Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

12 reviews

omair's review

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

WARNING TO THOSE READING THIS BECAUSE OF THE FILM ADAPTATION:
After all of the hype and excitement I had for the film adaptation, I knew I had to read the source material as soon as possible. I had thought I would take to the book far more than the film, which I did thoroughly like, because I went into the film expecting more police procedural and less story of love

and betrayal

.

Yet as I read this book, I found myself agreeing more and more with the decisions the film made. This is not a slight against the book, but further praise for the film. The purposes of the film and the book are not one and the same, and so it is vital to anyone that, like me, is coming to read because/after the film to understand before they begin.

REVIEW THE BOOK INDEPENDENT OF THE FILM (which is what I intend to do)

Killers is as informative of a book as I could've imagined considering the personal story the primary focus is on. The book is overflowing with descriptors that will make you feel sorrow and anger, leave you wondering what humanity is and why it is missing. While only covering a handful of incidences, the cold factual presentation will leave you reeling, as if sensing how small a fraction the sample is compared to the population. All totaled, the official death count may

only be a couple dozen

but Grann will easily convince you that there were hundreds more victims during the Reign of Terror, and he may well be right.

If you can make it through the pain and sadness, there is a beautiful story here of a people's survival. The heart to endure and rally is as much a light as the era is an inky darkness. The book may focus on Thomas White, his team of agents, and their investigation that finally tore down the veil behind which the atrocities hid, but the real heroes are the Osage people.

For as strong as the book is in its cold, clearly well-researched, tone, I also found this to be a slight undoing. The voice can feel rather impersonal at times, leaving the reader as a student of history rather than immersed in the moment. This is why I agree with the decisions made for the film adaptation. Maybe I would feel differently not having known the details from the film first, I can never know for sure. But the progression of the book, and some of the detours along the way, played loose with risking a reader to set the book down only to never return and finish.

Ultimately, I will recommend this read to anyone with an interest in the Reign of Terror, interest in the era, an interest in the realities of White American Exceptionalism, or a morbid curiosity of a casual genocide. Sticking through some of the uneven pacing is well worth it for the resulting reverence of the Osage, and Mollie in particular, all carrying inside of them something no man could ever kill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Hate crime, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Classism, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Confinement

Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Medical content, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Animal death, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Child death, and Cultural appropriation

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

5.0

I saw the movie first and was really impressed - both from a point of awe (of the film's accomplishment) and also from the point of disbelief (of the evil portrayed by the film). I couldn't believe it. Turns out the film was true to every word in the book - at least the portions storytold. The last few chapters were left out, but that's because the movie was focused on Hale. Just like Kate Moore's The Woman They Could Not Silence made me hate weak men, this book makes me hate greedy men. It's like they were the ones the Bible was talking about when it said money was the root of all evil. I'm so deeply saddened for the Osage. I'm also grateful David Grann decided to investigate this story and tell it. I have no idea how long it took to get to the bottom of all these murders, but I sure hope he gets a crapload of money from the movie and lots of awards so that he can continue telling these important stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Infidelity, Violence, Hate crime, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, and Racism

lindseylosers's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Grief, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death

phob's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Probably the best book I’ve ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Stalking, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Chronic illness, Blood, and Alcohol

jhbandcats's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

David Grann is one of our greatest nonfiction authors alive. Every topic he chooses is brought to life no matter how many years have passed since the events took place. His writing is smooth and unobtrusive, describing the past in a matter-of-fact, approachable way. If history books had been like this in high school, we’d all have gone on to be scholars. 

Killers of the Flower Moon is an especially difficult book to read, not because of the writing but because the subject is so painful. Grann documents how literally hundreds of Osage were murdered for riches in the early 20th C. As American Indians, their lives were worth less than that of dogs. An entire corrupt and venal society was arrayed against them. Well aware they were systematically being murdered, they had no recourse. The authorities, both political and legal, were complicit in the murders. No one would help save them from eradication. 

This is an excellent telling of a dark and shameful time in our history. If only this much attention had been paid a hundred years ago some of the Osage who were murdered might have lived. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Abandonment, Blood, and Child death

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Death, and Murder

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Classism, Stalking, Hate crime, Chronic illness, and Car accident

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Rape, and Sexism

markedwithanm's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Cancer, Chronic illness, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Y'all WHAT. How did I never hear about this??? (Which is rhetorical because obviously the essentially genocide of the Osage would of course not be covered in my white history classes.) I'll definitely be revisiting this book because a lot of the sentiment toward Native people still exist today and we need to be much more aware of the total destruction that racism can cause. God. If this was a novel, I would have a hard time believing it. It's that intricate and horrific. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Alcohol, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Child death, Stalking, Addiction, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Car accident