Thank you @grantabooks for my copy of Four Soldiers from the International Man Booker longlist! This one was translated from French by Sam Taylor who translates a lot of contemporary French novels (including the truth about the harry quebert affair, arguably one of my least favourite novels ever) and tbh I wasn’t blown away.
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The story was simple and tinged with sadness throughout, as we watch four soldiers go about their daily life in camp, trying to glean as much joy out of the little things as they can before the inevitable happens. The writing was a little too simple for my liking, making an odd juxtaposition between it sounding like a children’s book and the fate of these men - possibly Mingarelli’s intention, I don’t know. Overall, it was just an okay read for me.