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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
The blurb on the back cover of my book says "frighteningly plausible," and I couldn't agree more. The plausibility of the novel made me uncomfortable and ashamed. It's rare that a book can cause such a visceral reaction in me. The tension between principle and emotion in this country was exposed in the starkest terms, and yet in a way that created sympathy and enmity for all the voices represented. This is a book is one that I won't be able to shake for a long time, and for that I am grateful.
Thought-provoking and infuriating to the max. This novel, about a design competition to build a 9/11 memorial, lays out all the political and sectarian infighting, the fears, and the suspicions. It highlights the worst in a sensationalist press and in self-serving individuals, leaving common sense and decency in the dust. Pretty much true to life.....
i really should stop reading murder mysteries. throughout this book, i kept expecting someone to start anonymously killing people, and then waiting for an astute yet humble person to become the detective and start unraveling the mystery.
anyway...
it's true that i often get influenced by the reviews on a book's Goodreads page and tend to let some of the opinions seep into how i rate a book. but this is one case where i stand by my five star rating, particularly because (horrors!) it doesn't seem all that implausible to me.
so yes, the author did start riffing off an ongoing event, but maybe my reading it four years later helped tamp some of this criticism. even then, i could not put this book down. and it is a weighty piece of material to read at one sitting.
one of the things that stood out to me was how much effort the author had put in to researching Bangladesh. then i find out she was the former South Asia correspondent for the NYT, which should detract from the research, but really doesn't. i mean, seriously, sandwip? i think that's the first time sandwip's entered the realm of popular fiction. ever. and she does paint a pretty negative picture of the country, which should set off my patriotic radar, but she does a fantastic job of portraying the sense of community that pervades our society - the stark contrast between the way Asma lives in and despite a community, whereas the rest of the characters live a dreary, bleak life seeking solitude.
the truth is, the book is full of truth. having witnessed personally the fall out of 9/11, including the humiliation of being pulled out of line for a "random" search while boarding airplanes, part of it did ring true. but unlike Mo, the experience did not set me off on a journey towards embracing Islam - i was quite a fervent non-practicing Muslim, and could only manage a wry smile at the irony of being deemed a potential threat.
a lot of reviewers struggled to like any of the characters in this book. but, as my reading history in 2014 will show, that is what attracts me to books and garners 5 star ratings it seems. i didn't particularly like any of the characters either, but i don't think that was the author's objective anyway. she brings out the fact that we are all merely complicated animals, who let our beliefs guide us in stupid directions, because we think that is what is right. but then that belief might also be transient, shifting in time as we question what we believe. and every single character in this book suffers from this, with wavering ideals and beliefs of various strengths, which change based on the information they receive and the experiences they encounter. and isn't that real life?
the other thing that struck me as quite true to life was the level of belief, or rather the courage of conviction, which differs from character to character. there are some who believe in something, but lack the courage to justify it; there are others who are willing to waver; only one character in the book strived to be brave. the rest chose to be varying levels of brave, most gravitating towards the coward end of the scale. and this mixture of beliefs and strength of belief is so true to life - we are ultimately surrounded by people exactly like this, and not every one is equal in their belief and strength of belief (what a boring world that would be).
i do not really want to focus on the specific nature of the beliefs these characters held. that would give too much away, and besides, the whole religious issue is not the subject of this review, and it shouldn't be. but, as someone who witnessed the fall-out on muslims, as well as the splinter groups and viewpoints that fanned out of the tragedy, the characterizations (or caricatures as some reviewers put it) of some was quite accurate. these characterizations do help portray the fear of being muslim in 21st century america.
the book is by no means a perfect piece of work. for one thing, it seemed the author had absolutely no shortage of adjectives for any situation whatsoever. plus there seems to be a strange obsession with naked sleeping bodies that i failed to understand. also, two things i did not understand - perhaps they were made to deepen the characters and their motives, but i thought they detracted greatly from the overall quality of the book: (SPOILER ALERT)
1. why did mo refuse to condemn the attacks, whether publicly or privately? he felt the tragedy deeply after returning to NYC - so why not condemn it? it wasn't like he was at any point in danger of becoming a radical.
2. the ending commits the same mistake that the book accuses characters of making throughout - confusing the religion with the culture. why would a kuwaiti emir want the names of the dead on the walls of his garden, whereas the verses (if that's what they are - also left ambiguous) are more likely to be culturally feasible?
