Reviews tagging 'War'

Nachts ist unser Blut schwarz by David Diop

146 reviews

maya7's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Narrated by Alfa, a Senegalese soldier serving in the French army during World War I. Facing the painful death of his almost brother-like friend, Alfa was slowly falling into a pit of madness and finally collapsed.

Repetitive sentences were a bit hard for me to get into the story at first, but I was horrified reading the last chapter and went back to the first page again, then the story felt different with more understanding about the background. 

A dark and powerful novella about the violence and madness caused by war and colonialism.
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ccpetrikas's review against another edition

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

4.0

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jessdownes's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

3.5

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fernbomb's review against another edition

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1.5

I expected something profound with this book, but I cannot get over this book’s treatment of women. Perhaps I missed the point but referring to trenches as a woman “opening up herself” just felt unnecessary and pseudo-intellectual.
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kathryn51's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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karolinak's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Repetition is a big motif in this book. It clearly has a purpose. It illustrates the pointless nature of the countless wars we have fought and continue to fight. It shows the main character's state of mind after a traumatic event, how a thought, a memory, can find its way into your head an keep running in circles, torturing you, slowly driving you mad. Eventually it reveals a language barrier as well. It is no fun to read, however. I noticed it immediately, and about 20 pages in it started to grate on me pretty badly. 

The violence is shocking. I actually had trouble reading some parts from the very begining so be aware, there is gore and horror awaiting. 

There was some really really good stuff in here, some great commentary on war, violence and its effect on people, the expectation that soldiers should be able carry on as normal civilised citizens once the barbaric violence of battle ends, without proper support, which is just ludicrous. There's questions about what kind of violence and by whom is acceptable (what's worse, sevend hands of enemies or seven lives of comrades?), where does a line need to be drawn and who decides. And booooy is there madness.

Despite some the stylistic choises that dampened my enjoyment while reading this book I find myself impressed with the work overall. 
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rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

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joshbaird's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The amount this author packs into such a short, one-sitting kind of novel is mindblowing. It's a thoroughly visceral, unsettling and upsetting look what war does to a person's brain, and it's beautifully written and translated. The language and repetition jarred me at first but I got used to it.

The only thing I would say is the last couple of chapters really lost me. I've scanned on here and reddit and found some takes that make sense to me, but on the first read I was a bit thrown. I guess that makes sense though, because 'thrown' is an understatement for the protagonist's mental state by the end of the book!
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fatkidatheartreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark

3.0

He is me, and I am him.

Dissociation, disillusion and a steady descent into madness as showcased by a young soldier who makes a split second decision that haunts and unravels him. 

Such a gory and haunting book! I will need to reread it to fully appreciate it.
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maren_hemsath's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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