Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

25 reviews

visionsoforchids's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Death, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident, Antisemitism, Gore, Mental illness, Genocide, and Gun violence

pershie13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I tore through this book in less than 24 hours and absolutely loved it. When I picked up this classic, all I knew was that it was anti-war and centered on the destruction of Dresden, which piqued my interest immediately. What I didn't know was that Kurt Vonnegut would use science fiction and time travel to drive his point home. This book is semi-autobiographical and draws off of his experiences as a real-life prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II, which was interesting to consider while reading this book. While the characters were not real, they were based on people he knew, and that made it all the more interesting to consider what happened in the book and the toll that war took on these characters. The Tralfamadorian philosophy in this book was interesting to consider and clashed with a lot of the ways I was thinking about the story, and considering that way of thinking can provide a numbing viewpoint to the concept of war, especially a large destruction like the one that occurred in Dresden near the end of the war. This book was challenging and got me thinking about the philosophy of war, free will, and death all at once. I now understand why this is such a popular novel and a classic that will live on for so long. I loved the writing style and both the humor and darkness behind the book. I appreciate Vonnegut writing this novel over two decades after his real experiences as a POW, and I was surprised to see the portrayal of PTSD symptoms in the post-war sections as well. It is difficult to discuss the book, as it occurred in a non-linear fashion and constantly tore me all across Billy Pilgrim's life, but as you travel throughout the decades, the main themes start to come out and portray the big picture that Vonnegut is portraying. This is one of my favorite classics that I have read, and it makes me want to consider dipping into science fiction more frequently. I was pleasantly surprised by my love for the book, and not for the reasons why I initially decided to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, War, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Body shaming, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Excrement, Gore, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Classism, Blood, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Death of parent, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Suicide

chloetremain's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Gore, Genocide, and Racism

jonwood's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I was quite disappointed with this boo and found it more gimmick than good. Sure, the nonlinear story telling may have been new at the time, but just because something is the first dose not make it the best. Perhaps Doctor Who and Christopher Nolan have spoiled me with a diverse selection of nonlinear story telling (both well and not so well executed), but even removing comparisons of executions, I didn't find that much substance buried within Slaughterhouse-5. I've read and seen much better reflections on tragedy and post-traumatic stress (just tune into MASH or China Beach). My take away is that the main character is losing his mind and that the aliens and time travel really aren't there, just metaphors and illusions, but I feel that is giving the author too much credit. There's a lot of disgusting things litter in the book, weather it's about people urinating/vowel movements, one character taking glee in describing tutor methods, or just how the narrator describes women (one example is of the narrator describing a woman as dull, but having a body that makes men want to fill her up with babies) that left a bad taste in my mouth.

 Frankly, I don't think there was much reflections going on. I suppose the theme is that there are moments in time we are powerless to change, and sometimes there's no fighting it, one person can't always make a difference, "so it goes." However, it would have been more interesting seeing that struggle play out and the character learn the lesson via failure (like Clark Kent in the 100th episode of Smallville unable to prevent tragedy completely, and altering events only made other things worst), but instead the narrator just tells us this and the protagonist, Billy, just accepts this form of "enlightenment" without ever trying to fight it. Also, I did not find this book all that funny, despite it supposedly being funny at the same time as being traumatic, the book just lack heart for me.

Between the lack of entertainment, and the gross nature of some of the narration, I highly doubt I'll want to try to read another Vonnegut novel, and am left wondering why he has the reputation of literally genius that he does.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

imogenclendinning's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Gore, and War

shoohoob's review against another edition

challenging dark funny relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Super interesting book! I wasn’t into the first half but I’m glad I kept reading. The last half really brought me in and I felt the cynicism come to a head. It’s fascinating that a book written about a war almost 80 years ago is still relevant today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Sexual content, and War

ssoha's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Rape, and War

megb64's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, Violence, Torture, Gore, Excrement, Death, Confinement, Gun violence, Grief, and Genocide

Moderate: Infidelity, Animal death, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Vomit

sarareadingpiles's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was upset to be honest. It was upsetting, really dark and couldn't find a motive. Definitely not a bad one, but it's the type of book, where you think back to the time you've read it and you get a headache. From the perspective of Billy it seemed that nothing in his life had a point. He was just drifting with the tide. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Mental illness, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, Gore, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

agw622's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

It's weird. It's so odd, and I find Billy such an unappealing unreliable narrator. It jumps so much that you never really get a good pace of reading. I personally am not a big fan of an unreliable narrator, and I also dislike spastic time jumping. This made it an unpleasant read for me. Although I appreciate what it is conveying, I don't think I will reread it nor recommend it in good faith.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Antisemitism, Genocide, Grief, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury