Frankenstein in Baghdad

A Novel

By: Ahmed Saadawi

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Kaleo Griffith

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Man Booker International Prize finalist

“Brave and ingenious.” (The New York Times)

“Gripping, darkly humorous...profound.” (Phil Klay, best-selling author and National Book Award winner for Redeployment)

“Extraordinary.... A devastating but essential read.” (Kevin Powers, best-selling author and National Book Award finalist for The Yellow Birds) 

From the rubble-strewn streets of U.S.-occupied Baghdad, Hadi — a scavenger and an oddball fixture at a local café — collects human body parts and stitches them together to create a corpse. His goal, he claims, is for the government to recognize the parts as people and to give them proper burial. 

But when the corpse goes missing, a wave of eerie murders sweeps the city, and reports stream in of a horrendous-looking criminal who, though shot, cannot be killed. Hadi soon realizes he’s created a monster, one that needs human flesh to survive — first from the guilty, and then from anyone in its path. 

A prizewinning novel by “Baghdad’s new literary star” (The New York Times), Frankenstein in Baghdad captures with white-knuckle horror and black humor the surreal reality of contemporary Iraq. 

©2018 Ahmed Saadawi (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Gripping, darkly humorous...profound." (Phil Klay, bestselling author and National Book Award winner for Redeployment)

"Extraordinary...A devastating but essential read." (Kevin Powers, bestselling author and National Book Award finalist for The Yellow Birds)

I was fascinated the entire time

This book was so fascinating to me. I honestly am so happy I went out on a limb and picked it up.
So, this novel takes place in in the streets of U.S. occupied Baghdad. Our main guy, Hadi, is a scavenger who hangs out at a local café and is known to be a little crazy, he collects human body parts and stitches them together to create a full corpse. His goal, he claims, is for the government to recognize the parts as people and to give them proper burial. But when the corpse gains life and escapes, a wave of vigilante style murders sweeps the city, and reports stream in of a horrendous-looking criminal who, though shot, cannot be killed.
And that's only part of it. This story reads and presents like a slice of life from Iraq.
It's all semi realistic with just hints of the supernatural and of course the corpse juggernaut.
There's several perspectives and central characters all dealing with their own arcs and they all intertwine and revolve around the central Frankenstein character who is almost a side character.
There's military factions, mystic astrologists, street gangsters, talks of djinns and angels and the monster who is talked about often in hushed whispers.
Which makes it even more exciting, the realistic perspectives of an urban legend that you as the reader know is fact but most the characters are uncertain.
I don't want to give too much away but the monster concept is freaking cool. Each body part used to build him has a soul attached and these souls guide the monster's quests.
It's almost hard to describe but this would seriously make an amazing TV show. If you're familiar with the anime Durarara it feels very similar but much more adult and conservative, of course.
It's not very action packed or fast paced but I found all of it very interesting. The writer does.an excellent job of making every scene smooth and captivating.
Id really could recommend this book to anyone. It's just a solid novel.

Parts is parts

Elishva the old Christian woman longs for the return of her son Daniel. It has been twenty years since he was forcibly sent off to war but she believes he is still alive and she prays to St George so that he will return someday. Hadi the junk dealer collects and assembles body parts found in the debris of terrorist explosions and there are plenty of explosions in Baghdad. An arm from one body, a leg from another, stitching them together hoping to give them a proper burial as a whole body. One day Hadi leaves the putrid oozing body at his workshop, the Whatsitsname, to buy items for his junk shop. When he returns home, the Whatsitsname is gone. Panic ensues.

Hasib Jaafar was a hotel guard and at the age of 21 he was killed by a suicide bomber driving a garbage truck. There was little left of Hasib. His soul was searching for a body so he can be buried, when he finds the Whatsitsname lying on the ground, he magically enters it. Then the Whatsitsname with its new found soul is found by the old woman Elishva who claims him as her long lost son Daniel. She dresses him and cooks him food. But Daniel's return does not last long as he wanders the streets looking for revenge on the killers of his various body parts. When he finds and kills the murderer, that body part drops off. So he finds replacement murdered body parts and continues looking for murderers. The Watsitsname becomes a bit of a metaphor for a never ending war in Iraq. Murder and revenge. The police pursue him.

