A review by foggy_rosamund
God in Pink by Hasan Namir

2.0

The subject matter of this book is compelling: I have never read a book about the experience of being a gay man in Iraq, and their stories need to be told. Unfortunately, Namir's prose style doesn't live up to the weightiness of his subjects: Ramy's life is full of traumatic events and abuse, but Namir never gave himself space to really write about the impact of those events on Ramy's psyche. I often felt like I was reading notes for what should be a much longer piece, because everything happens so rapidly, and for me to truly engage with the impact of what happens, I needed the aftermath of what happens to be given much more time and development. The book alternates between the perspectives of Ramy, a young gay man, and Ammar, a sheikh whose guidance Ramy seeks. The two men are full of internal strife and desperately struggling to understand themselves in a place that is hostile to them. The magic realism and struggle with God coupled with the dilemmas of being gay are really interesting ideas, but I desperately wanted Namir to spend more time in each scene and develop the emotions and atmosphere of this story. I really hope he writes another book, because this novel has urgency and power, and could be so much more than it is.