A review by geve_
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

3.0

I really enjoyed the first 25-30% of this book. It was funny, dark, tragic and clever. There were tons of characters and they really fill out what this book is, a story of the time and place. Baghdad features prominently of course, and for such a big city, this feels very much like a neighborhood here, and I mean that in the best possible way. Though the beginning does a great job of setting up the premise and story, it got really slow after that. The time shifts were confusing, and that could just be the translation. The characters started getting a bit much, and there were A LOT for such a short book. In addition, after the set up, we know what's happening but we still have to experience the discussions and realizations with each different set of characters, so it was really repetitive. Felt very much like just going through the motions at some point.

Still, this was a great idea and a great premise, not the best execution. The dark comedy was generally absurd, which is my favorite kind, but these good points couldn't save this book. It was fine, but not great.