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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
The writing, the plot and the characterisation all deserve 5* and it’s safe to say why this book won the Booker Prize. The title alone is a poetic line of genius - not only does it reference the race of Senegalese Alfa and the colonialist undertones of the book but also points to the moral ambiguity of war acts and fading mental state of Alfa. After i first read this line again in reference to Alfa’s ritualistic revenge murders I genuinely got shivers.
—> “If at this moment his blue eyes don’t dim forever, then I lie down next to him, I turn his face toward mine and I watch him die a little, then I slit his throat, cleanly, humanely. At night, all blood is black.”
The “descent into madness” is shown cleverly through repeated sentences and the phrase “God’s truth” as we begin to question just how much Alfa is holding himself together. His trains of thought becoming increasingly irrational (from Alfa didn’t give his more-than a brother mercy to it was his strength and teasing that killed him) reflect this descent brilliantly. There are times when Alfa seems to be unforgivable and times when I almost felt sympathy for him - his grief and guilt controlling him.
The relationship between Alfa and Mademba was also conveyed brilliantly. Despite the relative lack of interactions between the two within the novel I never questioned this claim that their connection went deeper than brotherhood - the use of duality to show this almost spiritual antithetical relationship was an apt choice.
I especially like the fact this novel also looks at the situation in a new way. Instead of another novel about a traumatised French solider, we see the reality for those called from the French Empire to fight for it. Colonialism is a huge driver within this book from the savageness Alfa is expected to play into to the dehumanisation he faces when he expresses pain. It was fascinating to reflect on World War One from a completely different perspective. When looking at trench life this becomes particularly apparent as Mademba goes from being othered due to his perceived bravery and greatness to othered for his “demon-like más behaviour”. When he spoke of the fellow soldiers only wanting madness while attacking the enemy, not all the time I trust felt for him. After the death of Jean-Batiste the trench was truly an environment that acted as a catalyst for his madness, with its temporary behaviour rewarding medals but it’s longevity bringing hate and isolation.
—-> “Temporary madness makes it possible to forget the truth about bullets. Temporary madness, in war, is bravery’s sister. But when you seem crazy all the time, continuously, without stopping, that’s when you make people afraid, even your war brothers.
—-> “God’s truth, that on the battlefield they wanted only fleeting madness. Madmen of rage, madmen of pain, furious madmen, but temporary ones. No continuous madmen. As soon as the fighting ends, we’re to file away our rage, our pain, and our fury. Pain is tolerated, we can bring our pain home on the condition that we keep it to ourselves.”
—-> “That’s war: it’s when God lags behind the music of men, when he can’t untangle the threads of so many fates at the same time.”
Although some claim this novel was too gruesome I would disagree. Why should we have the right to shy away from the horrific and brutal reality of life on the front lines If Alfa doesn’t. The description of stuffing guts back inside was indeed horrific, but such detail is needed to fully understand why it is Alfa was driven to such vengeance and guilt.
Towards the end of the book finding out about the tragedy within Alfa’s family pre-war really helped to form him as a character. When reading about what happened to his mother and why his relationship with Fary had no feasibility of becoming serious it became much clearer why the death of Mademba had caused such a mental break. It added to this sense of Alfa as all alone in the world with no one to keep up his performance of sanity for. He simply had no reason left to go on living but revenge and trying to right the lack of experience Mademba had. Alfa’s obsession with virginity and women - and his comparison to Mademba’s lack of - for me marks his descent into madness as he hyper-fixates on a concept that dehumanises women just as he roo has been dehumanised. His comparison of a trench to a woman’s entrance at first was strange - the idea I believe most is that it represents this idea of duality (life and death) and shows his mildly unstable state to begin with. As this ends with the likely rape and murder of a European girl I felt that Alfa had truly lost himself and his bravery and strength to fight.
The ending itself was the part of the book that was my least favourite. I prefer to interpret it as Alfa finally losing any sense of who he is, finally ending his slow descent into madness. Perhaps I am lacking the ability to comprehend a spiritual and mythological twist to what I read as a brutal and real book that dealt with harsh truths. Ultimately I didn’t feel the ending was as strong as the rest of the book but still loved it so much. Some of my favourite quotes:
—> “If at this moment his blue eyes don’t dim forever, then I lie down next to him, I turn his face toward mine and I watch him die a little, then I slit his throat, cleanly, humanely. At night, all blood is black.”
