At Night All Blood is Black opens with our narrator, a Senegalese soldier in World War I France, holding the hand of his eviscerated "more-than-brother." When the friend finally passes, Alfa immediately regrets having refused his repeated requests to put him out of his misery. Alfa starts thinking about the conflicts between duty and humanity and decides he needs to forget the dictates of duty. He also tries to avenge and atone for his friend's death in increasingly gruesome ways that frighten his fellow soldiers.
The book effectively captures Alfa's troubled conscience with its intertwining of madness and clarity. As the story continues we learn more about his relationship with the dead man and with his community at home, which shades our understanding of his reactions.
At Night All Blood is Black won the 2021 International Booker Prize, but it is really more of a novella or "long short story" than a full-blown novel. It lacks the scope or complexity of a novel.
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