A review by sannereadstheworld
Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste
I always love a short story collection as a way of finding new authors and this collection is a great way to get to know some Ethiopian authors.
As with all collections, some stories grab you more than others, but overall this is a very strong bunch of short stories. The theme of 'noir' is very broadly interpreted - some stories don't necessarily have a crime element, others have supernatural elements, or deal with the traumatic recent Ethiopian history. If you're looking for a collection of purely noir fiction, this is not for you. It is of far more interest for readers wanting to sample works from a wide variety of contemporary Ethiopian authors.
The stories I enjoyed the most in the order in which they appear in the collection:
- Ostrich by Rebecca Fisseha
- Dust, Ash, Flight by Maaza Mengiste
Both of these deal with the trauma of the DERG regime and I love the emotional depth in both stories
- Father Bread by Mikael Awake
I love myself a story with a twist. And this twist was just ... WOW. This story is spooky!
- A night in Bela Sefer by Sulaiman Addonia
This is the best story of the entire collection - perhaps the best short story I will read this year. Queer, disturbing, creepy and perfectly atmospheric. Perfection. Clearly I need to read more by this author!
As with all collections, some stories grab you more than others, but overall this is a very strong bunch of short stories. The theme of 'noir' is very broadly interpreted - some stories don't necessarily have a crime element, others have supernatural elements, or deal with the traumatic recent Ethiopian history. If you're looking for a collection of purely noir fiction, this is not for you. It is of far more interest for readers wanting to sample works from a wide variety of contemporary Ethiopian authors.
The stories I enjoyed the most in the order in which they appear in the collection:
- Ostrich by Rebecca Fisseha
- Dust, Ash, Flight by Maaza Mengiste
Both of these deal with the trauma of the DERG regime and I love the emotional depth in both stories
- Father Bread by Mikael Awake
I love myself a story with a twist. And this twist was just ... WOW. This story is spooky!
- A night in Bela Sefer by Sulaiman Addonia
This is the best story of the entire collection - perhaps the best short story I will read this year. Queer, disturbing, creepy and perfectly atmospheric. Perfection. Clearly I need to read more by this author!