Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

8 reviews

saraaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

One of the best pieces of war literature I've ever read. Deeply moving, reflective, leaves you with a strong sense of injustice – as any good war novel should.
I feel like the author went for an explicitly didascalic approach, unambiguously denouncing the horrors of the war through the first person account of the young protagonist's personal experiences and reflections.
The strong accent on the loss of youthful dreams and teenage convictions makes it, in a way, a hybrid between a war novel and a bildungsroman.
The style was poetic at times, especially when reporting the protagonist's considerations, then moving to a kind of matter-of-factly journalistic style when describing the soldiers' routine and daily sufferings.
Last but not least, it's the first – and so far the only – war novel I read that managed to give a realistic account of a teenage boy's perspective on women and sexual attraction without falling into misogyny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, and Racial slurs

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

jaytb's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Medical content, Violence, War, Medical trauma, Death, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

milliewhattt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and War

astrocate's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Le atrocità delle trincee della prima guerra mondiale sono rappresentate in modo sublime: la crudeltà del fronte, le emozioni dei soldati e la loro condizione sono descritte in modo dettagliato, crudo e accurato.
Mi sarei aspettato uno svolgimento diverso, più cruento, ma nonostante ciò il libro resta assolutamente valido.
Un po' lento e a tratti noioso in alcuni punti, resta avvincente e interessante in altri.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Blood

Minor: Terminal illness

lady_moon's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 Since I learned what the Lost Generation really means, I was deeply saddened and intrigued by it.

However, being an American concept, or at least something started there, I wasn't expecting to find anything particular related to it in an audiobook by German author I picked because I was looking for something short to fullfil a prompt for a readathon.

I started the book with zero expectations. Actually, I thought I probably will be bored by it and will have to push through it if I wouldn't dnf. (Not the best experience with classics here). I was so wrong.

Words are not enough to say how heartbreaking this tale is. How the really, really sad part is that everything happening there, has happened in real life.

The book itself is an open, aching wound. And in the same time is a love, sad letter to all people lost in wars that had nothing to do with them. Lost in every possible way a young person - young people - can be consumed and destroyed by war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content and Excrement

carolinasbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

My brain was in a total fog whilst reading this and I’m writing this review over a year after having read it but I remember it being incredible 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and War

charlieleelee's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Excrement, Terminal illness, and Vomit