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A review by madisonmc
At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Have you ever sat down and just listened to someone that was spiralling? Did you ever give them the space to reap their soul of all their torment?
That is what this entire novel is, on a very dark level. It’s tiny and it’s rather powerful. A world, a picture, and a story is built with each new chapter. Then each consecutive one, aspects of the previous are broken down, then built back up with new foundations. With every paged turned, the ripple effect is pungent and cathartic. As much as the actions are “savagery” you gain an understanding. As much as you recoil in disgust, you grow in sympathy.
At Night All Blood Is Black, by David Diop (translated by Anna Moschovakis) has a very unique writing style and voice. A perspective of WW1 that you don’t often see. A West African fighting for France in the trenches, not knowing the language, and being encouraged to play the roll of ‘savage’. It was all too common, and not at all that well represented in main stream media. The character, ‘Alfa Ndiaye’s’ journey is an insight into a world of celebrated brutality until you comrades change their mind. It’s a tumultuous downwards spiral of the human mind and the progression of how one decides to deal with what he has experience in an attempt to cope and reconcile with himself.
Note Trigger Warnings: Violence, Gore, Torture, Mental Illness, Rape
That is what this entire novel is, on a very dark level. It’s tiny and it’s rather powerful. A world, a picture, and a story is built with each new chapter. Then each consecutive one, aspects of the previous are broken down, then built back up with new foundations. With every paged turned, the ripple effect is pungent and cathartic. As much as the actions are “savagery” you gain an understanding. As much as you recoil in disgust, you grow in sympathy.
At Night All Blood Is Black, by David Diop (translated by Anna Moschovakis) has a very unique writing style and voice. A perspective of WW1 that you don’t often see. A West African fighting for France in the trenches, not knowing the language, and being encouraged to play the roll of ‘savage’. It was all too common, and not at all that well represented in main stream media. The character, ‘Alfa Ndiaye’s’ journey is an insight into a world of celebrated brutality until you comrades change their mind. It’s a tumultuous downwards spiral of the human mind and the progression of how one decides to deal with what he has experience in an attempt to cope and reconcile with himself.
Note Trigger Warnings: Violence, Gore, Torture, Mental Illness, Rape
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Rape, and Violence