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meeranair_54's review
2.0
Zal Hendricks has a story to tell. One which could possible make or break his attempt at normalcy. He knew no childhood like most did and grew up amongst birds. His mother, Khanoom, horrified by the birth of a fair, white haired boy in a pure Iranian family casts him aside. Having known no love or kindness, Zal finds human relations to be foreign and unfamiliar. Despite the affection and extremely understanding nature of his adoptive father, Zal’s behavior is subject to change with fits of frustration causing a divide between the two.
Gradually as time passes, he gets more comfortable with being human to the extent that he becomes intimate with a women, Asiya, who unhesitatingly understands his plight and reciprocates his feelings. But something is different about Asiya, her panic attacks and premonitions bother Zal and drive him away. The Last Illusion is a story of Zal as he tries to overcome every obstacle in his way.
The synopsis of this novel, its cover and the title were extremely intriguing to me. However the first time I tried reading it, I couldn’t get past twenty pages. Months later I gave it another try and managed to finish it. But just that. While the author’s writing style is very easy to get into, most of the plot seemed lost on me. I didn’t understand Bran Silber’s role in Zal’s life or even what the illusion had to do with Zal. I admit that he grew up amongst birds and so his psychology would naturally be different than others, but Zal would often turn to his relations (his father, Silber, Asiya) only to get frustrated and push them away again. There was almost nothing motivating me to read the book and it was a struggle. I kept expecting to find a coherent link between the illusion, the unfortunate event of 9/11 and Zal but couldn’t. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I didn’t get much out of this novel. A mysterious element was present after the introduction of Asiya and her clairvoyant abilities, but that too fell flat. I didn’t much enjoy this book and I wish that there would’ve been more clarity in what the author was trying to convey.
Gradually as time passes, he gets more comfortable with being human to the extent that he becomes intimate with a women, Asiya, who unhesitatingly understands his plight and reciprocates his feelings. But something is different about Asiya, her panic attacks and premonitions bother Zal and drive him away. The Last Illusion is a story of Zal as he tries to overcome every obstacle in his way.
The synopsis of this novel, its cover and the title were extremely intriguing to me. However the first time I tried reading it, I couldn’t get past twenty pages. Months later I gave it another try and managed to finish it. But just that. While the author’s writing style is very easy to get into, most of the plot seemed lost on me. I didn’t understand Bran Silber’s role in Zal’s life or even what the illusion had to do with Zal. I admit that he grew up amongst birds and so his psychology would naturally be different than others, but Zal would often turn to his relations (his father, Silber, Asiya) only to get frustrated and push them away again. There was almost nothing motivating me to read the book and it was a struggle. I kept expecting to find a coherent link between the illusion, the unfortunate event of 9/11 and Zal but couldn’t. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like I didn’t get much out of this novel. A mysterious element was present after the introduction of Asiya and her clairvoyant abilities, but that too fell flat. I didn’t much enjoy this book and I wish that there would’ve been more clarity in what the author was trying to convey.
upthescene's review against another edition
3.0
This book is very strange. I really wanted to find out what happened at the end, was slightly unsatisfied at the combination of build-up to and abruptness of it all.
jcm's review
1.0
I was so excited to read this I brought it home from the library and didn't start to read it for a few days because I didn't want it to be over too soon. The story started off well enough, a very intriguing premise of a boy being abused by his bird-obsessed mother. The first inkling I had that this book was going to confuse me and frustrate me came when his sister disappeared from the story.
Once Hendricks showed up to rescue/adopt (which, as an adoptive parent I find extremely distasteful. Adoptive children should never be put in the position to OWE their parents ANYTHING) Zal my excitement over the book started to wan. Stories need to make people believe in their characters, but I could not believe in the character of Zal. Having read about feral children I know that one rescued at the age he had been rescued would not have progressed the way Zal had. Children rescued from abusive homes at younger ages do not fair nearly as well as Zal who not only masters the english language, but having been kept in a cage all his life is able to walk upright, unhindered, and is able to live on his own in just a few short years. I could not suspend my disbelief that much.
None of the characters was given a sufficient back story for me to care about them. Asiya's story was spat out rapidly, and while I understand that she was basically abandoned by her rich parents, there is no further examination as to what her life was like and what was actually wrong with her.
I am not slow on the uptake so it still baffles me why Silber was even in the story except to give Zal a chance at flight. I never understood why these two characters cared about each other and why it even mattered to the story except to tie in 9/11 and the towers vanishing. News flash: there is no big reveal, most people in the world can tell you how the towers vanished. It felt cheap and utterly disrespectful to lives lost on 9/11.
