Minor Detail

‘Man, not the tank, shall prevail.’‘Sometimes it’s inevitable for the past to be forgotten, especially if the present is no less horrific.’‘The horizon materializes as a blue line. The sea! There it is, in real life, after years of absence, years in which it was nothing more than pale blue on a map.’Unfolding in two carefully linked parts, “Minor Detail” pivots around a crime, based on an actual incident in 1949, and its reverberations many years later when a young woman becomes obsessed with unravelling the truth. But the novel’s real power lies in its stark evocation of loss and erasure, of life under an occupation, of significant realities concealed behind minor, mundane details.In spare, unsentimental prose, Adania Shibli conjures a terrifying vision of the cost of losing our humanity, and the violent consequences this unleashes in perpetuity. The fact that she manages to do this in just over a hundred pages (showing exceptional restraint where other authors might have been tempted to go in for extravagant bombast) is truly masterful. (And Elisabeth Jaquette’s translation makes for a smooth and seamless rendition.)This won’t be a book for everyone, not least because of its grim subject matter, but it is an urgent, necessary book, and a powerful testament to the uncanny ability of literature (and translations in particular) to expand our horizons and remind us that we have more in common than think.

Minor Details is a translated historical fiction. The story has been split into two parts. The first part speaks from the perspective of the soldier who has been appointed to look out the place in Negev. Not to be occupied by any other countries. Everyday, the protagonist goes for the duty from his tent to look after if any people of other countries are surrounded there. One day on going, he suddenly heard a noise coming from the side he was walking. Slowly, the voice was much more clear to him. He saw some camels, a girl lying in blood, and a dog barking constantly. He brought the girl to the tent. Until this, I had the hope that higher officials were having a good heart. But, there happens a twist: he literally digs a hole to make bury it there, that to be alive. Part 2 speaks of a woman from Ramallah who is a journalist. She has fear of things, especially dogs barking. Every night she hears the dark barking in a high pitch from the dessert. She was triggered by particular news. She somehow wanted to know the full details of the story. She goes in search of it. More than the title saying minor details. It was literally haunting details in the second part. Though fictional, I felt the spine chill in my bones. It’s not easy to see things that happened 25 years ago. She learned more about the place and details. It broke my heart to see such things happening even now. The author has wonderfully detailed the history of the place. Though it was only 112 pages. It was more than enough to make me feel haunted by the details. I couldn’t even imagine things. I didn’t spill many details of the story because you should read to know the truth. If you want to read a sad yet very painful story, go ahead with this book.

Minor detail is a two-part novella narrated with contrasting voices and point of views. The first part is conveyed in the third person narrative about an Israeli soldier who is in command in Negev, Palestine, in 1949. He and his subordinates capture a young Bedouin girl, and physically abuse her before murdering her. The events are narrated with the same nonchalance as explaining his daily habits, like bathing, eating and moving around in his room.The second part happens in the present, in Ramella, exactly 25 years after the death of the Bedouin girl, when an unnamed protagonist is intrigued by the events that occurred in Negev in 1949. She moves out in search of the hidden truth to give voice to the voiceless and, in the process, gets caught in a trap herself.This is one of those influential books that made me regret not picking them up earlier. This 112-page novella is packed with such intense and evocative storytelling that it becomes hard to put it down. I was amazed by how the two parts were narrated with completely contrasting voices - the first part oozed power and arrogance, while the second part screamed anxiety, agony and vulnerability. I couldn't help but gasp with surprise when the author mixed humour in the most painful situations, like how she went on a rant about hating gritty sand particles that disturb her writing process when the building was being bombed and saying the uniform of the officer must belong to the museum as he did not scrutinise her as much as done by others. I mean, it was her way of expressing the habituation of Palestinians to Israeli occupation and atrocities over the years, and it was mind-blowing. The indifference with which rape, murder and bombings were described like daily routines such as reading a newspaper, bathing and cleaning a wound made me realise the purpose behind the title and the book.This unique novella deserves all the attention and is a must-read for its honest commentary on colonialism and war crimes and its reminiscent and powerful storytelling.

