V13 by Emmanuel Carrère. It's a non-fiction about the trial following the attacks on Bataclan in Paris on Friday, 13 Nov. 2015 (V13 is Friday 13). It can't fulfill all its promises, but it does provide an insight in the role of law and justice in a state following such outrageous deeds, in particular on the human side.
It's a mostly observation. It describes the trial, sometimes day by day, and it tries to see it from all sides: judges, prosecution, lawyers, victims, police, perpetrators, bystanders. You get some insight into the mechanism of a trial which cannot be allowed to fail, the evidence, how the trial affects people, and for some of the accused what their motives were, but most of the perpetrators were dead (they blew themselves up), and the important ones that remain keep their mouths sealed for most of the time. It is very well written, so much that it sometimes comes across as fiction.
The book doesn't judge. It tries to bridge, or rather narrow, the gap, a bit. It doesn't succeed, which is practically impossible, certainly within the given setting, but it's a praiseworthy attempt at dealing with a rather traumatic event in clean and compassionate way.
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V13 by Emmanuel Carrère. It's a non-fiction about the trial following the attacks on Bataclan in Paris on Friday, 13 Nov. 2015 (V13 is Friday 13). It can't fulfill all its promises, but it does provide an insight in the role of law and justice in a state following such outrageous deeds, in particular on the human side.
Interesting. Does it approach it from a clinical & objective point of view or is it more of an over-arching story focused on the highlights?
It's a mostly observation. It describes the trial, sometimes day by day, and it tries to see it from all sides: judges, prosecution, lawyers, victims, police, perpetrators, bystanders. You get some insight into the mechanism of a trial which cannot be allowed to fail, the evidence, how the trial affects people, and for some of the accused what their motives were, but most of the perpetrators were dead (they blew themselves up), and the important ones that remain keep their mouths sealed for most of the time. It is very well written, so much that it sometimes comes across as fiction.
The book doesn't judge. It tries to bridge, or rather narrow, the gap, a bit. It doesn't succeed, which is practically impossible, certainly within the given setting, but it's a praiseworthy attempt at dealing with a rather traumatic event in clean and compassionate way.