Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Minor Detail

This is a book of two halves.

The first half is a harrowing depiction of a psychopathic soldier slowly overwhelmed by the stinging heat and suffocating humidity of an arid climate that is not his. It seeps into his body and his mind, releasing his inhibitions to make way for his natural cruelty. No longer governed by any formal laws or human morals, he repeatedly commits acts of unspeakable violence against an innocent. The writing is all from his perspective, leaving a fair amount of the details to the spiralling imagination of the reader, while doing just enough to make them realise exactly what is happening and how the victim is feeling.

This is, just another in a long line of similar atrocities, so common place that they’ve stopped eliciting a real response. In fact, what catches the eye of the Palestinian woman who is the protagonist of the second half of the book, is that this forgotten, minor detail of history took place on the same date as her own birth, albeit 25 years earlier. Unable to suppress the urge to know more, she sets off to investigate the incident.

I couldn’t help but feel like there’s a slight drop in quality between the two halves, as the second is told in such a didactic way that it felt like less of a story and more of procedural recounting of events, filled with details of living under the occupation that are absolutely important to convey and were definitely informative, but so crammed into the story that it left it feeling like reading a patronising history book for kids.

Still, I don’t want to take away from the importance of the novel too much. For the average layperson looking to learn more about the Israeli colonisation of Palestine, and the ongoing horror for the Palestinian civilians, then you will find this book useful. It’s just a shame that the second half wasn’t written very well.

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dreamer626's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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mirandaleighhhh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

I've read essay compilations from students in Gaza; I've read academic text about the changing definitions of antisemitism, about occupation and surveillance, about the ongoing genocide that began in 1948 - all of it gut-wrenching, needless, and horrifying. But in so few pages, this struck a chord in me that I will not soon forget.

The first part was difficult to read - I found myself shaking and sick to my stomach. The second part is equally as difficult to read but for different reasons. There is nothing that I can say better than this text did - it should be required reading in place of Albert Camus' The Stranger.

The cancellation of the literary prize for this book in Germany for expressing, "antisemitic attitudes" (utter bullshit) is deplorable and disgusting. The violence against the Palestinian people and the erasure of their experiences and very existence must end.

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brynalexa's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The first part was extremely emotional to read. It’s very hard to put yourself into a camp of bigoted colonizers for 50 pages. The second part was two parts lovely and one part dread. It came together in the end. Very moving.

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teaselkie's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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ghost_rider's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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maddiereadswords's review against another edition

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4.5

A book that is equal parts heavy and powerful. Check the trigger warnings before reading, but god is it worth a read if you can handle it.

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-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

4.5

i found the clinical tone of the first part challenging, in contrast to the extreme readability of the second part with its masterful choice of narrator. the motifs seemed sparse, even for a novella, and a little heavy-handed, especially in the first part. but overall it was a worthwhile, important, haunting read.

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