Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

9 reviews

angorarabbit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

TLDR: Beautifully written love story to story. 

 

Lushly written with an attention to detail in both the landscape and characters. The five main characters are diverse and fully realised.The future and historical sections are better written than many books of their genres. The chapters are generally short and have time, place and person headings so there is no guessing where you are or with who. The plot arcs of each character were easy to follow and satisfying in the end. I enjoyed the breakup of the novel with bits of Cloud Cuckoo Land though I am not an ancient literature scholar so don’t have any expertise in how well Mr Doerr executed a translation of a fictional codex. 

 

There is some arithmetic a reader could chose to do regarding time and distance which may give you a clue to something spoilerish ahead. Or it could be the author does not like to do arithmetic. I’m choosing to believe the former; which, when it clicked made me appreciate the intricacy of the book even more. Im a little shocked by how long it took me to tumble it. 

 

I empathised with Seymour the most and found his grief at what was happening to his forest to be the most heartbreaking. Those sections were the hardest to read as I looked at the pines older than me  outside my own window. I do not know what Constantinople or the other places were or will be like but I know that Mr Doerr nailed the pine forests east of the Cascades. 

 

In the end the book is not about heartbreak but the endurance of a story and the ability of stories to heal and sooth in the worst of times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Violence, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

congenital malformation, child neglect, child labour

milamaassa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Okay, Doerr’s tone is definitely one of my favorites. Have to give it to the Finnish translator, the tone has remained close to the original. 

I loved this book. And I want to read it again. But I can’t give it full 5 stars. Sometimes this book was just too hard to grab, probably because the copy I read was 700 pages. As soon as I started reading though, it totally caught me. Usually. The last fourth was definitely the best of the story, oh how the plots were plotting. Actually, I would have probably enjoyed the story more if at least 200 pages were cut and added some padding to the end. It would have been nice to get the full aftermath. 

Overall, extremely beautiful and somehow comforting story, captivating characters and interesting, heartbreaking storylines. Just give me more of ever after and less of embroidery and mrs. Boydstun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, and War

spookyaz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia

miller8d's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Changed my relationship to books and reading. One of the best books I have ever read. I highlighted so many passages that the Kindle highlight collection was literally 26 pages long.

Cried several times both out of happiness and sadness. Beautifully captures the actual sensations of love and loss and grief, and the gorgeous nature of children and animals and family, queer love and neurodivergent pain, and so much more. Refreshing poetry and ridiculously beautiful world-building in such intricate historical contexts. Addressed so many different issues and experiences with such flair and emotion. Delivers anarchist / anti-establishment / leftist values from the optimistic perspective that to be human is to be a part of the problem, and yet, we must love one another and love the Earth in order to power through the pain of life in order to radically experience the love, because that’s why we are here.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I am very sensitive and I LOVED this book and found it deeply emotionally uplifting despite these very severe content warnings

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

 Really, truly, spectacular. This is such a beautiful interwoven story spun across multiple lifetimes. It was delightful to see how each life connected with the other. Each character feels tangible and real, they all have so much depth and personality. Each plot-line is gripping and it is impossible to not feel for the characters. Seymour especially, I think, is beautifully written. His mental illness is incredibly accurately done, and he is never once demonized for it. Each character, despite their actions, kind or otherwise, is written and treated with respect and empathy. It's such a beautiful tale of humanity and kindness and struggle, and all of it is portrayed with such well researched nuance and intelligence. Definitely one of the best books if you want to feel something that is neither fully happy nor sad, but a cathartic combination of both. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Slavery, Excrement, Islamophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

naomi_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-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: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Child death

ekmook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail