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nonoemi's review against another edition
4.0
Reading the Corpse Exhibition is a bit like looking at deep space photographs of Jupiter: you see the swirling clouds, it gives the place color, a shape, a character--something harsh, terrible, and beautiful--but no matter how long you look, you're understanding is arrested by that surface level, because it's already beyond your comprehension. What lies beneath that extraterrestrial layer of impenetrable gas, as what lies within the pages of the Corpse exhibition, is at once a mystery and also immediately knowable because of that surface layer. The Iraq of The Corpse Exhibition is a harsh place, an unreal place, a disaster made poetical by Blasim's writing.
The Corpse Exhibition is both real and surreal. It's reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial in the sense that in reading it you get the impression that no matter how magical or metaphorical Blasim's writing becomes, that if there isn't a place in the world where Jinn wait stranded in the empty spaces beneath streets blown through by bombs and feast on the dead bodies of ancient Russian soldiers, if there isn't a place where secret organizations plot assassinations for artfulness and originality, if there isn't a place where an army of dead soldiers write their stories in beautiful, unequaled prose by the thousands and send those stories to a corrupt minister of culture who stores the stories in rented grain silos and passes them off as his own, then you get the feeling that such a place COULD exist, or has existed, or will exist.
Blasim's vision of his home country, from which he escaped in 2004, is bleak, terrifying and magical. The Corpse Exhibition should be required reading for anyone looking to see into the heart of what war after war can do to the soul of a place and its people.
The Corpse Exhibition is both real and surreal. It's reminiscent of Kafka's The Trial in the sense that in reading it you get the impression that no matter how magical or metaphorical Blasim's writing becomes, that if there isn't a place in the world where Jinn wait stranded in the empty spaces beneath streets blown through by bombs and feast on the dead bodies of ancient Russian soldiers, if there isn't a place where secret organizations plot assassinations for artfulness and originality, if there isn't a place where an army of dead soldiers write their stories in beautiful, unequaled prose by the thousands and send those stories to a corrupt minister of culture who stores the stories in rented grain silos and passes them off as his own, then you get the feeling that such a place COULD exist, or has existed, or will exist.
Blasim's vision of his home country, from which he escaped in 2004, is bleak, terrifying and magical. The Corpse Exhibition should be required reading for anyone looking to see into the heart of what war after war can do to the soul of a place and its people.
kolymaarasto's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
mg_lucacv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I had to read this text for my studies. I think it's a very interesting text and would definitely recommend it. Just make sure to read the content warnings because there is a lot in this that could be triggering.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
___puddin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Some of these short stories were gripping and really interesting. Unfortunately a lot of these were at the very start of the book and again at the end, leaving a middle void I didn't enjoy much.
laerugo's review against another edition
4.0
favorite stories:
- the corpse exhibition
- an army newspaper
- the hole
- the iraqi christ
- the nightmares of carlos fuentes
- the corpse exhibition
- an army newspaper
- the hole
- the iraqi christ
- the nightmares of carlos fuentes
stolb's review against another edition
5.0
The man with the beard was a teacher who went to the police one day to report on a neighbor who was trading in antiquities stolen from the National Museum. The police thanked him for his cooperation. The teacher conscience relieved, went back to his school. The police submitted a report to the Ministry of Defense that the teacher's house was an Al Qaeda hideout. The police were in partnership with the antiquities smuggler. The Ministry of Defense sent the report to the U.S Army, who bombed the teacher's house by helicopter. His wife, his four children, and his elderly mother were killed. The teacher escaped with his life, but he suffered brain damage and lost his arms.
cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
em_harring's review against another edition
Putting this collection down about 4 stories in. I'm not loving the stories––particularly their voice. It's just not my style, which is a shame, because I've been looking forward to checking out this collection for years.