Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Die Kunst zu verlieren by Alice Zeniter

7 reviews

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

The Art of Losing follows three generations of a family from 1940s Algeria through France today. Zeniter’s writing is beautiful, though it feels like she’s trying too hard at times. 

I loved the historical pieces depicting Ali as a powerful olive farmer in the period preceding the war for independence. This is a Kabyle community - a large Berber minority ethnic group with its own language and culture that I knew nothing about before reading this novel. As the war finds their small, remote community, Ali is forced to make a choice, which results in the family being forced to flee to France. The majority of the book seemed to focus on Ali’s son Hamid and his experiences growing up in France. This is where the book really shines. It’s a powerful depiction of the lives of immigrant families and communities, the hatred they face, the in-between-ness that children especially feel. Eventually the narrative shifts to Hamid’s daughter Naïma, who feels adrift in life, working at an art gallery in Paris and unaware of the specifics of her family’s history or why they fled Algeria. 

I found the first two generations far more interesting than the third, but the story certainly benefits from seeing the impact of colonization, war, and immigration on another generation. (It should be said that Zeniter herself went to Algeria as an adult to find out more about her family, just as Naima does in the novel.) This book was a hit in France, winning two major awards, which I find fascinating as France still has an extremely fraught relationship with Algeria 👀

Ultimately an important story that I’m glad I read, especially prior to my trip to Algeria. While there, it was very clear that the emphasis is on the revolution and the glorification of those who fought to free the country from French colonization. What I appreciated about The Art of Losing is that it opens up history to be much longer than that and complicates the narrative of the war. No one is glamorous or righteous. People are complicated and, when forced to make decisions, are just trying to protect their families.

One pet peeve: the origin of the title was way too *hit you over the head.* I loved the title before we came to this part near the end of the book. As a reader I want to be trusted more to understand it on my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I actually enjoyed the book much more than I had expected going into it. I really liked the first section set in Algeria and I got to experience a place and time that I'm not at all familiar with. 
I found the second and third sections less compelling (maybe because they veer towards a more "literary ficton-y" style that is not entirely my cup of tea) but I still appreciated a lot the nuanced reflections on the immigrant experience and the connected themes of assimilation, integration, and self-identity. 

Overall I liked the writing style, but at times it was a bit too much convoluted and there were some more experimental bits that I did not particularly care for.
In the first section, there are some episodes that are already quite gruesome as it is, where I felt like the very specific details were added a bit unnecessarily, sort of like throwaway specifications just for shock value. I could also have done without a very explicit circumcision scene. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Mass/school shootings, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug use, Infertility, Terminal illness, Excrement, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

catherinemorganowen's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and War

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

quinnkempert's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Child death

mephistofelix's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

vraiment un très bon livre, j’ai appris plein de choses sur la guerre d’indépendance de l’Algérie et les conséquences sur les gens que ça a touchés.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

ça raconte des choses dures donc des fois c’est violent mais ça n’en fait pas trop, j’ai trouvé en tout cas

the_literarylinguist's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, and Infidelity

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Mass/school shootings

astridrv's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

An in-depth exploration of one family's story of loss, grief and growth in relation to the war in Algeria. I was really excited about reading this book. It reads easily, it is very informative, and struck a chord at some pages. I am glad to have spent time with these characters, but in the end, I was not overly impressed with the writing or the structure. I would have made different choices in terms of narration - although I get that the occasional presence of a first person narrator may be useful to avoid the obvious parallel between the author and one character, I feel like it would have been more organic to just let it be and the additional voice felt like an interference. The way different time frames were woven into each other also did not feel very strong to me. As for the writing, it is accessible (which is good!) but a bit too simple and direct for me (nothing hidden, no surprises, all the character's layers were right on the surface). I am still grateful for what I learned.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Panic attacks/disorders