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Jokes for the Gunmen
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
7 posts | 5 read | 4 to read
A brilliant collection of fictions in the vein of Roald Dahl, Etgar Keret and Amy Hempel. These are stories of what the world looks like from a child's pure but sometimes vengeful or muddled perspective. These are stories of life in a war zone, life peppered by surreal mistakes, tragic accidents and painful encounters. These are stories of fantasist matadors, lost limbs and perplexed voyeurs. This is a collection about sex, death and the all-important skill of making life into a joke. These are unexpected stories by a very fresh voice. These stories are unforgettable.
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review
BookwormM
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
Mehso-so

#MBI2019 #ReadAroundtheWorld

Just realised I hadn‘t reviewed this here another short story collection on the long list and surprise surprise they are still not my thing

Full review here www.thereadersroom.org

Redheadrambles Yep, I actually don‘t mind short stories but these ... oh I really did not gel with them 5y
18 likes1 comment
review
Emilymdxn
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
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Panpan

#mbi2019

Not a fan of this one. The stories felt like they weren‘t as powerful and significant as they were meant to be and I thought the symbolism was quite heavy handed. Some bits were well done, the look at a child‘s priorities and understanding of war was well done at the beginning, but the stories hung together less and less well as the book went on and I don‘t think it deserves a spot on the shortlist.

Redheadrambles Exactly! 5y
45 likes1 comment
review
Simona
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
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Mehso-so

Another short story collection from this year #MBIP2019 and another one for which I feel that the stories, as a collection, are too weak for shortlist. Main thread through them is how to make sense from incomprehensible events. In most of the stories the narrator is child, living a life in a war/conflict zone (we don‘t get information about where and when, except in one story) dealing with devastation, violence, desperation ... All stories are 👇

Simona ... permeated with a sense of tragedy through the narrator‘s naivety, as well as with irony, bizarre and strange situations. Readable, interesting, peculiar and recommended for fans of black humor. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #ManBookerInternationalPrize 5y
54 likes1 comment
review
Redheadrambles
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
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Panpan

⭐️

First book read from the 2019 International Booker Prize longlist and probably not the best option for me. A collection of absurdist short stories set in an unnamed war zone. It was an unpleasant, unsettling and luckily short read.

DGRachel I tried to read the Man Booker long list last year and only got through four titles - enough to decide that Booker titles are most likely not for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 5y
18 likes2 comments
blurb
Brona
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
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Broadening my horizons.

CarolynM Wow! Don't know about that one. I'll be interested to see what you think if it. 5y
Brona Longlisted for this years Booker International. Interesting so far. 5y
4 likes2 comments
blurb
Haroon_Ishaq
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
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Want this book

blurb
Emilymdxn
Jokes for the Gunmen | Mazen Maarouf
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Good weekend for books! Top two I bought today for #manbookerinternational2019 and bottom two were birthday gifts from friends I had dinner with on Friday.

What beauties 😍😍😍

fleeting 👏👏👏😍 5y
cathysaid Freire looks interesting... 5y
Haroon_Ishaq 1st top 2 I need to read 5y
Haroon_Ishaq Bottom two I've read long ago 5y
Haroon_Ishaq is a perspective changing book on traditional concepts of learning 5y
66 likes1 stack add5 comments