Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris

12 reviews

pardonmylord's review

informative medium-paced

4.5

While I love the book, I do think there was something lost in audiobook vs physical book, but I liked it so much I’d be interested in seeing the physical book and flipping through it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, War, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence, Gore, Gun violence, and Grief

Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury

beepbeep101's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Medical content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Ableism, Medical trauma, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

lego28's review

challenging hopeful informative sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

lady_bountiful's review

3.5

Gets repetitive 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Body horror, and Body shaming

ptaradactyl's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.25

Very good and informative. I was expecting the stories about medical treatment, but it was the stories of how brutal trench and naval warfare in WWI really was that left me shaken. 

I enjoyed it, and I learned from it. But it’s not for those who can’t handle body trauma. It wasn’t gratuitous; it was needed to explain the needs for treatment and the scale of the injuries. But it horrific and tragic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Body horror, Death, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Gore

angelofthetardis's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

We've all heard about, read about and probably studied at some point the First World War and the hideous waste of life. We see 'The Glorious Dead' honoured every year at the Cenotaph. We even consider those who were injured and lost limbs in museum exhibits (I'll never forget walking through the museum at Ypres on a school trip and walking over a mocked up battlefield, complete with severed arms, legs and hands poking out of the mud). But, strangely, it has never really occurred to me that limbs aren't the only things that could be destroyed by a bullet or a bomb. This books sheds light on some of those stories; of those that lost their faces, and of their subsequent treatment under the care of one man, Dr Harold Gillies.

First and foremost, this is incredibly well written. It takes the stories of each of the patients and Dr Gillies and treats them with such sensitivity, while also ensuring the reader has the facts and bringing some of the Doctor's personality and even humour into the narrative. Details of injuries are (for the most part) given in layman's terms and well illustrated with her words, while not being too graphic. Likewise, the author doesn't get bogged down in the horrors of warfare; the stories of the Somme and other battles, of the field hospitals and the overwhelming difficulties faced by all are stark and reflect the truth of the matter, but are not overstated. There are a few small moments where she repeats herself, which make it feel like she might have been a couple of hundred words off of the requested word count of the book, but it's such a minor thing it can certainly be overlooked in this case!

I'll admit this is one of the few times I haven't skipped ahead to look at the pictures; I was nervous about what I'd find as I'm reading this of an evening and my brain has ways of keeping me up at night if I see something disturbing. However, as with the narrative, they are incredibly informative without being overtly shocking. I took them as a whole; the before, during and after images showing that patient's journey, and my takeaway wasn't about the debilitating injuries 'before', but rather a deep appreciation of the skill and genius of the surgeon that results in the 'after'. They really serve to bring home what the author is trying to convey.

Dr Gillies himself seems like a man way ahead of his time. The author doesn't hesitate to share the credit for discoveries with his contemporaries where appropriate, but his treatment of his patients, both medically and just on a human level, is incredible. You rejoice with him at his triumphs and lament with him at his losses, marvel at his thought processes and applaud his drive and hard work in the face of never-ending carnage. It's a real shame more people don't know his name!

This book is thought-provoking, insightful and brings to the fore an aspect of history that many more people should appreciate. The only reason I'm not going to rush out and buy it immediately is because it's more of a 'one and done' book, but I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone. It's absolutely worth your time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Medical trauma, War, Medical content, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

drkappitan's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

3.5

As with many nonfiction books written for general audiences, I found myself appreciating the information and the overall shape of the narrative while being immensely irritated by the repetition of facts that had already been told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Medical content

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

An extraordinary history of the doctor who perfected plastic surgery and facial reconstruction on WWI soldiers whose faces had been destroyed. Dr Harold Gillies didn’t know much about facial reconstruction when he first began trying to save patients from a lifetime of isolation and depression caused by the stigma of facial disfigurement. He came to pioneer new methods of surgery that not only saved soldiers’ physical lives but their emotional lives as well. 

For soldiers with mangled faces whose fiancées left them or whose children ran away screaming in terror, Dr Gillies was a savior. He suffered many failures as he was learning along the way but they were outstripped by his successes. He went on to perform facial reconstruction in WWII, working in private practice in times of peace. His two books on plastic surgery of the face are still valuable. 

Lindsey Fitzharris gives an overview of the wartime medical complex on the Continent and its expansion to England, and shows how Gillies continued to grow his knowledge as he did all he could to return his patients to lives as normal as possible. An excellent medical history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Death

monarchgirl's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

This was really good. Highlighting the work of Harold Gillies one of the first plastic surgeons who was one of the first surgeons to look at how to reconstruct faces that had been mutilated beyond recognition this book was engaging and thought provoking especially around the time of rememberance. This book loses none of its impact from being listened to rather than physically read and I have developed an interest in this field of medical and military history so will be reading/listening to more books with this field of history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

Due to the nature of the book in the accompanying material with this audiobook there are pictures of graphic injuries caused during war.

peachani's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, War, Gore, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror and Medical trauma

Minor: Body shaming, Vomit, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts