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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow burn of a book, it took me a while to care about the involved people.
It lagged at points, and the waffling of a couple of the characters was frustrating. But I suppose the waffling is true to how we humans respond in morally ambiguous times.
The ending was satisfying. Not in an all tied-up-with-a-bow way, but with a bit of a surprise.
It lagged at points, and the waffling of a couple of the characters was frustrating. But I suppose the waffling is true to how we humans respond in morally ambiguous times.
The ending was satisfying. Not in an all tied-up-with-a-bow way, but with a bit of a surprise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry
Minor: Physical abuse
The Submission opens with the deliberations of a judging panel, made up mainly of luminaries of the art world, as they decide which design should be selected as the memorial to be built on the site of the Twin Towers. The entries have all been submitted anonymously and the panel have no idea who the architects are, but one member - Claire - who is there to represent the bereaved families, finally convinces the others to choose a memorial garden.
When the panel learn that the architect they have chosen is a muslim they fear a media backlash. They consider hushing up the result and choosing an alternative but it's too late; word leaks out and all hell breaks loose. The bereaved families feel betrayed, the right wing extremists cause uproar and the liberals rush to the defence of the architect. The man at the centre of this media circus - Mohammed Khan (or Mo, as he prefers to be called) - is a secular muslim, born and bred in America, and is dismayed to find himself in the eye of the storm.
The story focuses on a few key characters; Claire, Mo, Paul, the president of the panel, Sean, a right-winger whose brother was killed in the World Trade Centre, and Asma, an illegal immigrant who lost her husband in the disaster. The accusations towards Mo pile up, becoming ever more ridiculous, and the reader's moral compass gets some serious exercise. Though of course Mo has every right to see his design built, when the focus switches from the people who were killed and the garden becomes all about the architect and the controversy, is it right that it should still go ahead? I found myself swinging from one view to another, though the eventual resolution that the author comes up with is excellent, and I thought the ending was the best part of the novel.
I'm sorry to say I wasn't hugely fond of this book. The premise was great and an interesting idea, but I just didn't think it was enough to sustain a full-length novel (it would have made a cracking short story though, perhaps in a kind of Twelve Angry Men style). The tale is told quite dispassionately and I found it a trifle cold, so I wasn't at all surprised when I saw at the back of the book that the author's main trade is as a journalist,where the currency is hard facts rather than emotion.
Mo in particular is not a very likeable character. He absolutely refuses to compromise or explain himself or his ideas to try and put people's minds at rest about him. While of course that's his prerogative and he shouldn't be obliged to defend himself, he does come across as inflexible and proud. Claire is better, but again I just didn't feel any warmth from her. The only character I could really get behind was Asma, and the climax of her story was the one part of the novel that I connected with emotionally.
I have seen a lot of fantastic reviews of this book, so I'm obviously in the minority. I can't deny the the novel is well-written, well-plotted and an interesting moral excercise. However, I want a book that makes me feel something, I want to see through the eyes of the characters and think their thoughts along with them and that just didn't happen for me here. I'll give it three stars for the quality of the writing, but I'm afraid this one wasn't really my cup of tea.
When the panel learn that the architect they have chosen is a muslim they fear a media backlash. They consider hushing up the result and choosing an alternative but it's too late; word leaks out and all hell breaks loose. The bereaved families feel betrayed, the right wing extremists cause uproar and the liberals rush to the defence of the architect. The man at the centre of this media circus - Mohammed Khan (or Mo, as he prefers to be called) - is a secular muslim, born and bred in America, and is dismayed to find himself in the eye of the storm.
The story focuses on a few key characters; Claire, Mo, Paul, the president of the panel, Sean, a right-winger whose brother was killed in the World Trade Centre, and Asma, an illegal immigrant who lost her husband in the disaster. The accusations towards Mo pile up, becoming ever more ridiculous, and the reader's moral compass gets some serious exercise. Though of course Mo has every right to see his design built, when the focus switches from the people who were killed and the garden becomes all about the architect and the controversy, is it right that it should still go ahead? I found myself swinging from one view to another, though the eventual resolution that the author comes up with is excellent, and I thought the ending was the best part of the novel.