The “descent into madness” is shown cleverly through repeated sentences and the phrase “God’s truth” as we begin to question just how much Alfa is holding himself together. His trains of thought becoming increasingly irrational (from Alfa didn’t give his more-than a brother mercy to it was his strength and teasing that killed him) reflect this descent brilliantly. There are times when Alfa seems to be unforgivable and times when I almost felt sympathy for him - his grief and guilt controlling him.
The relationship between Alfa and Mademba was also conveyed brilliantly. Despite the relative lack of interactions between the two within the novel I never questioned this claim that their connection went deeper than brotherhood - the use of duality to show this almost spiritual antithetical relationship was an apt choice.
I especially like the fact this novel also looks at the situation in a new way. Instead of another novel about a traumatised French solider, we see the reality for those called from the French Empire to fight for it. Colonialism is a huge driver within this book from the savageness Alfa is expected to play into to the dehumanisation he faces when he expresses pain. It was fascinating to reflect on World War One from a completely different perspective. When looking at trench life this becomes particularly apparent as Mademba goes from being othered due to his perceived bravery and greatness to othered for his “demon-like más behaviour”. When he spoke of the fellow soldiers only wanting madness while attacking the enemy, not all the time I trust felt for him. After the death of Jean-Batiste the trench was truly an environment that acted as a catalyst for his madness, with its temporary behaviour rewarding medals but it’s longevity bringing hate and isolation.
—-> “Temporary madness makes it possible to forget the truth about bullets. Temporary madness, in war, is bravery’s sister. But when you seem crazy all the time, continuously, without stopping, that’s when you make people afraid, even your war brothers.
—-> “God’s truth, that on the battlefield they wanted only fleeting madness. Madmen of rage, madmen of pain, furious madmen, but temporary ones. No continuous madmen. As soon as the fighting ends, we’re to file away our rage, our pain, and our fury. Pain is tolerated, we can bring our pain home on the condition that we keep it to ourselves.”
—-> “That’s war: it’s when God lags behind the music of men, when he can’t untangle the threads of so many fates at the same time.”
Although some claim this novel was too gruesome I would disagree. Why should we have the right to shy away from the horrific and brutal reality of life on the front lines If Alfa doesn’t. The description of stuffing guts back inside was indeed horrific, but such detail is needed to fully understand why it is Alfa was driven to such vengeance and guilt.
Towards the end of the book finding out about the tragedy within Alfa’s family pre-war really helped to form him as a character. When reading about what happened to his mother and why his relationship with Fary had no feasibility of becoming serious it became much clearer why the death of Mademba had caused such a mental break. It added to this sense of Alfa as all alone in the world with no one to keep up his performance of sanity for. He simply had no reason left to go on living but revenge and trying to right the lack of experience Mademba had. Alfa’s obsession with virginity and women - and his comparison to Mademba’s lack of - for me marks his descent into madness as he hyper-fixates on a concept that dehumanises women just as he roo has been dehumanised. His comparison of a trench to a woman’s entrance at first was strange - the idea I believe most is that it represents this idea of duality (life and death) and shows his mildly unstable state to begin with. As this ends with the likely rape and murder of a European girl I felt that Alfa had truly lost himself and his bravery and strength to fight.
The ending itself was the part of the book that was my least favourite. I prefer to interpret it as Alfa finally losing any sense of who he is, finally ending his slow descent into madness. Perhaps I am lacking the ability to comprehend a spiritual and mythological twist to what I read as a brutal and real book that dealt with harsh truths. Ultimately I didn’t feel the ending was as strong as the rest of the book but still loved it so much. Some of my favourite quotes:
challenging
dark
medium-paced
dark
reflective
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
reflective
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wonderful audiobook production and narration!
The text flows like poetry and its haunting atmosphere of the first two-thirds were fantastic. It's about the grim reality of war and witnessing horrors that descends you into madness. As the story progressed and the narrative style shifted from the actual story of Alfa to the other tale, I was a bit confused and I struggled to keep up with the story.
Be sure to check for content warnings!
The text flows like poetry and its haunting atmosphere of the first two-thirds were fantastic. It's about the grim reality of war and witnessing horrors that descends you into madness. As the story progressed and the narrative style shifted from the actual story of Alfa to the other tale, I was a bit confused and I struggled to keep up with the story.
Be sure to check for content warnings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual content, War
Moderate: Murder
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Good book, has a nice "repetition" of words and sentences that flow well.
Unfortunately, it also has quite a lot of repetition of information, which I think is unnecessary.
Still worth a read!
Unfortunately, it also has quite a lot of repetition of information, which I think is unnecessary.
Still worth a read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence