Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

24 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

David Grann is one of the best nonfiction authors today. He writes on a multitude of subjects; this book is about a shipwreck and subsequent mutiny in the 1740s. 

He describes the plight of the officers, trying to outfit their ships with no money and few worthy crewmen, as well as that of the unwitting men press ganged (ie, kidnapped by the Royal Navy) onto ships they were ill-equipped to crew. No matter that some were sick, criminal, juvenile, or elderly, all were rounded up in a time of war and forced to serve. 

The ship split into factions rather than working as a whole so in a time of crisis, it was no surprise that any discontent would devolve into mutiny. Alcohol, disease, starvation, and fear exacerbated the stresses on everyone. Before the benefits of vitamins were known, scurvy could wipe out a crew both physically and mentally. On top of typhus and shipwrecks, sometimes less than 20% of a crew made it back home. 

Grann explains how this volatility affected the voyage of the Wager, and how the chain of command fell apart once the shipwrecked men were on shore. His copious research reveals that there were too many different versions of truth to know which was the most factual. The Admiralty wanted the embarrassment to just fade away so the court martial didn’t address any of the real issues. 

I didn’t feel as much a part of this book as with Killers of the Flower Moon. I was wracked with guilt as I read what the white people did to the Osage and I felt complicit. I didn’t have that closeness to The Wager. Considering how dire the circumstances, that’s likely a good thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cait's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

marietheo's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious slow-paced

4.0

This starts out incredibly slow but after chapter 5 grows into a story of mutiny, murder, and survival. You become involved in this insane story of how a British ship and its sailors fight off scurvy, the rough seas, and other crewman to eventually end up back in England depleted and desolate anywhere from a year to five years later. I'm traditionally cautious of non fiction historical books because I find them tedious and boring but, with The Wager, once the initial accounts of send off and troubles at sea are finished, you're immersed into a tumultuous account of the shipwreck. It was interesting and full bodied. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

miriam_in_life's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

I almost never read nonfiction because it drags too much but apparently this is what I was looking for! It reads like a documentary with a super good narrator. I had a really good time with it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Slavery

erica_reads_everything's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

3.25

Story was great and very well written. Stars taken off for a few extremely graphic descriptions that I don't think were necessary to have as detailed out as they were. The graphic descriptions don't add anything to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kshertz's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

It’s pretty fascinating how this shipwreck went down. I can’t imagine the amount of research and work went into this! I came in with super high expectations! I learned a lot about survival and pirates that’s for sure. But it was a lot of info and I zoned out when it got into too much detail. But also I’m not extremely into pirates? It’s probably a book for those who want to know about survival and human nature when stranded

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.0

Hard to imagine how much time and research must’ve gone into writing this book. An impressive feat on that basis alone. A marvelous recreation of what happened and lots of history to learn. Curious that the island is still called Wager Island instead of whatever the Indigenous call it, but that’s part of the story too. Was fascinated by Lord John Byron’s role. Had only ever known him as a poet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Torture, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

kimmykelly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

robdawgreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

There are some gory scenes described in the book but, otherwise, I really enjoyed learning about this historical event!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Slavery, and War