A review by tommooney
Zone by Mathias Énard

4.0

ZONE by Mathias Enard. Where the hell to start? This is a huge, complex, detailed and very challenging novel which has left me tired and drained. A neo-fascist sits on a train from Milan to Rome with a suitcase full of papers and photographs exposing war crimes from the past 50 years, which he plans to sell to the Vatican. During his journey he presents a history of the brutal cycle of wars in Europe and the middle east over the past few centuries, taking is through the brutalities, the senselessness and the endless repitition of various warring states and leaders. Blended in is his own story, his own shame at the atrocities he commited against Muslims in Bosnia as a member of a Croatian militia. Zone has been described as a modern day Iliad and the story is heavily packed with references to that work. I can't say I enjoyed reading it, but I don't think this is a book about enjoyment. It is an unbelievably ambitious work which requires commitment and time (and Google, for me) to appreciate but is very much worth the effort. If you haven't read Enard before, do not start here - Street of Thieves is much more accessible. If I hadn't read that first I fear I may have given this one up earlier as I couldn't have been sure it was worth the investment. Phew, I need a lie down.