An important, haunting read I would recommend to anyone seeking to understand the history of violence in Israel/Palestine and those who appreciate the art of narration. Shibli tells the story of a massacre of a Bedouin tribe, followed by the rape and murder of its sole survivor, a young woman or girl, first through the eyes of an Israeli military commander, then through those of a Palestinian woman playing detective a generation later. The book helps readers to understand from a Palestinian perspective the fraught modern history of this region from the Palestinian perspective- the Nakba of 1948 during which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians (and Bedouins like Shibli’s family) were driven from the land they had lived on and farmed for generations, the indiscriminate violence against civilians, the conditions under which Palestinians live, and the erasure of Palestinian history and culture in Israeli settlements.

I finished this book in one sitting. It’s short but impactful historical fiction. Told in two parts this book answers no questions, no breakthrough made for the larger conflict. Just the minor details of two incidents, a snippet of time 50 years apart. It’s a glimpse into life in occupied Palestine.The Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany cancelled an award ceremony and event with the author. This part of an ongoing dismissal of Palestinian voices.

Un livre qu'il faut absolument lire, surtout avec ce qui« Ce n’est pas le canon qui vaincra, c’est l’homme. »TW : viol collectif, meurtre, génocide, violence policièreCe court roman est scindé en deux : un premier texte écrit à la troisième personne et la seconde partie écrit à la première personne. Dans la première partie, on suit un officier israélien anonyme, plutôt maniaque. Ce qui a été nommé comme "incident" se passe en août 1949 sous sa garde et sa demande : le viol collectif d'une jeune bédouine qui sera ensuite tuée. Dans la seconde partie, on suit une jeune palestinienne de nos jours qui est obsédée par un détail "mineur" de cet incident : le fait qu'il se soit déroulé pile vingt-cinq ans avant son anniversaire.Si les deux parties sont clairement différentes, elles restent indissociables pour comprendre l'histoire. Il faut aussi savoir que cet "incident" dont s'est emparé Adania Shibli pour écrire cette histoire est inspirée d'un véritable crime commis par l'armée israélienne. C'est justement ce moment ainsi que les quelques jours avant que l'on suit dans la première partie, du point de vue de l'instigateur. Le point de vue à la troisième personne nous pousse aussi à avoir un certain recul et à être plus spectateurice des scènes. Un homme inconnu, un homme de guerre et dont les crimes sont considérés comme un détail. Tuer les Bédouins, c'est un détail pour eux. Kidnapper une Bédouine et la violer, c'est un détail pour eux. Organiser un viol collectif, puis la tuer et l'enterrer au milieu du désert, c'est un détail pour eux.Au contraire, la deuxième partie est écrite à la première personne et déjà, nous plonge en tant qu'acteurice de la scène. On suit une jeune palestinienne, très angoissée, mais surtout si obsédée par cette histoire qu'elle va à tout prix chercher des informations. Mais comment le faire, elle, palestinienne confiné dans un endroit contrôlé par les israéliens ? Elle ne peut pas bouger comme elle le veut, ne peut pas parler comme elle veut. Ses détails à elle, ils sont réellement mineurs : son nom, ses cartes, ses repas, son paquet de chewing-gum. Pourtant, là-bas, c'est elle qui sera considérée comme criminelle.Pour avoir cherché vérité s'est passé.

Stilistisch geen woord te veel. en dat is erg zeldzaam. Herinnert me aan"Disgrace" van Coetzee of deromans van Elsschot. Zo dringt de boodschap meteen door tot de kern, en kan de lezer zelf wel de nodige details invullen.Ludo Abicht, UAntwerpen

I believe every incident in the story has happened at different times to different people, but in this book the incidents have been linked to create a story.