Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

21 reviews

anneklein's review

dark informative 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? N/A

4.0

This was so good. Both parts were enraging, in a good way, but the first one in particular made me feel a disdain that contained so many facets. There's the way the commander refuses to admit he has been bitten by the animal (possibly a snake?), which portrays so well the toxic masculinity of military environments. Then the politics of hygiene, with his efforts to keep himself clean even as he refuses to see his rotten insides; the book emphasises this imagery by repeating the scenes of routine washing and shaving. Later on, he even insists in his head that there is no way that the putrid smell coming from his hut is caused by his own wound. Another facet was obviously the imperialist discourse of the soldiers, the way they speak of their settling. The sterilisation using petrol, the cutting of hair, the humiliation with the water hose...

Yet throughout the violence, a few images appear of life pushing forward regardless. At one point, the commander finds a spider in his hut and spends the next hours looking for insects and crushing them under his feet. The metaphor here is so clear, even more so when considering the military boot as the specific foot that tramples them. And "meanwhile, a little insect advanced towards the edge of the room and slipped through a crack between the floor and the wall, escaping into the gap" (p. 23). After cutting the girl's hair and burning it in a pile alongside her clothes: "Far from the flames that consumed her clothes, a few tiny black ringlets of hair remained scattered across the sand" (34). Finally, on one of the commander's escapades into the hills, "a small black bird charted a line through the sky, which turned a deeper shade of blue [...]" (48). 

Each of these minor details, woven so subtly they pass as atmosphere, insist that life prevails, no matter how intense the violence or how unmatched an oppressor may seem. The bird imagery also comes to mind during the second part of the book, as a point of comparison with our narrator's life experience which is in its essence defined by borders (so much so that they are in her head, too).

The second part of the book is so cleverly interwoven with the first, in catastrophic ways that are only apparent once it is too late to turn back. From the beginning we have a parallel in the image of the dog howling, but little by little, as our narrator gets closer to the origin of the story she investigates, details resurface from the first part of the book. Often, these minor details even appear with their wording nearly unchanged from the way they initially appeared. Compare, for example, "carrying a hose wrapped around his arm in equal-sized rings" (30) and "on the sand lies a hose, neatly running from one tree to the next and coiled in equal-sized rings around each trunk" (96). Or "thick clouds of sand sprung from underneath the vehicle's tyres, rose up and followed after them, completely obscuring the view behind" (10), compared to this passage from part 2: "Despite how cautiously I'm driving, thick clouds of dust rise up and swiftly form a halo that obscures the scene behind me" (105).

Through the minor details of our narrator's journey, we realise, in a moment of dramatic irony, that the story she is chasing is one she is already recreating. Her search turns her into a living participant of the story, includes her in ways that go beyond mere research. The truth lies not necessarily in the specific answers of what had happened, but in the shared lived experience between her and the girl from part 1. By the time we follow this logic to its inevitable conclusion, it is much too late.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

kshertz's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

It’s actually really hard to review this book because it has such beautiful writing but such awful content. It’s uncomfortable to read at times but it’s also extremely important and well done. Sometimes I got lost in the narrative. But if you have any interest in Palestine and want to dive into a narrative that will absorb you into this situation through two stories. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

hellovivi_'s review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Violence, Medical content, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape and Xenophobia

Minor: War

maddiereadswords's review against another edition

4.5

A book that is equal parts heavy and powerful. Check the trigger warnings before reading, but god is it worth a read if you can handle it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.5

i found the clinical tone of the first part challenging, in contrast to the extreme readability of the second part with its masterful choice of narrator. the motifs seemed sparse, even for a novella, and a little heavy-handed, especially in the first part. but overall it was a worthwhile, important, haunting read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

lilaceous's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

characters - ⭐️

plot - ⭐️

engaging to read - ⭐️

would recommend - .5⭐️

would read again - ⭐️

tough read. i had to put it down at one point because it was so visceral and upsetting. i’m still thinking about the main protagonist days later. if you’re looking for palestinian stories of israeli occupation, this is definitely an impactful one.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and War

rebeccakoury's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

There's no way I can rate this. Read content warnings before pick this up.
Free Palestine 🇵🇸

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

robinks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Phew, this little novel packs a punch. Adania does a masterful job of narrating from the perspectives of two very different characters. What happened and continues to happen in Palestine is horrific. #FreePalestine

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

tenderbench's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and War

skye_era_books's review against another edition

I unfortunately could not stomach the first part of this book as the character is discussing his wounds in excruciating detail. I also did not realize that a rape occurs later on in the book, and I cannot handle that either. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail