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mpho3's review against another edition
3.0
These stories left me with a feeling of cultural inaccessibility. The writing is strong and the characters engaging but within each tale is a violence and surreal turn that left me uneasy or simply confused.
I suspect that this is the intent, and that it may in fact scratch the surface of what it must be like to live in a region that since ancient times: has been invaded; involved in internecine wars; is regularly subject to internal political, religious, and tribal skirmishes. It's gotta be disorienting for the impoverished living in an oil rich nation and regardless of status, I imagine that for many life is marred by violence and surreal turns of events.
The sense of dis-ease is perhaps what Blasim is targeting. If so, bulls-eye. The stories I felt I best understood: "The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes" and "The Reality and the Record." Most intrigued by: "The Corpse Exhibition", "The Thousand and One Knives", and "The Song of the Goats". Most WTF: "The Green Zone Rabbit". Most compelling: "Iraqi Christ".
I suspect that this is the intent, and that it may in fact scratch the surface of what it must be like to live in a region that since ancient times: has been invaded; involved in internecine wars; is regularly subject to internal political, religious, and tribal skirmishes. It's gotta be disorienting for the impoverished living in an oil rich nation and regardless of status, I imagine that for many life is marred by violence and surreal turns of events.
The sense of dis-ease is perhaps what Blasim is targeting. If so, bulls-eye. The stories I felt I best understood: "The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes" and "The Reality and the Record." Most intrigued by: "The Corpse Exhibition", "The Thousand and One Knives", and "The Song of the Goats". Most WTF: "The Green Zone Rabbit". Most compelling: "Iraqi Christ".
greeniezona's review against another edition
4.0
How to even begin to talk about these stories? Many have said they are brutal, and of course they are brutal. In these stories, war and violent conflict is background noise. It is usually not even worth mentioning who the current war or conflict is with, let alone which side was the aggressor and what their motivations. War is. Death is. Now how do you make sense of it?
Many of these stories are about storytelling. In the title story, a secret organization tells stories with publicly displayed corpses. (At times, this story seems an apt frame for the rest.) In "An Army Newspaper," an editor wins acclaim after publishing a dead soldier's stories as his own, only to be driven into paranoia and madness when the stories keep coming. In "The Song of the Goats," a radio show comes to record war stories -- contestants line up and compete, each bragging that theirs is the most heartbreaking.
I found the collection as a whole pretty bleak, as expected. Some stories ripped my heart out, while a few fell a little flat. Perhaps my favorite story is "A Thousand and One Knives." It is the story of a group of people who discover they all have mysterious power -- they can make knives disappear. Then they find someone who can make them reappear. It's such a strange little story, but it runs the gamut of horrible brutality, mystery, and moments of grace and hope. The last being elements definitely not present in all of the stories, however limited they may be even in this one.
Recommended to fans of dark fiction, to people who seek to understand what life is like where death has been made cheap.
Many of these stories are about storytelling. In the title story, a secret organization tells stories with publicly displayed corpses. (At times, this story seems an apt frame for the rest.) In "An Army Newspaper," an editor wins acclaim after publishing a dead soldier's stories as his own, only to be driven into paranoia and madness when the stories keep coming. In "The Song of the Goats," a radio show comes to record war stories -- contestants line up and compete, each bragging that theirs is the most heartbreaking.
I found the collection as a whole pretty bleak, as expected. Some stories ripped my heart out, while a few fell a little flat. Perhaps my favorite story is "A Thousand and One Knives." It is the story of a group of people who discover they all have mysterious power -- they can make knives disappear. Then they find someone who can make them reappear. It's such a strange little story, but it runs the gamut of horrible brutality, mystery, and moments of grace and hope. The last being elements definitely not present in all of the stories, however limited they may be even in this one.
Recommended to fans of dark fiction, to people who seek to understand what life is like where death has been made cheap.
tpanik's review against another edition
4.0
An important book. Exquisite writing. Reminds you that there are multiple sides to war.
mmefish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
I wasn’t aware that it’s magical realism, otherwise I’d never pick it up (I’m already not a fan of short stories but I was curious to read about Iraq). Unfortunately, the amount of violence for the sake of violence put me off (and in a bad mood) plus I did not get most of the stories. However, I’m not saying that this collection is bad — it definitely depicts war in a gripping way — it’s just really, really not my thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury
partypete's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 - all of these short stories are tight and very readable, but are a bit same-y. Obviously no one expects every short story in a collection to be a winner, but Blasim is exclusively focused on physical violence as a device to move his stories along. Granted, his stories take place largely in a war-torn Iraq - but violence isn’t always a sophisticated or intriguing plot device. Violence can be quiet, subdued, hidden - Blasim’s stories always take violence to its most visceral end, so body parts are always being lost (or found) and always on full display.
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the book though. “An Army Newspaper”, “Crosswords”, and “A Thousand And One Knives” were all great. “The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes” could pair well with a Houllebecq novel. But violence for the sake of violence rarely gives any sort of interesting insight into the characters of these novels. We instead see characters living under violence, but even the two stories that take place outside of Iraq also end poorly. I find myself more drawn to a story that hints at the possibility of violence, without displaying it all at once - Blasim’s stories are interesting, but not profoundly psychological.
So, not the biggest fan, but I would definitely read other things by him in the future.
It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the book though. “An Army Newspaper”, “Crosswords”, and “A Thousand And One Knives” were all great. “The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes” could pair well with a Houllebecq novel. But violence for the sake of violence rarely gives any sort of interesting insight into the characters of these novels. We instead see characters living under violence, but even the two stories that take place outside of Iraq also end poorly. I find myself more drawn to a story that hints at the possibility of violence, without displaying it all at once - Blasim’s stories are interesting, but not profoundly psychological.
So, not the biggest fan, but I would definitely read other things by him in the future.
stgts's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
5.0
a_l_deleon's review against another edition
4.0
A short story collection of horror and macabre, The Corpse Exhibition is not an easy read. However, it is thought provoking and well written, conveying the sense of madness and trauma one would assume to be associated with war. It begs the question of why would we ever want to perpetuate wars to begin with when all it can offer is death?