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Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

37 reviews

emma_b_rhodes's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

4.0

DEVASTATING and very traumatic
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ka_cam's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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

A meditative yet sharp short novel showing and telling the impacts of ongoing nakba and occupation on individual lives and psyches as well as the ability to process, understand, and fight back against oppression. Difficult content well employed in the narrative, violence and descriptions of violence walked the line between gratuitous/dehumanizing and so gentle as to erase the dehumanizing nature of violence. Would recommend.
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dragongirl271's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“I'm looking forward at the road which cuts through the rippling hills, where the color of earth has changed from pale yellow to light brown. And she looks out to the right.”
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

You know those emotional, heart-wrenching short stories you used to have to read to analyze? The ones that linger with you years later? This is like that, but longer. There are many, many re-reads of this in my future. I'm not going to stop thinking about it anytime soon.

Minor Detail is the story of the rape and murder of a young Bedouin woman a year after the Nakba and another Palestinian woman's obsession with the story decades later. It's my understanding that the young woman's murder is actually a true story and Haaretz has an article about it published in October of last year. I also understand that Shibli was scheduled to win an award for this novel, but the ceremony in Frankfurt was canceled in the wake of the current genocide in Gaza. Incredibly unfair, as the writing in this book is phenomenal and worthy of as many awards as it can qualify for.

The book is in two parts. The first point tells the story of the murdered Bedouin woman from a distant, 3rd-person POV of the soldier overseeing the camp that captured her. The second, longer part follows the 1st-person POV of a woman in modern-day Ramallah who uncovers the story and wants to learn more of the details, refusing to let the woman fade into history.

Shibli utilizes symbolism expertly throughout the book, using all sorts of small details to tie the past and present to each other. Even the routine of the soldier and the travel of the researcher are shown through minor details. It's the kind of writing that gives you more and more each time you read.

3rd person POV in the first part. 1st person POV in the second part. Slow pacing. Heartbreaking. The kind of book that will stay with you for a long time.
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studydniowka's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Adania Shibli na przykładzie jednej historii stara się przedstawić systemową przemoc, której doświadczają Palestyńczycy ze strony Izraelczyków. Mrożąca krew opowieść, która powinna być powszechnie czytana. Byłby z tego świetny film.
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potion96's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

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gorgeousgirl's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

powerful. extremely precise, extremely haunting
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thewoodlandbookshelf's review

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dark reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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katharina90's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A short but powerful novel that conveys so much. It is painful and heartbreaking to read but brilliantly executed.

The novel consists of two narratives, set 50ish years apart, each with its own distinct feel, writing style and point of view. 

The two halves contrast and complement each other, and together they create a really impactful novel. So much to digest and reflect on.
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annamay1021's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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jonezzzing's review against another edition

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4.5

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