Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

23 reviews

deathmetalheron's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, War, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Body horror, Addiction, Blood, and Racism

Minor: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Hate crime, Bullying, Colonisation, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Racial slurs

nataliegoodman13's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

For me, the difference between a 4 star and a 5 star is how often I think about it. I’ve thought about this book so frequently, and I’ve talked about it with practically every veteran I know. Can’t recommend it enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

brotestantethic's review

challenging emotional informative 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? No

5.0

(Reread.) I read this mainly because I knew I wanted a good book, and I wanted to know if it’s held up since I was 17. It has. O’Brien has an imaginative and unique literary voice that sticks with you and influences the way you see the world. His magical realism—both hidden and self aware, to the point where you’ll never know where he’s going—makes this one of the most completing reads of all time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, War, and Gun violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Animal cruelty

serenity_by_jan's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Well-written reflection on the experience and consequences of war. The writing style is rather flowery and can be verbose at times, but overall it was a good read. although it is a compilation of “war stories“, it is very centralized around characters and their relationships with one another and themselves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, War, Gun violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide

Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

alexashabit's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

huddlekay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a Beautifully written picture of a horrible time in History. O'Brien's storytelling is unique and fantastic. Beautiful writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Torture, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and War

friendlypoet's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Minor: Misogyny, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

nimeneth's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, War, Animal death, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Gore

betweentheshelves's review

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

Read this for a Banned Book Club, which I honestly probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. Definitely not my usual cup of tea. War stories can be so hard to read, because of a plethora of reasons. And while this book is not an easy read, content wise, O'Brien has a way with words that makes it feel lyrical almost. There are really some beautiful quotes in here about stories, about trauma, and about the way we process things.

It definitely made for interesting discussions at book club, and I'm glad that I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and War

Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, and Gun violence

Minor: Suicide

urfavpunk's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and War

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexism