A review by becksusername
Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

What the fuck. I was not expecting that ending at all.
What did Bassam even do? Besides beat up that bookseller? We don't know! Lakhdar didn't know! He was just a weird guy! You can't just kill someone for being a weird guy!  And Lakhdar basically ends up fine. Yeah he's in prison but all he's ever really wanted to do was read books and he gets to do that. And Judit visits him? What does she like about him so much anyway? Besides being well-read he's kind of a flop. And a coward. He wasn't passionate about anything except reading thrillers and fucking his cousin. What did he mean by more than a murderer? More than a Muslim? He's a murderer without a real cause, and kind of a wishy-washy muslim? And this whole time he's comparing himself to this legendary traveller, but he's just been running in fear from one situation to the next, miserable almost the whole time, accumulating trauma but not really wisdom. But then again he's just a little baby 20-year-old man. Guess he'll still be young when he gets out of prison.
This book made me realize I know almost nothing about the Arab Spring and should probably read up
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