3. how does a man condemned of blasphemy and subject to fatwas manage to live a long and productive life living and working in islamic countries, for emirs, sheikhs and other spiritually inclined leaders?
all in all, definitely worth a read.
anyway...
it's true that i often get influenced by the reviews on a book's Goodreads page and tend to let some of the opinions seep into how i rate a book. but this is one case where i stand by my five star rating, particularly because (horrors!) it doesn't seem all that implausible to me.
so yes, the author did start riffing off an ongoing event, but maybe my reading it four years later helped tamp some of this criticism. even then, i could not put this book down. and it is a weighty piece of material to read at one sitting.
one of the things that stood out to me was how much effort the author had put in to researching Bangladesh. then i find out she was the former South Asia correspondent for the NYT, which should detract from the research, but really doesn't. i mean, seriously, sandwip? i think that's the first time sandwip's entered the realm of popular fiction. ever. and she does paint a pretty negative picture of the country, which should set off my patriotic radar, but she does a fantastic job of portraying the sense of community that pervades our society - the stark contrast between the way Asma lives in and despite a community, whereas the rest of the characters live a dreary, bleak life seeking solitude.
the truth is, the book is full of truth. having witnessed personally the fall out of 9/11, including the humiliation of being pulled out of line for a "random" search while boarding airplanes, part of it did ring true. but unlike Mo, the experience did not set me off on a journey towards embracing Islam - i was quite a fervent non-practicing Muslim, and could only manage a wry smile at the irony of being deemed a potential threat.
a lot of reviewers struggled to like any of the characters in this book. but, as my reading history in 2014 will show, that is what attracts me to books and garners 5 star ratings it seems. i didn't particularly like any of the characters either, but i don't think that was the author's objective anyway. she brings out the fact that we are all merely complicated animals, who let our beliefs guide us in stupid directions, because we think that is what is right. but then that belief might also be transient, shifting in time as we question what we believe. and every single character in this book suffers from this, with wavering ideals and beliefs of various strengths, which change based on the information they receive and the experiences they encounter. and isn't that real life?
the other thing that struck me as quite true to life was the level of belief, or rather the courage of conviction, which differs from character to character. there are some who believe in something, but lack the courage to justify it; there are others who are willing to waver; only one character in the book strived to be brave. the rest chose to be varying levels of brave, most gravitating towards the coward end of the scale. and this mixture of beliefs and strength of belief is so true to life - we are ultimately surrounded by people exactly like this, and not every one is equal in their belief and strength of belief (what a boring world that would be).
i do not really want to focus on the specific nature of the beliefs these characters held. that would give too much away, and besides, the whole religious issue is not the subject of this review, and it shouldn't be. but, as someone who witnessed the fall-out on muslims, as well as the splinter groups and viewpoints that fanned out of the tragedy, the characterizations (or caricatures as some reviewers put it) of some was quite accurate. these characterizations do help portray the fear of being muslim in 21st century america.
the book is by no means a perfect piece of work. for one thing, it seemed the author had absolutely no shortage of adjectives for any situation whatsoever. plus there seems to be a strange obsession with naked sleeping bodies that i failed to understand. also, two things i did not understand - perhaps they were made to deepen the characters and their motives, but i thought they detracted greatly from the overall quality of the book: (SPOILER ALERT)
1. why did mo refuse to condemn the attacks, whether publicly or privately? he felt the tragedy deeply after returning to NYC - so why not condemn it? it wasn't like he was at any point in danger of becoming a radical.
2. the ending commits the same mistake that the book accuses characters of making throughout - confusing the religion with the culture. why would a kuwaiti emir want the names of the dead on the walls of his garden, whereas the verses (if that's what they are - also left ambiguous) are more likely to be culturally feasible?
3. how does a man condemned of blasphemy and subject to fatwas manage to live a long and productive life living and working in islamic countries, for emirs, sheikhs and other spiritually inclined leaders?
all in all, definitely worth a read.
Interesting premise, but would've been a lot better as a short story. Too much meandering/setup, which got tedious and repetitive. Then all the action happens in the last 50 pages and feels rushed. Mixed development of characters.
3.5 stars...didn't end as promisingly as it started...but a very interesting, multi-faceted take on America, post-9/11. Set in 2003, an anonymous competition for the design of the 9/11 memorial ends when the jury of artists, critics and family members selects a design submitted by an American Muslim. I appreciated how well Waldman interweaves the stories and perspectives of so many characters who are invested in this memorial and the very real internal and external conflicts that result. As a former bureau chief for the New York Times in South Asia, Waldman certainly displays knowledge and nuance regarding Islam, memory, and ultimately, what the making of a memorial really means. She asks big questions that are never really answered but which are worthwhile to ask ourselves as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finally come to a close. What is the purpose of a memorial...is it for us, in the present who grieve? Or is it for the generations to come? What kind of memorial would be most appropriate for our current wars? That was a question she asked during her talk at Literary Women & it stuck with me as I read this. I don't have an answer but I find the question intriguing.
A nuanced, emotional and difficult look at our country post-9/11.
How often does a book really make you think about tough questions in a different way? Despite the depth of the subject, the book is very readable, and I never felt like it was a chore for me get through it. I look forward to checking out Amy Waldman's future works.
Ugh. I had really high hopes for this book, I was excited to read it when my book club selected it. But honestly I just thought it was WAY too long and rambly, boring, and hard to understand at times. If you read this book read up on Islam before hand or have a dictionary handy. I hated all of the characters and I probably never would have finished this book at all if I hadn't slogged through the first 70% trying to finish in time for book club (which I didn't). By then I figured it was too late to turn back.
In classic required reading style, it was awful. Way too repetitive and drawn out. 100 pages too long.
This is a very interesting plot that provides us a mirror into our own prejudices. I loved how the characters changed throughout the novel and how people under pressure either succumbed to their prejudices or learned to fight them.