Reviews tagging 'Violence'

README.txt by Chelsea Manning

13 reviews

mar's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

5.0

as someone who was only vaguely familiar with chelsea manning's story beforehand - i'm not american & was a child when it all went down - learning what she had to endure was absolutely infuriating. nothing new i know but GOD the shit the american military gets away with is fucking mind-boggling

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Moderate: Racism, Violence, War, and Homophobia

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

intensely readable but i would have liked more. fuck the DOD for the redactions. the craziest part is that they PUT HER BACK IN JAIL for another year, not mentioned in the book. the injustice she faced/faces is so flagrant you almost forget the US has a constitution meant to protect against it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, Bullying, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Racism, Outing, Death of parent, Death, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Sexism, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Drug use, and Deadnaming

katara42's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Transphobia, and Rape

Moderate: Dysphoria, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

nevial's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Outing, War, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Violence

foxo_cube's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

This is a fascinating memoir that makes a situation so obscured by political and technological complexities on the face of it very much human. Manning is someone who did what she did because she felt it was right, and I, for one, am inclined to agree with her.

She recounts her early life and interest in technology (encouraged by her dad to masculinise her, funnily enough) and the solace she found in the internet when she was in her adolescence. She makes it sound like great fun to mess about with hacking, honestly - hell, even when she describes her work in the army as an analyst, it's clear she really loved it, and I can't really blame her. It's probably really interesting, drawing conclusions and making decisions based on patterns of behaviour that you've observed over time - I think I'd love doing that! But, of course, being in Iraq and having the consequences of her work being much more real understandably took a toll on her. There's a sense of detachment that I guess you've got to have if you do basically any sort of military job, and she describes how the morality of it all affected her deeply.

It's also interesting to read how she worked out her gender and sexual identity over time. Her talking about how, when she was little, she would ask <i>why</i> she couldn't be a girl was so sweet and so sad. I'm so glad it turned out she absolutely could be one! I really do think it's good to have such a well-known figure be open about her journey. It's so important for people growing up trans to know that they aren't weird and they aren't alone and they can be the person they know they are.

The treatment that Manning describes in her confinement before her trial was absolutely abhorrent, but I can't say I'm terribly surprised. That she didn't get her spirit totally broken by it all is miraculous - but it sounds like that took a lot of work on her part, honestly. 

I have a lot of respect for her. Even at points where it went against any sense of self-preservation, she did what she believed was right, and that's incredible.

Technically speaking, the memoir is nicely-written and doesn't delve into any jargon that I can imagine she could have scattered through the text like nothing else. She writes clearly and with heart, and even with how angry I was for her at some points, it was an enjoyable book to read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, War, and Violence

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Racism, War, and Homophobia

rachbake's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Transphobia, War, Violence, Outing, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Rape, Islamophobia, and Homophobia

tymout's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Torture, and War

Minor: Islamophobia

cimmalex's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

2.25

I’m not sure what was going on with the narration, but you could tell where a passage started and stopped. Whoever did the editing did a really poor job. It kind of ruined the listening experience

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, War, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Mental illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, and Self harm

lowbrowhighart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Transphobia, War, Confinement, Violence, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Torture, Islamophobia, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Alcoholism, Racism, Child death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Outing, Police brutality, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content, Physical abuse, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting