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A review by thenewabnormal
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
5.0
4.5-5/5
tw // mention of rape
Despite being fictional, Minor Detail is nothing short of historical. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone who strives to learn more about Palestine and/or read more Palestinian fiction.
Split into two parts, Minor Detail begins during the summer of 1949 - one year after the Nakba - and centers on an Israeli attack on a group of Bedouins in the Negev desert and the rape, murder, and burial of a Palestinian girl through the eyes of an Israeli soldier. The latter half of the novel is told from the perspective of a woman in Ramallah who becomes fascinated with this case and attempts to uncover its details.
While some may take issue with how the back cover inherently spoils most of the events, this didn't ameliorate my emotional reactions, let alone reduce my appreciation of the book. The experience of reading Minor Detail is truly different from merely reading about it.
I've never experienced such physical discomfort from a book until I read the first part of Minor Detail (though I’d say if we’re not uncomfortable, then that’s ultimately the problem). Shibli's matter-of-fact tone, juxtaposed with the execution of ethnic cleansing and rape, profoundly illuminates a pervasive cruelty that is severely undermined and disregarded by most of the world (especially in the West). In addition, the absence of names further hones in on this point, demonstrating this is not an isolated incident within Israeli society but rather a foundational component of it.
The refusal to provide names serves a similar purpose in the second part as well. Here, we are introduced to a woman who is rather desensitized towards the byproducts of occupation and can only accumulate interest in the 1949 case because the date correlates with her birthday. Furthermore, Shibli's stark contrast of the apathy towards war crimes and apathy amid the normalization of these atrocities allows readers to grasp the bigger picture surrounding what is often referred to as the "Israeli-Palestinian" conflict: a power imbalance.
Yet, there are several parallels between both perspectives that seamlessly weave them together; despite the oppressor vs. oppressed dichotomy, I didn't perceive this work as disjointed. Everything about it felt deliberate and cogently executed Shibli's intentions.
tw // mention of rape
Despite being fictional, Minor Detail is nothing short of historical. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone who strives to learn more about Palestine and/or read more Palestinian fiction.
Split into two parts, Minor Detail begins during the summer of 1949 - one year after the Nakba - and centers on an Israeli attack on a group of Bedouins in the Negev desert and the rape, murder, and burial of a Palestinian girl through the eyes of an Israeli soldier. The latter half of the novel is told from the perspective of a woman in Ramallah who becomes fascinated with this case and attempts to uncover its details.
While some may take issue with how the back cover inherently spoils most of the events, this didn't ameliorate my emotional reactions, let alone reduce my appreciation of the book. The experience of reading Minor Detail is truly different from merely reading about it.
I've never experienced such physical discomfort from a book until I read the first part of Minor Detail (though I’d say if we’re not uncomfortable, then that’s ultimately the problem). Shibli's matter-of-fact tone, juxtaposed with the execution of ethnic cleansing and rape, profoundly illuminates a pervasive cruelty that is severely undermined and disregarded by most of the world (especially in the West). In addition, the absence of names further hones in on this point, demonstrating this is not an isolated incident within Israeli society but rather a foundational component of it.
The refusal to provide names serves a similar purpose in the second part as well. Here, we are introduced to a woman who is rather desensitized towards the byproducts of occupation and can only accumulate interest in the 1949 case because the date correlates with her birthday. Furthermore, Shibli's stark contrast of the apathy towards war crimes and apathy amid the normalization of these atrocities allows readers to grasp the bigger picture surrounding what is often referred to as the "Israeli-Palestinian" conflict: a power imbalance.
Yet, there are several parallels between both perspectives that seamlessly weave them together; despite the oppressor vs. oppressed dichotomy, I didn't perceive this work as disjointed. Everything about it felt deliberate and cogently executed Shibli's intentions.