A review by grace_astudentreading
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

fast-paced

5.0

There is not much I can say about this book except read it. But I will still do my best to write the most comprehensive review I can. To start with the writing style, it is best described as blunt. The entire book is best described as blunt. Normally, I would hate this, but in this case it is necessary. It gives the reader a level of detachment from the horrific things happening in the book, creating a sense of surrealism, for lack of a better word. As for the actual story, it is organized well, in two clear parts of 1949 and the more present day, with two different main characters. I actually liked that one was in the third person and one in the first, since it emphasized the contrast between past and present, Israeli and Palestinian, soldier and citizen, man and woman, perpetrator and victim. Finally, the ending of the book is absolutely brutal, and I mean that as a compliment. It fits the theme of the story and brings everything full circle, and is a complete shock yet at the same time completely foreseeable. This book will be occupying my mind for a very long time.