Reviews with content warning for War - Brotherless Night

Reviews tagging 'War'

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan

56 reviews

khick7777's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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knkoch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-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

4.5

This is an exquisite and heart-rending example of the best sort of historical fiction. It's clearly very well-researched and situated not just in the details of the Sri Lankan civil war but in the rich and promising details of these characters lives, culture, community, and relationships before the war began. Sometimes historical novels try to put their characters inside too many singular events and locations for the story to feel true or lived-in. I imagine that's because the authors have done so much research and feel so deeply about the history they've absorbed that they are loath to leave out events they want to chronicle. But that's not the case here. Ganeshananthan not only situates her central family realistically; she also does the very tricky work of delineating the complicated relational ties within their community of neighbors, relatives, local government, friends, and school peers. This way, major historical events don't all have to happen to the same seven people. It gives that disconcerting wartime feeling of news passed around, of feeling lucky when violence breaks out on a different street or you're not stopped by hostile soldiers, though knowing it could happen to you tomorrow.

The characters are deeply empathetic and benefit from the time Ganeshananthan takes to sketch out their prewar lives. Such a large family can be difficult to differentiate, but she does it superbly. I was struck by the way war anywhere destroys all the normal hopes and expectations people build for their lives. All the students who spent hours studying for medical or engineering exams they never got the chance to sit for, or marriages and families that never got the space to begin. In places plagued by ongoing violence it can be easy to forget how many scores of people demonstrate for the chance to live the peaceful, normal lives that were interrupted, even demonstrating against the rebel forces purporting to fight for them. And yet oppressive, discriminatory, prejudiced governments, like the Sinhalese-led government of 1980s Sri Lanka, foment inevitable rebellion through their restrictions and abuses of power.

This is a very accessible introduction to the Sri Lankan civil war to anyone less familiar with its dynamics. I got a bit lost last year reading The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, grounded in the same time and conflict, but now I feel a bit more capable of picking that one up again. Brotherless Night is more directly about the larger conflict and communities involved, and while painful to read, quite brilliant. I'm looking forward to attending an author event next month for this book and learning more.

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emgroomy27's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Absolutely incredible book. It is rich, tender, and heartwrenching. It was beautiful to read and I learnt so much.

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rhibeetle17's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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aimeelynng's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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fionablackwood's review against another edition

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4.0

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oenophile_bibliophile's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

A fictionalized account of a civilian woman during the Sri Lankan civil war. Told in a painfully factual way. Not an enjoyable read, but an important and deeply feminist one.

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