Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

31 reviews

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Manages to be incredibly compelling and informative as well as highlight the hypocrisy, cruelty and nonsensical nature of colonialism. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic, I devoured this in two days.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Colonisation, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cannibalism

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

2.5

---

Content Warnings

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

cristinar1800's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Trafficking, War, Vomit, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Animal cruelty

knkoch's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

3.75

I found this worthwhile and informative, if bleak in its reminders of the way naval stories like this are shaped by the huge and destructive forces of imperialism and ruthless extraction of resources. All the human folly that went into conscripting hundreds of deathly ill men to run ships that take thousands of century-old trees to build just to attempt needlessly difficult cape passages, only to shipwreck in an extremely challenging climate and

waste the lives of hundreds of people from disease and starvation!

I really liked that David Grann gave great context into the Indigenous tribes the men from this ship interacted with and the impact that naval expeditions had on them and all others in South and North America in the eighteenth century especially. It felt like he was resetting the image of journeys like these, moving away from glory and adventure into the grinding hardship, weaknesses of leadership, imperial greed, racist assumptions of superiority/inferiority, and endless jockeying between major European empires like Spain and England. Grann developed the historical characters well, and clearly established how naval honor codes, class, and rank influenced the events at sea and land. Shocked to learn that

the value of the seized Spanish galleon, then the greatest single event war bounty seized, was dwarfed by the full millions-of-pounds cost of the entire expedition to seize it.

And yet, we can't forget that history can be so easily spun into self-congratulatory stories that flatter rather than invite critical examination. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Murder, Body horror, Medical content, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Gun violence, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cannibalism

Eating disorder: Much discussion of starvation, but not sure what TW may fit better.

samchase112's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book truly swept me away!!! I was enthralled by the writing, the narrative, and the narrator. I lost time listening to this story, and took walks to get further. David Grann made me feel like I was traversing the hazardous seas, searching the desolate island, and scribbling on the page with these men — truly impressive. I’ll be recommending this book (and especially the audiobook!) for a while to come!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, War, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide, Cannibalism, and Genocide

kalaser's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

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

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

3.5

Quite an interesting read not only about a tale of (mis)adventure but also about the importance seafaring had in shaping the world. 

On a side note; I recommend looking up Wager Island on Maps after reading for a bit of a laugh. 

---

Content Warnings

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

meritm's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

5.0

very very cool and educative and never boring. Makes me miss sailing and being on the open ocean. Explains everything from the hierarchy on warships, the origins of popular British sayings as well as the imperial and colonialist mechanism used to oppress other civilizations. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Racism, Classism, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

e_freckles's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Colonisation, Racism, Animal death, War, and Violence

Minor: Blood and Ableism

saraverboom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Colonisation, Violence, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, and Death