929. As If I'm Not There

As If I'm Not There
Slavenka Drakulic
1999
Around 225 pages

Sometimes, the novels with sexual violence sneak up on us, but I knew going into this that the subject of the book is the mass rape that took place during the Bosnian War. So there's no question about the sexual violence being gratuitous here, like it is in so many other List novels.

I mean, there are truly no words to describe the horror of what happened during that time. Our main female character S. is pretty numb throughout the story because there is no other way to cope with the reality of the moment. 

I can only think of a handful of media that acknowledges the Bosnian War in American culture, and the examples I can remember use it as a punchline. It's so upsetting that I can't genuinely recommend putting yourself through the experience of reading S.'s account. And unlike a writer like Primo Levi, for example, Drakulic doesn't leave us with any hope in her prose. Not that she has an obligation to make us feel better about what happened, I'm just saying this is the literary equivalent of a dementor.

If we are rating by importance, power, and relevance, then absolutely, this novel deserves top marks. And it will definitely convince you the world is an evil place, if you weren't picking up on that already.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2010.

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