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Reviews tagging 'Death'
Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown
106 reviews
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
What a BOOK. Rarely have I found a historical book with such beautiful, compelling prose. The author's respect and thoughtfulness for the event is clear throughout, but he doesn't pull any punches. Knowing it's nonfiction is terrifying.
There are lots of side tangents in this book, but I personally found them interesting and a nice break from the misery.
There are lots of side tangents in this book, but I personally found them interesting and a nice break from the misery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Mental illness, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I knew nothing about the donner party beyond they cannibalize each other in a mountain pass. This did tell me, in excruciating (tedious, dry, and dull) detail, of the trek to California of a group of people with all the attendant horrors that befell them.
For whatever reason Dan explains every person's motivations (which he also admits he doesn't know
... Dan. Why?), and intersperses an equivalent modern day anecdote to the CURRENT predicament as though this will help the reader understand. Dan, sweet summer child, I did not need the medical definition along with every possible symptom of hypothermia, PLUS a modern day example of it with full cast included, to understand the description of people in the donner party experiencing hypothermia meant they were experiencing hypothermia. This happens multiple times with different experiences. I wanted to scream. This man is insufferable.
It was also slow as all hell. It took 60% to get to the point where they eat each other, and then it feels like Dan wants to both speed run and bore you to death with the logistics of who ate whom and why and when and did you know that's probably really taumatizing for at least some of them? Ad nauseum. We also make time in the last 40% to detail their lives after the people eating tragedy. AND Dan had some final parting thoughts... because I really cared about those.🙄
I wish I liked this better. I hated the authorial voice in this (I also hated the narrator's voice which didn't help). In the prologue, Dan, an adult man, wants to insert himself into a young girl's journey through a tragic experience. Ugh. And, of course, we couldn't center that woman at the end. No. We need to center Dan in the epilogue driving along the approximate route of the donner party and thinking about how his daughters aren't brave enough to be like Sarah to round out what was meant to give me a visceral connection to the people in the donner party. Failure, Dan. Failure.
I am confused why it's so long. I could edit at least a third of it out, half if I made Dan rewrite it properly, and convey the same things. The lack of care or interest in the natives in this (they felt like set dressing. I suppose when you center people on an expedition to colonize someone else's land that's bound to happen) also pissed me off. You're willing to ponitifcate on these white folk running around like idiots, but I guess you didn't get any native stories from that time?
FYI: This is not a good story to listen to (due to writing, not content) which sucks for anyone who wants or needs that medium.
For whatever reason Dan explains every person's motivations (which he also admits he doesn't know
... Dan. Why?), and intersperses an equivalent modern day anecdote to the CURRENT predicament as though this will help the reader understand. Dan, sweet summer child, I did not need the medical definition along with every possible symptom of hypothermia, PLUS a modern day example of it with full cast included, to understand the description of people in the donner party experiencing hypothermia meant they were experiencing hypothermia. This happens multiple times with different experiences. I wanted to scream. This man is insufferable.
It was also slow as all hell. It took 60% to get to the point where they eat each other, and then it feels like Dan wants to both speed run and bore you to death with the logistics of who ate whom and why and when and did you know that's probably really taumatizing for at least some of them? Ad nauseum. We also make time in the last 40% to detail their lives after the people eating tragedy. AND Dan had some final parting thoughts... because I really cared about those.🙄
I wish I liked this better. I hated the authorial voice in this (I also hated the narrator's voice which didn't help). In the prologue, Dan, an adult man, wants to insert himself into a young girl's journey through a tragic experience. Ugh. And, of course, we couldn't center that woman at the end. No. We need to center Dan in the epilogue driving along the approximate route of the donner party and thinking about how his daughters aren't brave enough to be like Sarah to round out what was meant to give me a visceral connection to the people in the donner party. Failure, Dan. Failure.
I am confused why it's so long. I could edit at least a third of it out, half if I made Dan rewrite it properly, and convey the same things. The lack of care or interest in the natives in this (they felt like set dressing. I suppose when you center people on an expedition to colonize someone else's land that's bound to happen) also pissed me off. You're willing to ponitifcate on these white folk running around like idiots, but I guess you didn't get any native stories from that time?
FYI: This is not a good story to listen to (due to writing, not content) which sucks for anyone who wants or needs that medium.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Pregnancy
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Unsurprising to literally no one, The Indifferent Stars Above is a tragic and brutal book about The Donner Party. Daniel James Brown was definitely able to capture how harrowing the whole experience was and made me think more critically about what it was like to travel across the country during the 1800s. (Spoiler alert: it was awful! We would all hate it!)
I think the author's decision to retrace the steps of the party members benefitted his writing and helped him contextualize the journey. My guy loves enumerations and sometimes included semi-relevant historical facts that messed with the overall flow of the story.
I think the author's decision to retrace the steps of the party members benefitted his writing and helped him contextualize the journey. My guy loves enumerations and sometimes included semi-relevant historical facts that messed with the overall flow of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
The Indifferent Stars Above is a remarkable interpretation of the unimaginable horrors Sarah Graves and other early emigrants experienced on their journey westbound in 1846. An eerie testament to the dire lengths people may go to survive in desperate situations and a series of events that you would not believe if they were not recorded history.
The writing style delivered a well-structured story laced with dreadful anticipation, as you fearfully await each horrific event. It is simultaneously engrossing and informative with encapsulating descriptions that paint a vivid picture of life on the frontier from a historical standpoint. The factual explanations and references to similar events in history illustrate the reality of their intense situations and add emphasis to the horrors they faced. Brown also highlights how identity (e.g., culture, race, gender) played a significant role in their survival and influenced their decisions during the journey. Sarah’s story is a powerful example of the resilience and strength women possess in these desperate situations. A heartbreaking story of love, loyalty, and sacrifice in the midst of survival and exactly what I was looking for in a historical nonfiction book.
The writing style delivered a well-structured story laced with dreadful anticipation, as you fearfully await each horrific event. It is simultaneously engrossing and informative with encapsulating descriptions that paint a vivid picture of life on the frontier from a historical standpoint. The factual explanations and references to similar events in history illustrate the reality of their intense situations and add emphasis to the horrors they faced. Brown also highlights how identity (e.g., culture, race, gender) played a significant role in their survival and influenced their decisions during the journey. Sarah’s story is a powerful example of the resilience and strength women possess in these desperate situations. A heartbreaking story of love, loyalty, and sacrifice in the midst of survival and exactly what I was looking for in a historical nonfiction book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Excellently researched and able to make historical fact into a compelling narrative. Harrowing story, good for someone looking for a tale of suffering, horror, and survival against all odds.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
A great book but very hard to read at times with some of the things that happened to the group. Look up trigger warnings for sure with this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Cannot believe Lansford Hastings got away with no consequences for leading these people into a harrowing disaster.
Wonderful account of this tragedy. Good context provided, but I found that there was a little too much hypothetical conjectures.
I cannot imagine the terror of total darkness, isolation, cold, and starvation.
Wonderful account of this tragedy. Good context provided, but I found that there was a little too much hypothetical conjectures.
I cannot imagine the terror of total darkness, isolation, cold, and starvation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cannibalism