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David Diop (2) (1966–)

Författare till At Night All Blood Is Black

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4 verk 784 medlemmar 31 recensioner

Om författaren

Foto taget av: Hermance Triey

Verk av David Diop

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
1966-02-24
Kön
male
Nationalitet
France
Födelseort
Paris, France
Bostadsorter
Paris, France
Dakar, Senegal
Utbildning
Sorbonne (PhD)
Yrken
professor

Medlemmar

Recensioner

Powerful, loaded and very eye opening!

My rating 5/5
This is a small book but totally wonderful!!

https://sravikabodapati.wordpress.com/2024/01/26/book-review-at-night-all-blood-...
 
Flaggad
nagasravika.bodapati | 26 andra recensioner | Jan 26, 2024 |
A Darker Shade of Black

I could not listen to the Audible release which is introduced as “performed” by narrator Dion Graham, and turned to a less dramatic “straight” read by Ray Foushee. I was able to read further but still could not finish.

I felt that the level of violence was unnecessary. I got the point at the third disembowelment. Yes the prose was good but did not reach a level to overcome what I felt was unnecessary gore.
 
Flaggad
kjuliff | 26 andra recensioner | Jan 20, 2024 |
But I, Alfa Ndiaye, I understand the true meaning of the captain's words. No one knows what I think. I am free to think whatever I want. And what I think is that people don't want me to think. The unthinkable is what is hidden behind the captain's words. The captain's France needs for us to play the savage when it suits them. They need for us to be savage because the enemy is afraid of our machetes. I know, I understand, it's no more complicated than that.

Alfa is a twenty-year-old Senegalese soldier fighting for the French colonizers in the trenches of World War I. The book opens with Alfa lying beside his dying brother-in-arms, Mademba. The two had been inseparable throughout childhood and on the battlefield, now Mademba is begging Alfa to "finish him off" rather than let him die in pain and indignity. Alfa refuses to kill his best friend, setting off a downward spiral of doubt, guilt, recrimination, vengeance, and madness. Told entirely from Alfa's point of view, the book is brutal and dark, portraying not only the horrors of war but of colonial racism.

Once I began reading, I could not put the book down, and finished it in a single sitting. I then went back and reread the ending twice more. There is so much to unpack in this small volume. It's also beautifully written, even descriptions of horrible acts read lyrically. It's easy to understand why it won the International Booker Prize in 2021. Although it will not be a book for everyone, if you are interested, I recommend it highly.

Yes, I understood, God's truth, that on the battlefield they wanted only fleeting madness. Madmen of rage, madmen of pain, furious madmen, but temporary ones. No continuous madmen. As soon as the fighting ends we're to file away our rage, our pain, and our fury. Pain is tolerated, we can bring our pain home on the condition that we keep it to ourselves. But rage and fury cannot be brought back to the trench.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
labfs39 | 26 andra recensioner | Dec 31, 2023 |
I couldn't relate to this book. The writing was unique and easy to read. However, it was repetitive and dark. I understand it is about the horrors of war, loss, and Senegalese culture, but it was so gruesome. I think it would have been more effective as a short story.
1 rösta
Flaggad
PaulaGalvan | 26 andra recensioner | Nov 16, 2023 |

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Statistik

Verk
4
Medlemmar
784
Popularitet
#32,462
Betyg
3.8
Recensioner
31
ISBN
42
Språk
11

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