A review by abbie_
At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

dark reflective sad medium-paced
Devoured this book in about an hour and a half, it had me hypnotised with its repetitive rhythm so that I couldn’t stop reading even when the violence and bloodshed reached its peak. A short but powerful depiction of war, madness, the violence of colonialism, and brotherhood, At Night All Blood is Black delves deep into the psyche of a man driven to madness by the atrocities he witnesses on the battlefield.
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After seeing his best friend (his closer-than-brother) Mademba die with his guts hanging out, feeling partially responsible for goading him into a senseless charge across no-man’s-land, our narrator Alfa begins to spiral. He refuses to end his friend’s life quickly, believing he has already done enough to hurt him, and this sparks a need for vengeance. Alfa begins a bloody campaign, killing enemy soldiers in the same way Mademba died, cutting off their hands as keepsakes, reminders.
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This book is quite terrifying, demonstrating the effects the futile violence of war have on a man’s sanity. This is exacerbated by the racist tactics employed; Senegalese soldiers like Alfa and Mademba were ordered to play into the ‘savage’ stereotype, armed with machetes with the aim of striking fear into the heart of the German soldiers.
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The translation by Anna Moschovakis is brilliantly executed, holding onto the rhythms and repetition so we can witness Alfa’s descent into madness through his language. He clings to phrases and repeated speech patterns the same way he clings to his last vestiges of sanity. The ending is truly haunting.
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Admittedly I didn’t get around to reading many of the International Booker longlisted books this year, but I can still confidently say this was a deserving winner!
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