Reviews with content warning for Violence - فرانكشتاين في بغداد

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

فرانكشتاين في بغداد by Ahmed Saadawi

43 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I must confess, I was never a huge fan of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I reread it over and over again in high school and college, and I could never get into it. Something about the text was too dense and archaic for me to connect to - which is not normally a problem I have with classics.

When I came across Frankenstein in Baghbad, I thought the concept of a surrealist look into early Iraq War era Baghdad was an interesting concept, but I was skeptical that I'd find the same stumbling blocks with this version as the original. After all, it takes place in a time and setting very different from my own, just like Shelley's original.

But Saadawi's work is different. I realized pretty quickly that this book is much, much closer to my time and place than I thought it would be. It demonstrates, with an unparalleled hand for metaphor, the monster that is the cycle of revenge which makes up the wheels of war.

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catsbreadbikes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Not exactly my genre, so the ot didn't move me as much as i thought it would, but i found the characters compelling and well-written

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delainey5's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

im not sure that I understand the ending

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jillaay_h's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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sofipitch's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Weird little book which is very interested in good and evil and more the lack of a clear distinction between the two. The Whatsitsname beginning it's killing spree in what seems like justified revenge only to kill plenty of innocent civilians to keep itself alive is particularly salient rn

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tashtasher's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

5.0

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draven_deathcrush's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I'm obsessed with Frankenstein now and I thought this would be like a retelling, but it wasn't really. It didn't really focus much on the actual Frankenstein part, which is completely fine, but I just thought/hoped it would. It's a good book, but I just had different expectations.

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introvertsbookclub's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

‘Frankenstein in Baghdad’ is a blend of satire and magical realism, with intertwining plot lines and a writer trying to keep track of them all. It explores everyday experiences in an extraordinary environment of conflict and corruption, and is grounded in the emotions that are provoked in the daily lives of the novel’s cast of characters, from fear and grief to green and desire. The novel was made up of so many characters and story lines that it became a Frankenstein of sorts itself, and yet it was almost always easy to navigate and follow along.

The adaptation of the Frankenstein story is fascinating – not just because of the changes to the plot and purpose of the creature, but because of the new emotional context that fuels the creature’s creation. I loved the way that the creature became a way to debate ideas around good and bad, innocence and criminality, in the same way that Shelley’s original monster facilitated questions about science, morality and community.

I am so glad I decided to continue my spooky reading into November, and that I finally got around to reading this book.

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woweewhoa's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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emburs's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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