Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

12 reviews

confuzzledsheep's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

2.0

If you are not a biologist, or even yet a Taxonomist, and want to reflect deeply on one's own sadness in the story of the author and David Starr Jordan, then this may be helpful for you. As a depressed biologist who's been long disillusioned with the myth of a Sole Genius Scientist and has already had many of the discussions within this book, I will rate it as passing. I found this book lacking in detail on David Starr Jordans life that I expected it to have- furter discussion of the problems with the Holotype model of taxonomy, the sheer brutality of scientific discovery during the time period. This book touches on those, but never gets as deep as it could. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse

strawberrymoonceci's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.5

This was an incredibly interesting book. She paints such a vivid picture in all the scenes, even the ones she didn't witness. I was very curious about the name of the book, I was also curious about the importance of this taxonomist. It was a gripping read, fascinating really. The audiobook version is wonderful, and I found the little nugget included at the end so heartwarming. This definitely made me want to read more book about natural history.

I absolutely did not expect the plot twists to include murder and eugenics! I think it's very interesting how Robert Starr Jordan went from allegedly covering up a murder, feeling wracked with guilt about it, to making eugenics his new purpose in life. What an absolute monster. The book is a masterclass in how to write a villain. In the beginning you hear mostly praise for him, there are definitely criticisms but you can see the author choosing to focus in his great capacity for perseverance, only for it to take a dark change, and for him to end up being responsible for the death, torture and mutilation (amongs other things) of tens of thousands in the US alone. Also, the US was the first country to make eugenics into national law. Which is so interesting considering the national narrative about it role in WW2. Not the least surprising though. I am surprised at how engaging this book was, considering I didn't like the author at all. Her writing is great, but she did not pass the vibe check. Also, fish dont exist as a category, that's the answer to the title. And Robert Starr Jordan can suck on that!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Child death and Death

asolis's review against another edition

2.5

A mix of memoir, biography, popular science, and a bit of self-help. From childhood, the author is unmoored by her father's nihilistic yet unshakably optimistic approach to life. Here she looks to the life story of David Starr Jordan for perspective. 
The content is primarily dedicated to Jordan's story, whom we come to find is a notably repellent human. The author does a good job of giving us a look under the hood at the story of someone who could be considered a scientific hero, and showing the ugliness of bigotry and white supremacist ideology underneath. But the framing presents this in the context of a memoir, even though Miller is stingy with her own story. That, despite its other strengths, makes the book feel unsatisfying. 

CW: self harm, substance abuse, sexual assault, state violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Murder

toffishay's review against another edition

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

5.0

I could not have guessed that I would be adding another 5-star reading at the tail end of the year. But each page of this book brought me new insight, new pain, new joy. And in another sense, it was nothing new. We are faced with our own lives and our natural world and we take what we can get. The writing is intense and thoughtful. It afforded me some additional perspective about the world around us and made me want to learn more about nature. And it made me cry!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Racism, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

junefish's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, and Rape

Includes content about the history of eugenics and the personal experiences of people who were forcibly sterilised.

adeliab's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Genocide, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Car accident, and Death of parent

katyaw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

3.0

There are so many content warnings, I lost count. Suicide attempts, infidelity, drinking to excess, racism, depression, nihilism, murder, eugenics, forced sterilization, etc.

The author writes well, but the book really centers on nihilism and human destructiveness in the name of desperately searching for order and comfort in this world. 

I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone sensitive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape and Abandonment

emhunsbaker's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

slynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder

vlntnmz's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Alcoholism