Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

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

21 reviews

sampcupp's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Alcohol and Slavery

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

erica_reads_everything's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

3.25

Story was great and very well written. Stars taken off for a few extremely graphic descriptions that I don't think were necessary to have as detailed out as they were. The graphic descriptions don't add anything to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, Death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

captainpash's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Racism, and Medical trauma

c_serpent's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.0

This book was good. It didn't have the structural strength of Killers of the Flower Moon, but it was still extremely well written and interesting. Grann does a great job of tying the historical events he's writing about into the bigger picture, and I would love to pick something of his up again.

This book contains disturbing cruelty against people and animals.

Unrelated, I think it's ridiculous that I picked up Killers of the Flower Moon and then learned that it was being made into a movie with Leo DiCaprio, and then I picked up this book only to learn it, also, is being made into a movie with Leo DiCaprio. What's up with that?

Four stars have been awarded for Byron, who was really trying his best. One star has been removed and eaten by the other stars.

Total Score: 4/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Medical trauma

maison's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Animal death

Minor: Cannibalism and Child death

mondovertigo's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Animal death, Death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Slavery, Racism, War, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Medical trauma

Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Excrement

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

linneak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Classism, Medical trauma, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Confinement, Torture, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Trafficking, Grief, Slavery, and Colonisation