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A review by seawarrior
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Through the lore of the original Frankenstein emerges this layered horror story surrounding a group of neighbors going about their lives during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Much like the title creation itself, Frankenstein in Baghdad possesses a narrative stitched together from the perspectives and fears of multiple Iraqi victims of war, successfully humanizing these people who have long been ignored by the originator of their pain. The story focuses solely on characters who are Iraqi, with U.S. military operatives portrayed as shadowy and indifferent figures in the background of their lives, but make no mistake, "it was the Americans who were behind this monster".
Our story begins after a junk dealer, Hadi, collected the body parts of bombing victims left in the street and compiled them to physically construct the creature he calls "Whatsitsname". He made this gruesome task his mission in the hopes that these remainders of corpses "wouldn't be treated as trash, so [they] would be respected like other dead people and given a proper burial". Unknown to Hadi, life is bestowed upon this assembly of loss when the soul of yet another bombing victim possesses the Whatsitsname, who is then claimed by a grieving mother as the answer to her prayers for her son's return from war. The Whatsitsname was made entire by victims whose lives and bodies were ripped apart, their deaths never avenged and their hurt never resolved. Thus it quickly becomes engrossed in an quest for revenge it soon learns is never ending, as it must continue collecting the parts of new victims to sustain itself, even though its very notion of victimhood grows murkier with each part vindicated.
Numerous passages throughout this book read as profound understandings of fear, revenge, and humanity. Saadawi both utilizes and elevates Frankenstein's portrayal of grief as a righteous pain that can prove itself monstrous if left as a wound unhealing. Yet in his adaption the grief which molds a monster is not possessed solely by one man, but by an entire country. I highly recommend this book to those who feel they can handle the subject matter. My only dissatisfaction with it lies with the ending, which felt somewhat rushed, especially in comparison to the tightly woven narratives of the previous chapters. Yet overall, I found this novel both deeply disturbing and emotionally moving, often at the same time. Every accolade given to it has been diligently earned.
Our story begins after a junk dealer, Hadi, collected the body parts of bombing victims left in the street and compiled them to physically construct the creature he calls "Whatsitsname". He made this gruesome task his mission in the hopes that these remainders of corpses "wouldn't be treated as trash, so [they] would be respected like other dead people and given a proper burial". Unknown to Hadi, life is bestowed upon this assembly of loss when the soul of yet another bombing victim possesses the Whatsitsname, who is then claimed by a grieving mother as the answer to her prayers for her son's return from war. The Whatsitsname was made entire by victims whose lives and bodies were ripped apart, their deaths never avenged and their hurt never resolved. Thus it quickly becomes engrossed in an quest for revenge it soon learns is never ending, as it must continue collecting the parts of new victims to sustain itself, even though its very notion of victimhood grows murkier with each part vindicated.
Numerous passages throughout this book read as profound understandings of fear, revenge, and humanity. Saadawi both utilizes and elevates Frankenstein's portrayal of grief as a righteous pain that can prove itself monstrous if left as a wound unhealing. Yet in his adaption the grief which molds a monster is not possessed solely by one man, but by an entire country. I highly recommend this book to those who feel they can handle the subject matter. My only dissatisfaction with it lies with the ending, which felt somewhat rushed, especially in comparison to the tightly woven narratives of the previous chapters. Yet overall, I found this novel both deeply disturbing and emotionally moving, often at the same time. Every accolade given to it has been diligently earned.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War