Frankenstein in Baghdad

Saadawi... Saadawi where do I start?
(Wherever I do start I would like to make note that this review is being written up in the middle of the night and multiple errors should be expected. Enjoy.)

Frankenstein in Baghdad is a satirical twist on Shelley's Frankenstein that holds its own uniqueness. Set in baathist Iraq, Saadawi captures the political state of the country whilst exploring the nature of morality.

The creature of this story (Whatsitsname) is not invented by a man of science but rather a pathological liar known for selling junk and being drunk. Hadi the junk dealer creates his Whatitsname as a political statement and as a tribute to all those killed daily during baath times who never had proper burials. The fragments of these people are brought together to create something that later aims to avenge them.

The Whatsitsname begins his life avenging who he considered to be victims (as he was brought to life by the soul of a guard who died due to a suicide bomber and who could not locate his own body—thus, inhabiting the body of which Hadi had put together). Later on, he realises that these victims could have not been entirely innocent and that the "criminals" he had been brutally murdering also were victims in one way or another—consequently, the moral dilemma began.

As the story progresses the lines of right and wrong gradually blur more and more. Whatsitsname kills off criminals but needs their parts to keep himself alive, he becomes increasingly more criminal. The only solution he finds is to kill those he believes to be more innocent to "purify" himself. All of this really only makes one bold statement: there were no real heroes during baathist times. Americans were not friends of the people, the government were not friends of the people, the "justice seekers" were not friends of the people. It was the worst and the less worse.

The story progression and the character development are both impeccable. Spoiler ahead: Hadi actually survives another bombing which set parts of his house on fire and led him to become disfigured. Hadi very literally becomes the creature he created and is held responsible for the murders of the Whatsitsname. This only really allows me to further appreciate Saadawi's writing, the man kept to Shelley's theme whilst creating his own unique piece.

Some of my favourite parts:

"Because I'm made up of body parts of people from diverse
backgrounds - ethnicities, tribes, races and social classes-
represent the impossible mix that never was achieved in the
past. I'm the first true Iraqi citizen, he thinks."
—
Each of us has a measure of criminality," the Magician said, smoking a shisha pipe he had prepared for himself. "Someone who's been killed through no fault of his own
might be innocent today, but he might have been a criminal ten years ago, when he threw his wife out onto the street, or put his ageing mother in an old people's home, or disconnected the water or electricity to a house with a sick child,who died as a result, and so on."
'As usual, the Sophist reacted negatively to what the Magician had said. Late one day I went to the roof to verify a report that the Americans had withdrawn from the area. I noticed that the Sophist was following me. Standing before me, with a serious expression on his face, he said, "Please don't believe what the Magician says. He's speaking for himself, he killed someone ten years ago and threw out his wife and his mother and killed a baby. He's a criminal."
—
"Was the body of the saint really holy?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" I said.
"If he bore arms, he was a criminal," he replied.
—
"Anyway, the best way to protect yourself from evil is to keep close to it."
—
"You're getting more and more like them. You're trying to be one of them. Anyone who puts on a crown, even if only as an experiment, will end up looking for a kingdom."
—
"Are you Christian?" asked one of them.

"No, I'm Muslim."

"So what's this statue of the Virgin Mary for?"

"I don't know. There was a copy of the Throne Verse on top of it. The inscription fell apart and the statue appeared"

"My God, you're a story."
—
"My face changes all the time; the Whatsitsname told the old astrologer that night. Nothing in me lasts long, other than my desire to keep going. I kill in order to keep going"
This was his only justification. He
didn't want to perish without
understanding why he was dying and
where he would go after death, so he clung to life, maybe even more than others, more than those who gave him their lives and parts of their bodies—just like that, out of fear. They hadn't
fought for their lives, so he deserved life more than they did. Even if they knew they couldn't prevail against him, they should at least have fought back. It wasn't honourable to surrender in battle, and what a battle! It was a battle to defend their lives, the only battle worth fighting in this life.
—
5/5
Originally planned to rate this a 4 but the last chapter changed my mind for the better.

An interesting book that combines Shelley and maybe Kafka into a magical realist Iraqi horror story. Liked the characters.

At first I was captivated by the low magic fantasy and the tales of living with suicide bombings.

I lived through the Oslo Accord and Second Intifada suicide bombings in Israel and could identify with the setting.

However as the story went on in just got tedious.
A bit too much like real life rather than a story.