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mvegag's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
jujubeans's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
I don’t know how I feel about it to be honest.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
This is not a book for light reading. It will disgust you and horrify you. The sexual violence was most disturbing to me. I’m gonna say that again for good measure: repeated, horrifying, insane degrees of sexual violence all throughout the book.erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is a dark and twisted comedy. The dialogues feel like a twisted conglomeration of Monty Python, Alice in Wonderland, and M* A* S* H* with a peppering of Dr Seuss, Billy Wilder, and Abbot and Costello. From the outset you feel sure that the protagonist is a little mentally unwell, and slightly paranoid, but you soon see that there is a lot of it going around, and that they are all crazy like foxes. I kept being reminded of that quote from the movie Pump up the Volume, "you're not screwed up.. you're an un-screwed up reaction to a screwed up situation".
I think this book is about equal parts gut-bustingly hilarious and unsettlingly horrific. Through satire and parody it jabs ceaselessly at the heroism of industry and Capitalism, corruption, the glory of war murder, the need to rescue women who are in charge of their own lives, the confusion of love and lust, confusion, certainty, certain confusions, and confusing certainty.
Parts of the story are clearly hyperbole. The absurdism is rife. I'm astounded that I haven't heard more of the punchlines of these jokes in my everyday life, but maybe I have and I was just not keyed into it. It's all incredibly convoluted. The story is told in anecdotes from the points of view of various people around the protagonist. There are recurrent gags, and retellings of parts of the plot from different people, and this all feeds into the feeling of being unsettlingly adrift, and carrying on through a haze of unreality peppered with déjà vu (or déjà vécu, or presque vu..) where you see things twice, or miss them altogether.
The entire army situation is painted as blustering generals vying for status, while underfunded and overworked conscripts are roped into unwinnable situations, glory projects cost lives, bureaucratic shuffling means everything is officially lost in translation, or redacted, or just lost, and side-hustlers make out like bandits. Every sensible supposition is questioned and turned on its head, even the useful ones.. and it's all incredibly frustrating. You have to laugh or you cry and that combat, high-tension gallows humour is all you are left with... that and the haunting echos of trauma.
This is probably well worth a reread, or I may leave it on as background noise if I want a certain sort of dark chuckle.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Antisemitism
haleyd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Excrement, Trafficking, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Classism
A sometimes humorous, sometimes depressing classic full of paradoxes and contradictions that only prove themselves true, this take on WWII was a bit difficult for me to get through. Once I knew the writing style was to intentionally include these opposites, I became bored and would fall asleep after a few pages. It went more quickly toward the end, but then it was just so sad in some of the final pages, it was that what became the challenge for me. I'm reading this as part of a goal to get through several lists of "banned books" I've found. While I don't think any books should be truly banned, this one made me think several times, "Eek. This is part of the reason this was banned." Most of that is because it is so repulsive and very graphic. But also, things were quite different when this book was written which is evidenced by some of the behaviors wherein described. It could possibly be argued that children's minds are too vulnerable, but I would personally argue that I'd be confident letting my own teenage child read this, knowing that I've raised her well. However, I would definitely warn her that she likely wouldn't want to.