Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

17 reviews

plethora's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Isabel Wilkerson expertly presents the reality of North America in an unmistakable new light through drawing connections to both India’s and Germany’s caste systems. In a stark, honest, and objective compilation of historical events around the world, Wilkerson shows America who they are, and leaves the reader to decide what to do about it.

I have not experienced such an enlightening reframing of cultural norms since Chanel Miller’s “Know My Name”. Every person in the western world, and perhaps beyond, can benefit greatly by reading this book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, War, and Classism

cal_the_queer's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional informative slow-paced

2.75

I’m unsure why this book has become so popular. The theory the author puts forth is somewhat incoherent and is held together by a bunch of anecdata. I’m glad I read it so that I can be aware of its presence in the zeitgeist, but I got very little of the actual content. The author contends her little with colonization in her book, which I feel is a huge absence. She seems like the kind of person who wants to “save the soul” of America, when I’m over here shouting #landback. At the end she gives an impassioned plea for everyone to just be exposed to the true nature of US history, that that would cause everyone to wake up and fight for justice. I really don’t think that’s the case.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Abortion, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Casteism

cnjg88's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Deportation

readandfindout's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4 stars

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny

elisalasater's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Medical trauma

lpfoley's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A really brilliant take on the history of what it means to be Black in America and the social constructs that create and perpetuate oppression. Accessible, thorough, and inviting, Wilkerson walks the line between calling out the behaviors and attitudes that have created what she designated as a caste system in the US as well as discussing the broader pressures at work to sustain it. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Medical trauma

grubloved's review against another edition

it spends so much time trying to assure the reader that racism is real that it doesn't actually do any meaningful analysis?? it kind of reads like a baby's first racism primer. weird also that it kind of handwaves the entire existence of every racial group other than black and white; it makes sense once you understand it is specifically a book about antiblack racism in america, but even the book seems confused about what its purpose is, continually claiming to describe an entire system and then only fixating on one aspect -- feels a little shallow. 

also weird that india's caste system is a selling point but is honestly barely present in the book, and that nazi germany is consistently held up as another state creating an underclass (the goal wasn't an underclass of jews. it was no more jews. this is not very analogous to a caste system). 

the alpha wolf chapter was also absolutely atrocious and i think is a really good example of a lot of the problems i had with the text. it was really strange for the book to claim that racism's big downsides are largely that naturally superior people who happen to be in the wrong caste can't assume their rightful place as leaders, and that naturally inferior people who are in the upper caste should be allowed to be ruled by their betters ??? it continually seems to insist that hierarchy is not the problem, but that it is simply a wrong hierarchy and that we should adjust to follow a better natural order. just really really strange to read in a book about racism.

i really enjoyed the pillars of caste section but the rest of it just wasn't the indepth reading i was here for. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

arthur_harris's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This book pulls absolutely no punches. It lays out the facts of its subject matter with a kind of frank, unflinching look at the truth that is so constantly softened and blunted in history. Deeply, grimly informative on the true history of the Black experience in the United States. A harsh reality check for those - like me - who grew up with a whitewashed view of American history. While this book is a difficult read in many ways, that is part of what makes it such a necessary one. It forces the reader to examine the deeply ingrained racism baked into the foundation of America, and the subsequent role of the (non-Black) reader in that racist system. An absolutely vital piece of literature. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

horizonous's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, and Police brutality

Minor: Genocide, Rape, and Medical content