At Night All Blood Is Black

At Night All Blood Is Black is a powerful historical fiction novel set in the French trenches of World War One. Written from the perspective of Senegalese soldier, Alfa, it vividly depicts this man's rapidly declining mental health in the aftermath of witnessing his best friend's drawn out and agonising death in No Man's Land. I feel that this novel would appeal to readers of Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy in its understanding and portrayal of how the horrific Great War conditions drove so many soldiers to the brink of insanity and, in this case, far beyond that line.

I found several scenes difficult to read because of the grim violence they describe. The path Alfa chooses to follow is extreme, yet makes perfect sense when viewed from the disturbed turmoil of his mind. What particularly interested me too was how his fellow surviving soldiers initially applauded and encouraged his actions. Diop's first-person narration has an enthralling, poetic quality which I found compelling. Despite his monstrous actions, Alfa always came across to me as a broken man, not as the evil demon his comrades see.

It is rare to find a Great War novel written from a non-white point of view - a timely reminder of the thousands of African and Asian soldiers who were conscripted into European-led armies only to have their sacrifices downplayed and overlooked afterwards. I am grateful to Pushkin Press for translating At Night All Blood Is Black into English because my French isn't strong enough to have fully appreciated the work in its original language.

Trench warfare on the Western Front of World War I has gotta be like, at least in the top 5 worst experiences in all of human history. But I think this is the first fictional account I've read that really nailed just how fucking bleak it could be by looking at it directly rather than shunting it to the background or a flashback.

Strangely enough, this book strongly reminded me of [b:Fever Dream|30763882|Fever Dream|Samanta Schweblin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471279721l/30763882.SX50.jpg|42701168], in that it's a brief look at a character's descent into madness. A Senegalese soldier who's drafted up by France to fight the Germans watches his best friend die and Does Not Handle It Well™. His white French commanding officers just want the Africans to act savage and scare the opposing Germans, and our protagonist is all too willing to play the part. Problem is, his own side starts becoming afraid of him as well. Very much a, "we asked you to give an 8 or a 9 on the crazy scale, and you're giving us a 20" kind of situation.

There's a series of vignettes of trench life and life before the war, but the book has a very loose flow and structure, and I didn't really know what to expect at any point as past and present blended together with increasing frequency. But that very well could have been intentional, as our protagonist starts to lose his own sense of identity towards the end.

Definitely a unique perspective for a historical period I thought I'd already seen from every angle. And in retrospect, there really wasn't any supernatural aspect at all like I expected going into it, which actually heightens the depravity of it all. Maybe give this one a go when you're already in a good state of mind and not when you're looking for a feel-good/pick-me-up kind of story.