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megelizabeth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
"Some men, citing divine will and legitimacy, decided to shape the world in the image of their dream and their madness. Many citizens discovered that God could reveal a grisly face."
This is a remarkable and incredibly poignant book, sadly still as relevant as when it was written thirty years ago. It's haunting, mesmerising, hugely immersive, and one of the most impactful books I've read in a while. It has so many important things to say about freedom, fundamentalism, and societal decline, and it says them in such gorgeous, lyrical ways. It's such a powerful ode to the desperate cruciality of art and literature too.
It wasn't a 5* read for me only because there's one topicwhich I felt could've been dealt with in a more nuanced way and because there are some strands to the narrative which I felt needed a bit more development. However, I would hesitate to truly call these criticisms of the book due to the circumstances of its publication and the fact that we'll never know what edits Djaout might or might not have made before putting it out into the world, had he lived to do so.
I truly cannot recommend this enough and I'm super grateful that this came onto my radar and that I was able to deepen my understanding of such a crucial time in history through Djaout's brilliant fictionalisation of an all too real incredibly dark time that in various forms continues today.
This is a remarkable and incredibly poignant book, sadly still as relevant as when it was written thirty years ago. It's haunting, mesmerising, hugely immersive, and one of the most impactful books I've read in a while. It has so many important things to say about freedom, fundamentalism, and societal decline, and it says them in such gorgeous, lyrical ways. It's such a powerful ode to the desperate cruciality of art and literature too.
It wasn't a 5* read for me only because there's one topicwhich I felt could've been dealt with in a more nuanced way and because there are some strands to the narrative which I felt needed a bit more development. However, I would hesitate to truly call these criticisms of the book due to the circumstances of its publication and the fact that we'll never know what edits Djaout might or might not have made before putting it out into the world, had he lived to do so.
I truly cannot recommend this enough and I'm super grateful that this came onto my radar and that I was able to deepen my understanding of such a crucial time in history through Djaout's brilliant fictionalisation of an all too real incredibly dark time that in various forms continues today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Violence, Murder, and Religious bigotry
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