A dark satire and intriguing concept for about half of the book. Then Saadawi seems to lose his way and the book meanders in different directions with different characters, some who add nothing to the story. There are lots of astrologers, mistresses, barbers, journalist, priest, janitors and generals. All converging for one big explosion that seems very anti-climatic in the end.

A distant cousin to Frankenstein

Do not read this with the expectation that it will closely resemble Shelly's Frankenstein, but you should expect a different, very Iraqi take on the idea. It deals with suicide bombings and average people put under unusually tough conditions. It's an interesting way of looking at the country from the people's perspective.

I will not be finishing this

Not hooked by the hook. It is not grabbing me at all. The Week gave a bad recommendation.

The best superhero I've encountered in a long time

Interesting to me mostly for its portrayal of everyday life in Baghdad circa 2008-2012. How people continue the activities of daily life--taking tea, shopping at the market, writing news articles--while foreign soldiers roam the streets and car bombs explode, randomly killing friends and foes. I know this is how life is, having lived under a military dictatorship. In order to survive under such extraordinary circumstances, most people turn a blind eye to the chaos, keep their heads down and try to go about their business.

I loved the stories of the main characters...the old woman praying every day to the portrait of St. George for her son to come back from the war so that her family would be complete once more...the junk dealer making deals and telling incredible stories in the tea house to stay relevant...the real estate agent searching for any angle to get his hands on certain pieces of property he was sure would make him rich...the general using astrologers to track down criminals to ensure his next promotion...the journalist chasing stories while avoiding his own life. And best of all, the "frankenstein," the best superhero I have encountered in a very long time.

[I listened to this as an audio book read by Edoardo Ballerini, who gave it just the right touch of an Arabic accent so that I felt like I was in Baghdad. I listened at 1.3 speed]

Excellent Magical Realist View of Baghdad

This book is well deserving of the Man Booker nomination it received and did a great job of building the picture of a diverse community in Baghdad. The narration was also excellent

I'm from Baghdad. so I'm partial to it

The nostalgia I have suffered listening to this master piece was unbearable. I was living in the area during the time of the magical reality of this novel. attending the University of Technology and passing through Tayaran Square almost daily.

Absolutely the best fiction I read in 2019

Absolutely the best fiction I read in 2019. I was mesmerized by the plot and loved the overall politicizing of the story. Just a terrific book.

not what I was hoping

I was really looking forward to this book. I was hoping it would be a retelling of Frankenstein from a different culture's point of view. I don't feel that is what it is. I wanted much more focus on the monster and not everything else. it didn't help that the reader didn't really do voices, so it was difficult to know who was talking. I also don't think it passed the Bechtel test, which is super weird for a book.

Frankenstein in the Middle East

Ahmed Saadawi's Frankenstein in Baghdad is an interesting take on the classic Frankenstein tale. Set in Baghdad during the US occupation after the Iraqi war, the city is dangerous with suicide bombers. Body parts tend to be left behind and a junk dealer decides to stitch random parts together in the hope that they can receive a proper burial. Unbeknownst to him, the parts become animated and seek out revenge on the killers of the various parts. He attracts a following and they assist in keeping him up to date with fresh parts. There are numerous side stories that flesh out a diverse and vibrant flavor to the city under occupation.

As a retelling of a classic tale in a distinct culture and time period, Saadawi does a credible job of weaving enough specific lore to create a unique tale based on the Mary Shelly original. He also goes to great lengths to offer a city with diverse people including a Christian subcommunity and the various groups allied the US occupying force including special units on both the American and Iraqi sides hunting the 'monster.'

The narration is well done with good character distinction. Pacing is smooth and just on the brisk side to make for a quick listen.