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mimstery's review against another edition
3.0
Ça gonfle un peu en fait. L’histoire est intéressante, la corruption et ses vices mais aussi ses avantages. Mais y a des pages et des pages et encore des pages qui auraient pu être éliminées. C’est prise de tête de lire la même chose de ce qui se passe dans la tête de Mourad.
carlaabra's review
reflective
slow-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
1.5
A Moroccan man bends to peer and familial pressure and decides to accept bribes, apparently a common though technically-illegal part of business there. Up until this point he prides himself on his honesty, although not taking bribes has impoverished his family and caused his wife to resent him. After taking bribes, he struggles with his own morals.
This was bizarre. I was promised Camus; I did not get Camus. The writing style (first person) is very stream-of-consciousness, almost like a dream sequence. Sentences are short and simple. This is certainly a… choice, but it exacerbated the drudging monotony for me.
This was bizarre. I was promised Camus; I did not get Camus. The writing style (first person) is very stream-of-consciousness, almost like a dream sequence. Sentences are short and simple. This is certainly a… choice, but it exacerbated the drudging monotony for me.
In short, it's learning how to steal and share the benefits with others. Personally, I can't do it. I don't even know how to lie. I'm not shrewd. I know that what they call "the machine" doesn't work with people like me. I'm the grain of sand that gets inside and makes it squeak. I admit to liking this role. It's rare and precious.
Most of the book is the MC’s internal dialogue complaining/worrying about his life. There are few actual events. It gets soo repetitive and boring. Please seek therapy, MC, rather than dumping this crap on your readers.
Maybe I just didn’t understand the symbols or the culture, but the depiction of women and romance in this novel confused me. We have the nagging, greedy, soulless wife Hlima; the pure widow Najia; and then some random girl with a lazy eye named Nadia. There are some ancillary side characters but the MC’s descriptions of them are usually limited to “she hot, would bang” and/or “she scheming, would bang.” Actually, this also applies to his thoughts about our main female characters.
The end gets weird and detours from reality a bit. Idk.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual content
The wife of our MC is verbally brutal to him at timesemiliepichot's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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