There are not many books that leave me scratching my head and saying "what the hell WAS that?!?" but The Last Illusion did. The cherry on top is that of Zal, who could not smile throughout the book (you are beat over the head with it) finally smiles when the towers come down and people are running for their lives.
Once Hendricks showed up to rescue/adopt (which, as an adoptive parent I find extremely distasteful. Adoptive children should never be put in the position to OWE their parents ANYTHING) Zal my excitement over the book started to wan. Stories need to make people believe in their characters, but I could not believe in the character of Zal. Having read about feral children I know that one rescued at the age he had been rescued would not have progressed the way Zal had. Children rescued from abusive homes at younger ages do not fair nearly as well as Zal who not only masters the english language, but having been kept in a cage all his life is able to walk upright, unhindered, and is able to live on his own in just a few short years. I could not suspend my disbelief that much.
None of the characters was given a sufficient back story for me to care about them. Asiya's story was spat out rapidly, and while I understand that she was basically abandoned by her rich parents, there is no further examination as to what her life was like and what was actually wrong with her.
I am not slow on the uptake so it still baffles me why Silber was even in the story except to give Zal a chance at flight. I never understood why these two characters cared about each other and why it even mattered to the story except to tie in 9/11 and the towers vanishing. News flash: there is no big reveal, most people in the world can tell you how the towers vanished. It felt cheap and utterly disrespectful to lives lost on 9/11.
There are not many books that leave me scratching my head and saying "what the hell WAS that?!?" but The Last Illusion did. The cherry on top is that of Zal, who could not smile throughout the book (you are beat over the head with it) finally smiles when the towers come down and people are running for their lives.
malvina4321's review
2.0
2-2.5 stars.
The Last Illusion is a story about a feral boy as he turns into a man in New York City. His father adopts him when he's found in a cage in Iran and does his best to socialize him. The main story is about Zal learning what it is to be human, to be an individual, to be special and sometimes, to be nothing at all.
The book was quite lovely at times and really resonated with me even though I've never been close to that situation nor have I known someone who has been.
I think the main downfall for me was that the book got sappy in places and that jarred me out of the story.
I would recommend it though because it is a well written and very interesting story at the heart of it.
The Last Illusion is a story about a feral boy as he turns into a man in New York City. His father adopts him when he's found in a cage in Iran and does his best to socialize him. The main story is about Zal learning what it is to be human, to be an individual, to be special and sometimes, to be nothing at all.
The book was quite lovely at times and really resonated with me even though I've never been close to that situation nor have I known someone who has been.
I think the main downfall for me was that the book got sappy in places and that jarred me out of the story.
I would recommend it though because it is a well written and very interesting story at the heart of it.
bwolfe718's review
4.0
Read the full review at my blog, Read Her Like an Open Book, here: http://wp.me/p3EtWm-fN
As entertaining and even involving as many novels can be, very few provide a unique reading experience. Porochista Khakpour’s second novel, The Last Illusion, is one of those unusual novels that progresses from the surreal to the sublime. In it, Khakpour has merged her past and present influences into the tale of the ultimate outsider and his attempt to become a man and find his place in the world.
The author’s past is present in her use of the Persian (Iranian) epic The Shahnameh (Book of the Kings) as the source of the protagonist, Zal, and his search for identity; the original Zal is an albino who is abandoned by his parents and raised by the giant bird, Simorgh, eventually becoming a great warrior. The present exerts its influence in the powerful sense of place provided by Khakpour’s beloved adopted hometown of New York City (particularly Manhattan). Khakpour’s combination of ancient Persian legend and contemporary American socio-cultural observation results in a fever dream of a novel. The Last Illusion may not always make perfect sense to the modern reader’s magic-resistant sensibility, but it compels the reader to suspend disbelief and risk a special experience.
Zal is born in rural Iraq to a mentally disturbed mother, who lives with a houseful of birds. She is so unmoored by Zal’s white-blond hair and fair skin that she calls him a “white demon,” places him in a cage, and raises him as a bird, never speaking to him. When he is 10 years old, an American psychologist and expert in feral children learns of him and manages to adopt him.
At this point, the story shifts to New York City in 1999, as the much-hyped and -feared Y2K looms. Zal struggles to discover what humans are like in an effort to become one and join their society. But, not surprisingly, transcending his essential “birdness” is a daunting challenge. Zal’s innocence and naivete parallel that of Manhattan’s residents; in retrospect, we know that their fear is misplaced, as far worse things are coming than Y2K. Zal’s attempt to navigate the crowded, diverse, and manic world of Manhattan is fascinating. On one hand, New York City is certainly not the easiest place for one to adapt to, much less make the transition to humanness. And yet, for someone as obviously different and strange as Zal, it is the perfect place to attempt this experiment....
