Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

18 reviews

createandchaos's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Tim O'Brien's writing style is one I've never encountered before but it kept me hooked. The war stories he recounts tells his and fellow soldiers stories and what the war was like for them. The Things They Carried is a hauntingly beautiful story about what war did to them and others in their position. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and War

Moderate: Racism and Suicide

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

readjaneread's review

challenging informative reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, War, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Child death

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

samanthamurk's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No

1.0

read for english class. i can appreciate the unique writing style but overall i just rly don’t like this book. maybe if i had been able to skip over parts or set it down for a while after some of the more disturbing parts i might be able to give this a better review. I don’t like the blurred lines between fiction and reality, it’s just not my thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Racism

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

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

lauryn_04's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Gore, and Grief

skitch41's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Gun violence, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs