Reviews

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

emmabeckman's review against another edition

3.0

I liked that this was an fascinating take on a classic and that it had the feeling of the oral storytelling tradition that we associate with both Homer and men in coffee bars. I thought it felt very authentic, and I thought the setting and perspective were ones that I haven’t read much of before. They both made it a very interesting book to read, and I feel like the book expanded my perspective and understanding of the culture in Iraq (obviously, this is a fantasy fictional novel, so I recognize that not everything in it is factual, but it presents many different characters of different backgrounds, and it was refreshing to be reminded that Iraq and the Middle East are NOT homogenous zones where every person is exactly the same in every way. Obviously I know that!! But it was nice to be presented with small-scale individual humans. I—and we all—should do more reading of different Middle Eastern own voices stories more often.).

The writing was quite circular, which was not my favorite thing to read. And it was a bit hard to keep everything straight in my mind. I’m glad I read it in the end, since now I really know how to talk about it to others.

thegoodscorpio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

noahoha's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

rawrdianasaur's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

karlosius's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

4.5

nataliesong's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

rociovoncina's review against another edition

3.0

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

5.0

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

petrak's review against another edition

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

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

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and War