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A review by andrewspink
De stem by Jessica Durlacher
3.0
I had a bit of a double feeling about this book. On the one hand, the 'Moslem threat' is very unnuanced and stereotyped. There is one Moslem who is presented as being a normal person, by the end there is even doubt cast on him. One the other hand, this is presented by a 'unreliable narrator', in the form of the main character, so we have to see that as unreliable as well.
A very strange aspect is that the writer seems unaware of the US constitution; you cannot be president if you aren't born an American.
I see that some reviewers didn't like Durlacher's flowery language. I didn't have a problem with the way it was written. I had to look up a couple of words, but as a second language speaker, that is not so unusual.
I'm not sure if it was the author's intention, but one of the most interesting aspects was seeing how Philip radicalised, and how that was related to the mental problems arising from traumatic experiences in his childhood. Going into the army was presented as a solution to his problems, but the unspoken question is undoubtedly, 'for how long?'
A very strange aspect is that the writer seems unaware of the US constitution; you cannot be president if you aren't born an American.
I see that some reviewers didn't like Durlacher's flowery language. I didn't have a problem with the way it was written. I had to look up a couple of words, but as a second language speaker, that is not so unusual.
I'm not sure if it was the author's intention, but one of the most interesting aspects was seeing how Philip radicalised, and how that was related to the mental problems arising from traumatic experiences in his childhood. Going into the army was presented as a solution to his problems, but the unspoken question is undoubtedly, 'for how long?'