Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

13 reviews

madatmyshelf's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Genocide

josemoya's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Benjamín Labatut ficciona cuatro grandes descubrimientos del siglo XX (los fertilizantes, la geometría no euclidiana, los agujeros negros, la mecánica cuántica) trazando un camino de hilos que engarzan las vidas de los científicos implicados en estos descubrimientos.
A veces terrible, a veces inspirador, en cualquier caso es un ejercicio de narrativa fantástico.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Excrement, Suicide, Drug use, and Genocide

othersociologist's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: War and Genocide

Minor: Suicide 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

theabee's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Excrement, War, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Addiction, Death, Self harm, and Grief

Minor: Suicide

espringer43's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

2 stars removed for very unnecessary pedophilia that went on for way too long

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Genocide, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, and War

lipka's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

        Un verdor terrible is... blue, black, and devastating. It's a strange moment: the reality and unreality folded together, nonlinear and noneuclidean. You really could blot out the sun with this book. Hold it just high enough—the shadow it casts is a dark, ancient thing.

        The chapters fling themselves in all directions at breakneck speed. A comet, and a coma. "What wind drags it off with the fury of an angel cast out from heaven, falling, and falling, and falling?" Only the tail end of it can tell.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Suicide, Suicide attempt, War, Medical content, Sexual content, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Dysphoria, Antisemitism, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Rape, Vomit, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Xenophobia

turtleghost's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

Absolutely fascinating book, the storytelling was masterful, well done to the author and translator! Would hugely recommend to anyone interested in physics/mathematics/chemistry or history around the world wars- but I would not recommend if you are disturbed by imagery of chemical warfare, mental breakdowns or the romanticisation of a minor. Definitely challenging themes, but this book explores the dark history behind the discoveries that have created the world as we know it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Child death

Minor: Suicide, Rape, Pedophilia, Excrement, and Vomit

caties_books's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

2.75

I am fully ready to admit that maybe I'm not as smart as all the people who love this book or maybe I'm not the right audience, but I didn't understand this book at all. It's a very confusing type of not understanding because I read the description again after reading and yes, I did read about and comprehend all the things mentioned, but overall, I was just left unsettled and confused. I don't like not knowing which parts were true and which weren't. I don't understand the point of the book. There wasn't any sort of cohesion that felt solid to me, it felt scattered and separate. Idk. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicide, Antisemitism, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Death of parent, War, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Violence

samferree's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

The closest comparison I can think of to the style and content is Erik Larson's narrative non-fiction. I'm honestly not sure what parts are fiction since I was already familiar with some of the history and biographies of the characters and none of the major points appear to be inaccurate. I assume people just are not sure how to classify it and so opted for "fiction." While I enjoyed and was fascinated by this book, I also do worry that it promotes a somewhat unfortunate and harmful narrative as a "mad genius" who discovers knowledge so profound and devastating that it ruins them as people. Though, that appears to be what did actually happen to several of greatest minds of the 20th century who developed theories in physics, mathematics, and chemistry that have changed our world and not always for the better. Which I do appreciate as a foil against the tendency to celebrate genius and breakthroughs as necessarily good when that is not always the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Drug use, Genocide, Addiction, Mental illness, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault

A lot of the book is preoccupied with some of the worst atrocities in human history and how our understanding of science made them possible. It's inevitably extremely disturbing, but I don't think the author was needlessly graphic so much as frank.