Karen
30-Jan-2009, 18:51
Translated from the French by Linda Black
I really didn't like this book, which is a shame because, from what I understand, Khadra has written some very good books.
I liked it at first. It begins in a small Algerian village, where a number of characters are introduced. He's obviously a good writer. One thing I didn't like about it was that I thought that, as it is quite a short book, it introduced too many characters and didn't develop them enough. It did provide a convincing picture of what the rise of Islamic extremism is like in a small Algerian town. But after a while, it just became one atrocity after another. And I just didn't think it was well plotted. A revelation at the end of the book, I felt would have been better introduced early on. Has anyone else read this and how did you feel about it?
I really didn't like this book, which is a shame because, from what I understand, Khadra has written some very good books.
I liked it at first. It begins in a small Algerian village, where a number of characters are introduced. He's obviously a good writer. One thing I didn't like about it was that I thought that, as it is quite a short book, it introduced too many characters and didn't develop them enough. It did provide a convincing picture of what the rise of Islamic extremism is like in a small Algerian town. But after a while, it just became one atrocity after another. And I just didn't think it was well plotted. A revelation at the end of the book, I felt would have been better introduced early on. Has anyone else read this and how did you feel about it?