Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Ana Paula Maia's 'On Earth As It Is Beneath' is sharp and speedy. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026.
7 or 8/10
On Earth As It Is Beneath: On land where enslaved people were once tortured and murdered, the state built a penal colony in the wilderness, where inmates could be rehabilitated, but never escape. Now, decades later, and having only succeeded in trapping men, not changing them for the better, its operations are winding down. But in the prison’s waning days, a new horror is unleashed: every full-moon night, the inmates are released, the warden is armed with rifles, and the hunt begins. Every man plans his escape, not knowing if his end will come at the hands of a familiar face, or from the unknown dangers beyond the prison walls. Ana Paula Maia has once again delivered a bracing vision of our potential for violence, and our collective failure to account for the consequences of our social and political action, or inaction. No crime is committed out of view for this novelist, and her raw, brutal power enlists us all as witness.
Thanks for watching, and remember: this book's premise is very similar to the Human Centipede 3.
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/61199102
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/TheDiscoKing
#bookerprize2026 #internationalbookerprize2026 #bookerprize #booktube #booktuber #bookreview
Ana Paula Maia's 'On Earth As It Is Beneath' is sharp and speedy. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026.
7 or 8/10
On Earth As It Is Beneath: On land where enslaved people were once tortured and murdered, the state built a penal colony in the wilderness, where inmates could be rehabilitated, but never escape. Now, decades later, and having only succeeded in trapping men, not changing them for the better, its operations are winding down. But in the prison’s waning days, a new horror is unleashed: every full-moon night, the inmates are released, the warden is armed with rifles, and the hunt begins. Every man plans his escape, not knowing if his end will come at the hands of a familiar face, or from the unknown dangers beyond the prison walls. Ana Paula Maia has once again delivered a bracing vision of our potential for violence, and our collective failure to account for the consequences of our social and political action, or inaction. No crime is committed out of view for this novelist, and her raw, brutal power enlists us all as witness.
Thanks for watching, and remember: this book's premise is very similar to the Human Centipede 3.
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/61199102
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/TheDiscoKing
#bookerprize2026 #internationalbookerprize2026 #bookerprize #booktube #booktuber #bookreview
