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maahireadss 's review for:
Minor Detail
by Adania Shibli
Minor Detail reads like a dream sequence — it’s gripping, disturbingly detailed and its the small parts that make it whole — but it’s also unsettling and so so real.
The book is divided into two parts, told through two POVs — one detailing the event, and the other in search of the major details of a not-so-minor event. The first part is from the perspective of a soldier, who is camped on a desert along with his troops. This section illustrates the beginnings of a military camp, detailing the routines and patrols occupying the soldiers’ days (and the sense of normalcy they feel committing such heinous acts) and the sickening events that follow afterwards. These details really put into perspective how much autonomy these soldiers had and still have over a region that is not theirs yet they claim full ownership of (and how that comes about in the first place). The things that lead to the rape and murder of an innocent girl are not easy to read hence why I had to keep putting this book down every once in a while.
The second section of the book is set a few decades later, told through the POV of a woman who becomes slightly obsessed with this very event. It was gut wrenching to read about how rape, violence and murder aren’t issues that shock anyone; instead their occurrence is so normal that people would rather focus on the minor details of the issues, like the date or the season or the location. I think this is universally applicable to so many situations for multiple communities, but especially applicable to the Palestine conflict and their fight for liberation.
What really made me feel angry and defeated was how the fmc was trying to navigate her way to the military camp but just couldn’t recognise any of the signs or the roads or the lack of civilisation because of how different everything was; the invaders had successfully made a big part of her country their own. This truly proves that step one to erasing a certain community is to erase their culture and sense of community. I think the parallels to an incident that took place years ago to the time where the fmc sets out to discover more about that incident are haunting. I don’t want to give too much away so you’ll have to read to understand, I’m sorry
The book is divided into two parts, told through two POVs — one detailing the event, and the other in search of the major details of a not-so-minor event. The first part is from the perspective of a soldier, who is camped on a desert along with his troops. This section illustrates the beginnings of a military camp, detailing the routines and patrols occupying the soldiers’ days (and the sense of normalcy they feel committing such heinous acts) and the sickening events that follow afterwards. These details really put into perspective how much autonomy these soldiers had and still have over a region that is not theirs yet they claim full ownership of (and how that comes about in the first place). The things that lead to the rape and murder of an innocent girl are not easy to read hence why I had to keep putting this book down every once in a while.
The second section of the book is set a few decades later, told through the POV of a woman who becomes slightly obsessed with this very event. It was gut wrenching to read about how rape, violence and murder aren’t issues that shock anyone; instead their occurrence is so normal that people would rather focus on the minor details of the issues, like the date or the season or the location. I think this is universally applicable to so many situations for multiple communities, but especially applicable to the Palestine conflict and their fight for liberation.
What really made me feel angry and defeated was how the fmc was trying to navigate her way to the military camp but just couldn’t recognise any of the signs or the roads or the lack of civilisation because of how different everything was; the invaders had successfully made a big part of her country their own. This truly proves that step one to erasing a certain community is to erase their culture and sense of community. I think the parallels to an incident that took place years ago to the time where the fmc sets out to discover more about that incident are haunting. I don’t want to give too much away so you’ll have to read to understand, I’m sorry