As entertaining and even involving as many novels can be, very few provide a unique reading experience. Porochista Khakpour’s second novel, The Last Illusion, is one of those unusual novels that progresses from the surreal to the sublime. In it, Khakpour has merged her past and present influences into the tale of the ultimate outsider and his attempt to become a man and find his place in the world.
The author’s past is present in her use of the Persian (Iranian) epic The Shahnameh (Book of the Kings) as the source of the protagonist, Zal, and his search for identity; the original Zal is an albino who is abandoned by his parents and raised by the giant bird, Simorgh, eventually becoming a great warrior. The present exerts its influence in the powerful sense of place provided by Khakpour’s beloved adopted hometown of New York City (particularly Manhattan). Khakpour’s combination of ancient Persian legend and contemporary American socio-cultural observation results in a fever dream of a novel. The Last Illusion may not always make perfect sense to the modern reader’s magic-resistant sensibility, but it compels the reader to suspend disbelief and risk a special experience.
Zal is born in rural Iraq to a mentally disturbed mother, who lives with a houseful of birds. She is so unmoored by Zal’s white-blond hair and fair skin that she calls him a “white demon,” places him in a cage, and raises him as a bird, never speaking to him. When he is 10 years old, an American psychologist and expert in feral children learns of him and manages to adopt him.
At this point, the story shifts to New York City in 1999, as the much-hyped and -feared Y2K looms. Zal struggles to discover what humans are like in an effort to become one and join their society. But, not surprisingly, transcending his essential “birdness” is a daunting challenge. Zal’s innocence and naivete parallel that of Manhattan’s residents; in retrospect, we know that their fear is misplaced, as far worse things are coming than Y2K. Zal’s attempt to navigate the crowded, diverse, and manic world of Manhattan is fascinating. On one hand, New York City is certainly not the easiest place for one to adapt to, much less make the transition to humanness. And yet, for someone as obviously different and strange as Zal, it is the perfect place to attempt this experiment....
mattmatros's review
4.0
A joy to read. This strange protagonist was utterly compelling to follow around, and Khakpour's highly original premise allowed for a new take on the usual coming-of-age narrative. Zal is simultaneously older and less experienced than the typical adolescent who is forced to come to terms with his passions, his sexual choices, and his need to earn a living. The novel shows how so many things we view as commonplace are actually quite bizarre when broken down objectively. Zal, thanks to the unique brand of abuse he suffered as a child, is an outsider to ordinary human experience who has to learn the customs and the secret handshakes that allow us to pass as civilized. This acclimatization, as presented through Zal's eyes, is The Last Illusion's greatest strength. I found this novel simultaneously invigorating and terrifying. Invigorating, because it seems to give us all permission to forgive ourselves since we're all just playing at being human. Terrifying, because my God, how much of our lives do we spend lying to ourselves and not even knowing it? This book stripped away a lot of my preconceived assumptions about what human behavior should be--or at least, it made me realize the limitations that come with a slow, flightless sack for a body. I loved it.
gjj274's review
2.0
Pop Sugar 2017 reading challenge - read a book by an author of colour.
I cheated a bit by choosing this one and switched the challenge to a book by an author of a different culture, this authors Iranian, as it's been on my shelf for a long time and I wanted to get to it.
I cheated a bit by choosing this one and switched the challenge to a book by an author of a different culture, this authors Iranian, as it's been on my shelf for a long time and I wanted to get to it.
rashi's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I wanted to like this book SO bad. Maybe it was the high expectations coming into it, but I just felt as though the more the story went on, the more that the core of the piece was lost. It felt like there were multiple different books in one and the consistency was all lost by the end. Also using 9/11 as a plot device should be a book writing crime.
doulicia's review against another edition
3.0
I wonder if I would "get" more of this story if I knew the Shahnameh legend on which it's based. I wasn't able to relate the sketch of it that Khakpour gives at the beginning to much more than the main character, Zal. If this is a retelling, Who is the bird? No one comes to rescue Zal when he gets in a bind. He does not become a hero in the way mythic Zal does. The magician's part in the Book of Kings is revealed at the end of the novel, but not in any way that clarified to me Silber's role in the book.
I liked that the story had fantastic elements, and I couldn't tell whether these were "real" or just characters' delusions. And I never knew whether we were heading toward a September 11 that existed only in the novel, or if it would dovetail into the actual events we all remember.
I trusted Khakpour to explain these things in the end and, for me at least, she didn't.
I liked that the story had fantastic elements, and I couldn't tell whether these were "real" or just characters' delusions. And I never knew whether we were heading toward a September 11 that existed only in the novel, or if it would dovetail into the actual events we all remember.
I trusted Khakpour to explain these things in the end and, for me at least, she didn't.