Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

4 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Ok this was better than I thought it would be. I read this after I heard about the movie and I don't regret it. Paul is a younger German soldier on the front lines of WW1 who struggles to understand the horrors of war and the trenches. The story is centered around Paul and his 7 classmates. This book, while very serious and somber, reads like a diary. Everything feels past tense but also like it happened a few hours ago not a few years ago. There's almost no dialogue and huge chunks of exposition or philosophical thoughts. This combined with the long chapters made it a difficult read. It's very slow and there isn't a ton of action. It's definitely geared towards history nerds and as someone who likes history but prefers english this was a hard read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

piaa157's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War

diddlydoo333's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This book expresses a human aspect to war; giving faces, names, occupations, and families to the young German soldiers of WWI. Their deaths are all impactful, none more than Kat, but the need to keep fighting both the war itself and the internal struggles Paul feels brush the trauma of those deaths out of view without trivializing it. The switch at the end from a first person, personalized account, to a third person omniscient narrator finishes that action by showing the outcome of all of those traumas washing over him like a wave as the rumors of the wars near end reach him. This novel begs the questions of what happens when war is over, when all you've known in your adult life is war; what happens when everyone you hold dear, who knows you as you are and not how you were is gone; and what does it mean to feel alive? War is not something that can value life of any sort, in any way, and this book captures that essence of loss perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail