I had a very hard time putting a number to my ranking for this book because I just don’t know how I feel about it. There were some parts that I really enjoyed, but in terms of the whole picture, I am not sure I get it. 

 

Throughout this book, Ahmed Saadawi does an excellent job brining to light human essence. I felt that all the characters could actually be real people, and the way in which they thought and reacted in their war-riddled environment was very impactful. So hats off to Saadawi for being able to achieve this—I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the book. 

 

I believe the part I can’t get past is the constant perspective shifts, I found it took away from the essences of the story and am still unsure how certain pieces of the book come together, a lot was left up in the air. I believe this might have been done with intention since in the context of war, some stories don’t have the privilege of being finished, but I wonder what Saadawi wished to accomplish with this book overall. 

 

I felt that there were many pieces of a big puzzle given to us, and I am not sure that the picture was wrapped up entirely in a way that allowed the story to leave an overall impactful message. This is the kind of book with A LOT of potential, but I am not sure if it was pieced together effectively, maybe the book needed to be longer…? 

 

The overall writing and portrayal of the characters is beautiful, Saadawi is a great writer. I actually read this book alongside a friend, and I found this very helpful. It’s a challenging read, not something you can just skim through, but something you need to give a lot of thought. Saadawi does a lot of show and not tell, so you need to really think about why he created certain characters. I believe I would have enjoyed this book more if I was in a classroom breaking it down for all of it’s literary elements.  

 

<Overall, I wish I saw more of the Frankenstein in the book, but maybe that was not the point, and he was more of a symbol. I just feel like if you’re going to title a book “Frankenstein in Bagdhad” then maybe the Frankenstein should be the center of the piece? Of course it does not have to be this way, but I went into the book thinking it would be, so I guess that’s why I was taken aback by that.>

 

I am glad that I was able to get through this book—definitely a good learning curve.