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A review by carojust
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
challenging
dark
sad
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
5.0
Adania Shibli shows us the darkest side of humanity, a reality we can't ignore, in painfully beautiful and stark writing.
The first half feels blurry, sweltering, full of smells and you feel yourself fearing, unsure what this character will do. He ends up doing the worst, and you see that you're witnessing hell.
The second half is a complete character, POV, timeline and tone shift, told through an autistic-leaning narrator who describes, in complete detail, her world as a Palestinian in recent years. With no sense of emotion, she talks about bombings that she works and sleeps through. We follow her as she retraces the events from the first half.
Shibli artfully weaves details and symbolism from both timelines into each other. It has a heartstopping effect, when you see that things haven't changed. The ending emphasizes this.
Please read this book.
The first half feels blurry, sweltering, full of smells and you feel yourself fearing, unsure what this character will do. He ends up doing the worst, and you see that you're witnessing hell.
The second half is a complete character, POV, timeline and tone shift, told through an autistic-leaning narrator who describes, in complete detail, her world as a Palestinian in recent years. With no sense of emotion, she talks about bombings that she works and sleeps through. We follow her as she retraces the events from the first half.
Shibli artfully weaves details and symbolism from both timelines into each other. It has a heartstopping effect, when you see that things haven't changed. The ending emphasizes this.
Please read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail