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kirstym25's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racial slurs
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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
Hangman is a book which I found intellectually stimulating but narratively unsatisfying, and one that wasn’t aligned with my personal reading tastes. It’s the story of a man in his 50s returning to the country of his birth after a long absence because his brother is dying. When he arrives he doesn’t recognise anybody or anything. He is then taken on a long and rambling journey, that seems to get progressively stranger. Along the way lots of people insist on telling him their stories which collectively give a broad overview of the country (presumably in sub-Saharan Africa although that is never explicitly stated). It is these stories of tradition, corruption, corporate greed, international exploitation and do-gooding which provide one source of intellectual stimulation along with the associated commentary comparing this country to the one the narrator had been living in for many years. The other is the deliberate vagueness of the novel. Our narrator isn’t named, neither is either country, nor any of the characters he meets, who are all referred to tangentially and somewhat cumbersomely as for instance “my mother’s sister’s daughter “. This left me off kilter but on high alert, looking for information to help everything fall into place. Narratively the book seems to hinge on a twist at the end, which isn’t a huge surprise and ends up feeling like a let down which in some ways detracts from some of the earlier themes. This book has been described as surreal and absurdist, becoming more and more like a fever dream. Those words and phrases are the absolute antithesis of literary catnip for me. Intellectually I could see what the author was trying to do and the stylistic and narrative choices she made did elicit the sense of displacement migration can bring. But that style created emotional distance, meaning my heart was never engaged. I suspect this will be the most marmite book on this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist. Ultimately it wasn’t for me, but I can see readers with different reading tastes really enjoying it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Confinement, and Death
jewellery's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Incredible. Read it to the very end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Abandonment, Confinement, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Medical content, Colonisation, Death, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Torture
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