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steveatwaywords's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
4.25
While the ending of this short novel was fairly predictable, so too should be our accountability for the consequences of our foreign policy, our (both direct and indirect) investments, and our personal behavior in the world.
Eggers's brief but quite tense story is wide-eyed enough to cast aspersions upon a variety of dense-minded approaches, and the events which befall these two contrary workers are wide-ranging and unexpected. Should we "do our business and get out," looking the other way when human rights issues are at stake? Should we engage the moral outrages and act with compassion for those who suffer? Should we regulate or otherwise compel honesty in despots? Should we live immersively in the cultures we meet, despite our likely missteps? As Stanislaw Lem warns, "There are no answers, only choices." But none is without consequence.
A powerful allegory for our age, and this read will stay with me for some time.
Eggers's brief but quite tense story is wide-eyed enough to cast aspersions upon a variety of dense-minded approaches, and the events which befall these two contrary workers are wide-ranging and unexpected. Should we "do our business and get out," looking the other way when human rights issues are at stake? Should we engage the moral outrages and act with compassion for those who suffer? Should we regulate or otherwise compel honesty in despots? Should we live immersively in the cultures we meet, despite our likely missteps? As Stanislaw Lem warns, "There are no answers, only choices." But none is without consequence.
A powerful allegory for our age, and this read will stay with me for some time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Excrement, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, and Colonisation
Minor: Trafficking
Since the setting of this book is a developing nation post-civil war, readers can expect that the ruins and suffering which remain permeate the landscape and action.
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