I'm sorry to say I wasn't hugely fond of this book. The premise was great and an interesting idea, but I just didn't think it was enough to sustain a full-length novel (it would have made a cracking short story though, perhaps in a kind of Twelve Angry Men style). The tale is told quite dispassionately and I found it a trifle cold, so I wasn't at all surprised when I saw at the back of the book that the author's main trade is as a journalist,where the currency is hard facts rather than emotion.
Mo in particular is not a very likeable character. He absolutely refuses to compromise or explain himself or his ideas to try and put people's minds at rest about him. While of course that's his prerogative and he shouldn't be obliged to defend himself, he does come across as inflexible and proud. Claire is better, but again I just didn't feel any warmth from her. The only character I could really get behind was Asma, and the climax of her story was the one part of the novel that I connected with emotionally.
I have seen a lot of fantastic reviews of this book, so I'm obviously in the minority. I can't deny the the novel is well-written, well-plotted and an interesting moral excercise. However, I want a book that makes me feel something, I want to see through the eyes of the characters and think their thoughts along with them and that just didn't happen for me here. I'll give it three stars for the quality of the writing, but I'm afraid this one wasn't really my cup of tea.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Kind of drags in the middle but weaves together a lot of uncomfortable questions about how we construct public space and memory and mourning in the United States. Very strong ending.
Amy Waldman takes on the country's post-9/11 pain and prejudice in this ambitious novel. The book begins with the fictional selection of a design and designer for the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero. The anonymous competition goes to a young, and ambitious American architect who happens to be Muslim and Waldman follows numerous characters who symbolize a variety of constituencies: the architect, the wealthy, educated Protestant white widow on the selection jury, the chair of the jury, the surviving Irish Catholic brother of a NY firefighter, the young Bangladeshi mother whose husband (a custodian in the towers and illegal alien) died, the conservative radio host, and on and on and on. Waldman, with spare but beautiful language, treats them all with well-researched respect so that the reader feels that they are reading emotional truth.
This is a brilliant book. It is beautifully written and brilliantly structured. As others have said, this may turn out to be THE post 9-11 book, a story of a competition for a memorial to those who died. During the course of the novel, each character grows and turns, so that by the end, each has lost something profound, and perhaps gained something too--a metaphor for how drained our country has become since the attacks.
I'm sorry to say that I've read this because it is part of the Kalamazoo Reading Together book. Seems like many better options. Many in the book group didn't wnat to read it because of the subject matter.
When the "Titanic" movie came out, my dad said that it was too soon after the event. It was about 80 years after, but he remembered the talk of it too much. Too close to home.
That's how this book felt to me. Now I know what dad meant.
Also, it was too short to be that repetative of the feelings each person had. Finally, a few things remained unanswered for me. Why wasn't the guy who let the secret winner out found out or dealt with? Who killed Asma? Just not my type of book.
When the "Titanic" movie came out, my dad said that it was too soon after the event. It was about 80 years after, but he remembered the talk of it too much. Too close to home.
That's how this book felt to me. Now I know what dad meant.
Also, it was too short to be that repetative of the feelings each person had. Finally, a few things remained unanswered for me. Why wasn't the guy who let the secret winner out found out or dealt with? Who killed Asma? Just not my type of book.
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a thought provoking book about a Muslim-American who enters the competition for a 9/11 memorial. I liked the conflict, but there was too much talking and not enough action!
This story will remain with me for a very, very long time.
3.5 stars. Pretty good but not mind blowing. I felt like the writing was great in places, and I cringed at others, but overall a decent story that kept me reading. The worst part of the story was the Claire character, I thought she was so annoying.