the life that people had to live back then on the ocean is just absolutely terrible. The entire time, I felt pulled by both "parties" involved in this stories and I don't think you can really blame anyone of the decisions made in this situation; it really makes you think about what you would do put in these men's shoes.
I will be picking up Grann's other works to read and this book has opened the floodgates for non-fiction for me. I hope to read more especially if they are this engaging.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Animal death, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Vomit, Gun violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Suicide, and War
jhbandcats's review against another edition
4.5
He describes the plight of the officers, trying to outfit their ships with no money and few worthy crewmen, as well as that of the unwitting men press ganged (ie, kidnapped by the Royal Navy) onto ships they were ill-equipped to crew. No matter that some were sick, criminal, juvenile, or elderly, all were rounded up in a time of war and forced to serve.
The ship split into factions rather than working as a whole so in a time of crisis, it was no surprise that any discontent would devolve into mutiny. Alcohol, disease, starvation, and fear exacerbated the stresses on everyone. Before the benefits of vitamins were known, scurvy could wipe out a crew both physically and mentally. On top of typhus and shipwrecks, sometimes less than 20% of a crew made it back home.
Grann explains how this volatility affected the voyage of the Wager, and how the chain of command fell apart once the shipwrecked men were on shore. His copious research reveals that there were too many different versions of truth to know which was the most factual. The Admiralty wanted the embarrassment to just fade away so the court martial didn’t address any of the real issues.
I didn’t feel as much a part of this book as with Killers of the Flower Moon. I was wracked with guilt as I read what the white people did to the Osage and I felt complicit. I didn’t have that closeness to The Wager. Considering how dire the circumstances, that’s likely a good thing.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Colonisation, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
cait's review against another edition
3.5
Minor: Blood, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Violence, Vomit, Torture, Abandonment, Animal death, Excrement, Gore, Ableism, Confinement, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Medical content, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Slavery