Reviews tagging 'Death'

Beowulf by

33 reviews

chambre1055's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Bro 1: Close your eyes, Bro.
*Bro 2 closes his eyes
Bro 1: Now what do you see, Bro? 
Bro 2: Nothing, Bro. Suddenly, it all went dark. 
Bro 1: Thats how quickly internet language gets outdated, Bro. Hate to break it to you like this, Bro. 
💁🏽

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Classic, Old English,

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

evaphoenix's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Grief, and War

Minor: Rape and Slavery

andrea1975's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, and War

pacifickat's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This epic poem is the forefather of much of Western high fantasy and lore. I enjoy seeing parallels to works like those of Tolkien, Gaiman, and Sanderson: lords, warriors, great halls, named swords, lengthy descriptions of shields and armor, sworn fealty, rings and ring givers, codes for good kingship, swift horses, dragons, treasure hordes, and monsters lurking in the darkness out of stories of old. 

It is also intersting to hear how these ancient Scandinavians / Anglo-Saxons overlayed and combined Christian elements with their own cultural values and older pagan religious myths and practices. Syncretism is a near universal human tendancy, and it's fascinating to see such an old example as a new belief system was sweeping across pre-modern Europe.

This was an enjoyable and approachable translation to hear in audiobook format.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

xkrille's review against another edition

adventurous medium-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 read it for university, and it was fine. I did not hate it, but at the same time, it was not for me. It was interesting enough, and I can somewhat see why it's a classic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Grief, and War

expertfisherfox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

A classic. This particular copy had the translation on one side of the page and the original text on the opposite, which was fascinating to look at and compare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Gore and Grief

Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and War

godraed's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Heaney's heroic translation 
proves the poet 
a master of the medium

Heaney's translation does a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the original poem. He created a modern masterpiece from the Old English original.

Adventure, grim oaths, monsters, and a window into the worldview of another time. 

Gath a wyrd swa hio scel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail

jjstoff's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

mjones14's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

Read for my dissertation. Interesting translation although I wonder what the value of the text is in the 21st century

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and War