Reviews

Titulo: Frankenstein in Baghdad
Autor: Ahmed Saadawi
Año publicado: 2013
Motivo de lectura: Maraton en la cripta
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Idioma: Español
Puntuacion: 3.5/5

Elegi leer este libro pensando que era un retelling del clasico Frankenstein (libro que lei recientemente y ame demasiado), pero lo que encontre en Frankenstein in Baghdad no es para nada un retelling.
El libro esta muy bien escrito, y al terminarlo lo tome como una critica social a Irak y su regimen, a la guerra, a la ocupacion de USA, a una sociedad poco tolerante.
Esto no es un libro de terror, o mejor dicho no es el terror tradicional donde te asusta una criatura extraña. Este libro es sobre el terror que las personas pueden infligir en otras personas. Este libro esta plagado de metaforas y simbolismos.
Mi unica critica negativa es que al principio se presentan muchos personajes y eso puede prestar a la confusion.
Por momentos senti que no estaba leyendo un libro de ficcion, sino mas bien una cronica de la guerra y como las personas intentan sobrevivir. Ahmed Saadawi definitivamente es un gran escritor.

goodolvic's review against another edition

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5.0

Now, an assemblage representing the spirit of a place, that’s an idea.

petrak's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Frankenstein in Baghdad is a book very much outside my wheelhouse and was in many ways a challenging read with a blurry line between what was real and what was not, frequently changing perspectives, and a large cast of characters to keep track of. There was a character list provided, but I found it a lot less helpful on audio than it would have been in print when flipping back and forward is so easy. This novel takes the broad outline of the Frankenstein story, shifts it to a neighbourhood in Baghdad around the time of the US invasion and the death of Saddam Hussein, and uses it to make some very insightful comments about the horrors of war generally and that war in particular. Hadi, a local scavenger collects body parts left on the streets after bombings and other acts of violence, and stitches them together in order to have the government recognise them as people and to give them a proper burial. But the creature called Whatsitsname comes to life and goes on a killing spree, first for revenge and then simply because it needs fresh flesh to stay alive, "aided" by a varied cast of followers with contradictory motives which soon brought them into conflict. I thought this was a brilliant allegory for occupied Iraq at the macro level whilst specifically highlighting the impacts of the violence at the microlevel in Hadi's Al-Batween neighbourhood. There are more layers to this novel, but for me, its strength lay in its seamless transfer of the Frankenstein tropes to Baghdad of the early 2000s and the pertinent social and political commentary that resulted.

Content Warnings

elysareadsitall's review against another edition

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2.0

The premise of this book is incredibly clever and interesting, and it takes a classic story and merges it with modern times perfectly. However, the writing (translation) was a bit of a mess. I was confused about the timeline most of the time, and the pace was odd. It was too slow most of the time, and then a lot of things would happen at once suddenly. I thought I would absolutely love this book, but it was okay and one I will probably forget about.

atgerstner's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

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