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A review by bites_of_books
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Minor Detail is a book that begins from the perspective of a soldier who is in charge of leading his troops to monitor certain areas in Palestine. They end up finding and raping a Palestinian girl(this is mostly off-page). It's incredibly detailed and yet detached, everything from his washing routine to the way he cleans and rearranges his tent. This is where you can start to notice certain patterns and details in how he focuses on certain things and what the author decides to leave out/keep in the descriptions.
Then we change into the second part of the book where we switch to the perspective of a Palestinian woman many years later, who reads about the girl who was raped and decides that she'd like to find out more about what happened to her. This desire leads her to leave the area in Palestine where she's "allowed" to be and go in search for answers. We follow as she tries to find them.
All throughout the second part we get echoes to the details in the first part. Some of these details seem absolutely inconsequential while others feel like they should have a deeper meaning. It left me with a sense of desperately wanting to find that meaning, which I think also echoed the labyrinthine search that this unnamed woman is embarking on.
A frustrating read that evokes what it might feel like to live under such circumstances. Wanting to seek information without having to ask for permission and instead finding obstacle after obstacle was anxiety-inducing and infuriating, knowing that this, and worse, is what people live in Palestine still.
I'd highly recommend this if you want a very immersive book that will leave you frustrated and honestly, quite sad. I'm glad I read it.
Then we change into the second part of the book where we switch to the perspective of a Palestinian woman many years later, who reads about the girl who was raped and decides that she'd like to find out more about what happened to her. This desire leads her to leave the area in Palestine where she's "allowed" to be and go in search for answers. We follow as she tries to find them.
All throughout the second part we get echoes to the details in the first part. Some of these details seem absolutely inconsequential while others feel like they should have a deeper meaning. It left me with a sense of desperately wanting to find that meaning, which I think also echoed the labyrinthine search that this unnamed woman is embarking on.
A frustrating read that evokes what it might feel like to live under such circumstances. Wanting to seek information without having to ask for permission and instead finding obstacle after obstacle was anxiety-inducing and infuriating, knowing that this, and worse, is what people live in Palestine still.
I'd highly recommend this if you want a very immersive book that will leave you frustrated and honestly, quite sad. I'm glad I read it.