Hassan Blasim

I enjoyed this collection of stories. Many of the stories were melancholy and dark and tied to the war. Often they felt more like literary fiction than science fiction. I liked reading the different stories that were not from a U.S./U.K. centric voice. Although the stories were written by different authors, they all had very similar themes, atmosphere, and feeling. I wish there would have been a story by a woman author, or even one with a prominent woman character. I definitely recommend this collection to those that enjoy world literature, whether or not you enjoy science fiction.… (more)

I think it's possible to write stories about terrible things without the reader feeling bludgeoned. The problem I have with these stories is that they are relentless in a way that I believe should be preserved for non-fiction or for visual representation of factual events. The blurb on the back of the Penguin edition claims that this collection "offers us a pageant of horrors, as haunting as the photos of Abu Ghraib..." but I say, look at the photos of Abu Ghraib instead. Fiction, language itself, implies logic and order, where even the most nihilistic writing is an act of faith.

A short story collection that I think succeeded in documenting terrible things, without sinking under its own weight, is [b:Kolyma Tales|109812|Kolyma Tales|Varlam Shalamov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348611733s/109812.jpg|105834] by [a:Varlam Shalamov|63552|Varlam Shalamov|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1222952456p2/63552.jpg].… (more)

These stories left me with a feeling of cultural inaccessibility. The writing is strong and the characters engaging but within each tale is a violence and surreal turn that would leave me uneasy or simply confused.

I suspect that this is the intent, and that it may in fact scratch the surface of what it must be like to live in a region that since ancient times: has been invaded; involved in internecine wars; is regularly subject to internal political, religious, and tribal skirmishes. It's gotta be disorienting for the impoverished living in an oil rich nation and regardless of status, I imagine life for many probably is marred by violence and surreal turns of events.

The sense of dis-ease is perhaps what Blasim is targeting. If so, bulls-eye. The stories I felt I best understood: "The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes" and "The Reality and the Record." Most intrigued by: "The Corpse Exhibition", "The Thousand and One Knives", and "The Song of the Goats". Most WTF: "The Green Zone Rabbit". Most compelling: "Iraqi Christ".… (more)