Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

7 reviews

jessi_c's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I’ll be content in never knowing where fiction stops and history/biography begins. It was, all-in-all, a worthy journey into obsession and life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Body horror, Mental illness, Excrement, and Vomit

Minor: Medical content, Cancer, and Adult/minor relationship

arielamandah's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

What in the world did I just read? This is a strange, ambitious novel that’s part philosophy, part historical science, and part terrifying walk through the horrors of the modern world. And some very odd sexual scenes, to boot.  It feels like there’s a lot of mixing fiction and science here - blurring those lines. And, truly, it was very dark, violent, and explicit about the horrors of war and chemistry, and the scary parts of math and science. (It didn’t make me walk away from it feeling very good - mostly just sad, disgusted, and a little WTF.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, War, Violence, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

unhallowing's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, Animal death, and War

Moderate: Pedophilia

albernikolauras's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

This is a complicated book that wavers on the line between nonfiction and fiction. It starts out near nonfiction and then as we get further in time and into science, the line blurs further. It's a book that plays with how famous scientists reached through reality to pull their theories into fruition. It's disturbing, discomfiting, near hallucinogenic, and I don't know what to think of part of it.

It's something that still haunts me, and it brings to question the morality of a scientist entangled in his worth as a scientist in the times of war that these men lived through. It's a quick read, but it does require some background knowledge on different physicists that made key quantum discoveries. I would recommend it, but definitely look at some of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Antisemitism

Minor: War

alyx's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

I'm still trying to figure this book out. I'm not sure what I think about it, but I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time. A frequent word I've heard used to describe When We Cease to Understand the World is "haunting," and I can't imagine a more apt descriptor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Animal death, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Cancer, Child death, Antisemitism, Drug use, and Genocide

penguiniq's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

This right here is why Real Person Fic has a certain stigma in fanfic circles. To call this anything other than bougie early 20th century mathematician RPF wrapped up in philosophical rambling would be a lie. 

I will readily admit that my personal bias against the trend in lit fic to portray the Holocaust / Nazism caused a gut negative reaction in the early sections of the book.

Overall my low rating comes down to a lack of comfort: I was simply uncomfortable with the line being walked between fiction and biography, and with a non-Jewish person using the Holocaust to wax poetic.

In fact, the book was fleetingly salvaged at the end when the author treaded into auto-fiction. The scenes in Chile lacked the gut feeling of exploitation that many of the previous scenes were draped in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Mental illness

Moderate: War and Antisemitism

Minor: Suicide

astridrv's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

An exhilarating read, although very masculine and quite sexist. I learned a lot in 200 pages and lemme tell you: the history of science is stranger than fiction. If tropes about lone geniuses piss you off don't read this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia and Genocide

Minor: Chronic illness and Sexual assault