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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
This is a book that is both hard to read and yet one you can (and probably should) finish in a single sitting.
The story is harrowing, chronicling Alfa Ndiaye’s descent into madness and savagery after the death of his more-than-brother Mademba Diop. The prose entrapping you in, the pace keeping you reading, the repetition giving the sense of going mad matching Alfa’s decent further and further into his guilt and savagery.
The story suddenly shifts halfway through, becoming more reflective, showing parts of Alfa and Mademba’s past. What made them and what drove them to take part in the war.
The ending again suddenly changes and while I’m still not 100% sure what it was intended to mean I have my own theories.
There are so many themes explored that it’s hard to keep track and take it all in. Rich vs poor, Blacks vs White, Strong vs Weak, Guilty vs innocent, Female Sex to name a few. Often seeded in almost nonchalantly from Alfa’s pov but brutally from a readers perspective.
I can’t say I enjoyed reading this, or even that it had its full intended effect on me but it certainly was an experience and I can see why it won the International Booker Prize.
Hard off to the translator Anna Moschovakis!
The story is harrowing, chronicling Alfa Ndiaye’s descent into madness and savagery after the death of his more-than-brother Mademba Diop. The prose entrapping you in, the pace keeping you reading, the repetition giving the sense of going mad matching Alfa’s decent further and further into his guilt and savagery.
The story suddenly shifts halfway through, becoming more reflective, showing parts of Alfa and Mademba’s past. What made them and what drove them to take part in the war.
The ending again suddenly changes and while I’m still not 100% sure what it was intended to mean I have my own theories.
There are so many themes explored that it’s hard to keep track and take it all in. Rich vs poor, Blacks vs White, Strong vs Weak, Guilty vs innocent, Female Sex to name a few. Often seeded in almost nonchalantly from Alfa’s pov but brutally from a readers perspective.
I can’t say I enjoyed reading this, or even that it had its full intended effect on me but it certainly was an experience and I can see why it won the International Booker Prize.
Hard off to the translator Anna Moschovakis!
an interesting one!!! some of the phrases are gorgeous, others made my stomach turn, which I guess is the point.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finished reading this yesterday and I actually can’t get it out of my head. The descriptions and character voice was so vivid.
I think this one’s gonna stick with me for a long time 🫨
The narration was also wonderful and did a lot to draw me deeply into the story.
I think this one’s gonna stick with me for a long time 🫨
The narration was also wonderful and did a lot to draw me deeply into the story.
I loved getting lost in the beautiful writing of such a horrific story.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Man has a mental break due to the death of his friend in WW1 and brings killing Germans and cutting off their singular hand. Eventually he becomes a symbol of death and is sent to the rear for treatment, here the book left my major interest as his mental break places a second personality of his dead friend in his body/living in it.
*2.5 étoiles
Par la vérité de Dieu, j'ai su, j'ai compris. Ou plutôt, par la vérité de Dieu, je n'ai pas su ni compris. J'ai n'ai pas compris comment l'auteur de ce livre attendais à écrire un livre de valeur. Il me prend pour un idiot. Il était la, il ecrivait. Il agitait son stylo ou tapé sur son clavier. J'en sais pas. Je n'y etait pas. Mais il a su, il a compris.
Il a pensé avoir su. Il a pensé avoir compris, que de produire un livre de valeur il fallait se tourner en rond. Se tourner dans un cercle eternelle Il a fallu pretendre à etre profonde par les petites phrases. Les petites phrase qui tournent en rond. Combien de temps a-t'il passé dans son petit dadans. Sa tête qui tourne? Par la verité de Dieu, il a pensé avoir des pensées de valeur. Il se moque de nous.
(en vérité les derniers 40 pages ont élévé la qualité du livre au niveau acceptable - pour ça je le donne 3 étoiles - mais il a fallu se battre pour y parvenir)
[Joasi]
Par la vérité de Dieu, j'ai su, j'ai compris. Ou plutôt, par la vérité de Dieu, je n'ai pas su ni compris. J'ai n'ai pas compris comment l'auteur de ce livre attendais à écrire un livre de valeur. Il me prend pour un idiot. Il était la, il ecrivait. Il agitait son stylo ou tapé sur son clavier. J'en sais pas. Je n'y etait pas. Mais il a su, il a compris.
Il a pensé avoir su. Il a pensé avoir compris, que de produire un livre de valeur il fallait se tourner en rond. Se tourner dans un cercle eternelle Il a fallu pretendre à etre profonde par les petites phrases. Les petites phrase qui tournent en rond. Combien de temps a-t'il passé dans son petit dadans. Sa tête qui tourne? Par la verité de Dieu, il a pensé avoir des pensées de valeur. Il se moque de nous.
(en vérité les derniers 40 pages ont élévé la qualité du livre au niveau acceptable - pour ça je le donne 3 étoiles - mais il a fallu se battre pour y parvenir)
[Joasi]
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
I didn't like this. It's an important book, an important topic, and I still didn't like it. The writing style is very repetitive, but that kind of fits the damaged mental state of our main character. It was a little less grating after I switched from the audiobook to the physical book, so just a head's up there. My biggest issue with the book was actually how women were talked about and objectified. It could just be part of the characterisation of our main character, but it is never addressed, which just makes it uncomfortable to read. The part that gave me the ick the most was a comparison between the trenches and the women's nether regions. I did find the comparison between a husband-wife relationship and that of the army officer-war relationship interesting though - that was a case where the comparison worked, was a comment on a social construct rather than a rather brutal objectification of the female body, and was used to make an important point. Mostly, though, I just didn't find the main character compelling - he's definitely not likeable, but he's not really supposed to be. But he wasn't charismatic in any way (even a repulsive one).
Spoilery summary:Man goes insane after watching his more-than-brother best friend die during the war and blaming himself for letting him die a slow, painful death when he asked to be killed and put out of his mystery. He also blames himself for his friend getting the injury in the first place. He starts hunting soldiers with blue eyes and bringing their hands back to the trench until his comrades' admiration turns to fear and he's sent to the hospital.
Spoilery summary:
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes