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anneklein's reviews
601 reviews
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
dark
informative
sad
tense
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? N/A
4.0
This was so good. Both parts were enraging, in a good way, but the first one in particular made me feel a disdain that contained so many facets. There's the way the commander refuses to admit he has been bitten by the animal (possibly a snake?), which portrays so well the toxic masculinity of military environments. Then the politics of hygiene, with his efforts to keep himself clean even as he refuses to see his rotten insides; the book emphasises this imagery by repeating the scenes of routine washing and shaving. Later on, he even insists in his head that there is no way that the putrid smell coming from his hut is caused by his own wound. Another facet was obviously the imperialist discourse of the soldiers, the way they speak of their settling. The sterilisation using petrol, the cutting of hair, the humiliation with the water hose...
Yet throughout the violence, a few images appear of life pushing forward regardless. At one point, the commander finds a spider in his hut and spends the next hours looking for insects and crushing them under his feet. The metaphor here is so clear, even more so when considering the military boot as the specific foot that tramples them. And "meanwhile, a little insect advanced towards the edge of the room and slipped through a crack between the floor and the wall, escaping into the gap" (p. 23). After cutting the girl's hair and burning it in a pile alongside her clothes: "Far from the flames that consumed her clothes, a few tiny black ringlets of hair remained scattered across the sand" (34). Finally, on one of the commander's escapades into the hills, "a small black bird charted a line through the sky, which turned a deeper shade of blue [...]" (48).
Each of these minor details, woven so subtly they pass as atmosphere, insist that life prevails, no matter how intense the violence or how unmatched an oppressor may seem. The bird imagery also comes to mind during the second part of the book, as a point of comparison with our narrator's life experience which is in its essence defined by borders (so much so that they are in her head, too).
The second part of the book is so cleverly interwoven with the first, in catastrophic ways that are only apparent once it is too late to turn back. From the beginning we have a parallel in the image of the dog howling, but little by little, as our narrator gets closer to the origin of the story she investigates, details resurface from the first part of the book. Often, these minor details even appear with their wording nearly unchanged from the way they initially appeared. Compare, for example, "carrying a hose wrapped around his arm in equal-sized rings" (30) and "on the sand lies a hose, neatly running from one tree to the next and coiled in equal-sized rings around each trunk" (96). Or "thick clouds of sand sprung from underneath the vehicle's tyres, rose up and followed after them, completely obscuring the view behind" (10), compared to this passage from part 2: "Despite how cautiously I'm driving, thick clouds of dust rise up and swiftly form a halo that obscures the scene behind me" (105).
Through the minor details of our narrator's journey, we realise, in a moment of dramatic irony, that the story she is chasing is one she is already recreating. Her search turns her into a living participant of the story, includes her in ways that go beyond mere research. The truth lies not necessarily in the specific answers of what had happened, but in the shared lived experience between her and the girl from part 1. By the time we follow this logic to its inevitable conclusion, it is much too late.
Yet throughout the violence, a few images appear of life pushing forward regardless. At one point, the commander finds a spider in his hut and spends the next hours looking for insects and crushing them under his feet. The metaphor here is so clear, even more so when considering the military boot as the specific foot that tramples them. And "meanwhile, a little insect advanced towards the edge of the room and slipped through a crack between the floor and the wall, escaping into the gap" (p. 23). After cutting the girl's hair and burning it in a pile alongside her clothes: "Far from the flames that consumed her clothes, a few tiny black ringlets of hair remained scattered across the sand" (34). Finally, on one of the commander's escapades into the hills, "a small black bird charted a line through the sky, which turned a deeper shade of blue [...]" (48).
Each of these minor details, woven so subtly they pass as atmosphere, insist that life prevails, no matter how intense the violence or how unmatched an oppressor may seem. The bird imagery also comes to mind during the second part of the book, as a point of comparison with our narrator's life experience which is in its essence defined by borders (so much so that they are in her head, too).
The second part of the book is so cleverly interwoven with the first, in catastrophic ways that are only apparent once it is too late to turn back. From the beginning we have a parallel in the image of the dog howling, but little by little, as our narrator gets closer to the origin of the story she investigates, details resurface from the first part of the book. Often, these minor details even appear with their wording nearly unchanged from the way they initially appeared. Compare, for example, "carrying a hose wrapped around his arm in equal-sized rings" (30) and "on the sand lies a hose, neatly running from one tree to the next and coiled in equal-sized rings around each trunk" (96). Or "thick clouds of sand sprung from underneath the vehicle's tyres, rose up and followed after them, completely obscuring the view behind" (10), compared to this passage from part 2: "Despite how cautiously I'm driving, thick clouds of dust rise up and swiftly form a halo that obscures the scene behind me" (105).
Through the minor details of our narrator's journey, we realise, in a moment of dramatic irony, that the story she is chasing is one she is already recreating. Her search turns her into a living participant of the story, includes her in ways that go beyond mere research. The truth lies not necessarily in the specific answers of what had happened, but in the shared lived experience between her and the girl from part 1. By the time we follow this logic to its inevitable conclusion, it is much too late.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
challenging
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
a tough read, complicated yet astonishing. unlike anything i have ever read. i'm grateful that pieces of literature such as this one exist, for all the ways they make us confront the darkness of humanity
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford
5.0
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Esperanza Realista: Ideas y relatos para no paralizarnos ante un futuro incierto by María González Reyes, Fernando Cembranos, Marta Pascual
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0