Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

From Hell by Alan Moore

3 reviews

theeohgee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

roenfoe's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

As someone who greatly enjoyed V for Vendetta and Watchmen, I knew I would eventually read From Hell. I went into it almost completely blind, unaware that it was an examination of the Jack the Ripper mythos. From Hell is easily the most well-thought-out comic I have ever read, and is certainly better written and researched than many regular history books. Moore balances an absurd dedication to historical fact and detail with invented elements (such as supernatural architecture and hallucination) that establish From Hell as a wholly unique work of Jack the Ripper fiction.

While I often found the art style muddy, ugly, and difficult to read, it reflects the time and place in which the story occurs. It was appropriately filthy, irreverent, and dark.

Intriguing themes abound; power, class dynamics, the occult, and female sexual liberation and slavery.

The time travel/premonition (?) aspect of Dr. Gull's story was a shock to the system; especially his commentary on the "hell" that a modern person inhabits. We would consider "his" world to be horrible and not worth living in... while he finds our white collar wage slavery even more repulsive.

From Hell wasn't perfect; at times it was a slog. At the end of each chapter I would spend an equal amount of time reading footnotes about mundane street names and obscure tertiary characters. Overall, though, it remained extremely compelling. I'll be thinking about it for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, and Vomit