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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Loved this book - it coalesces many of the arguments about religious freedom, fear of Islam, and the meaning of art in a seamless and thought provoking novel.
I seem to like and not like this book at the same time. It was very thought provoking--how would America react if a Muslim-American was commissioned (or in this case, won the competition) to create the 9/11 memorial. Are we tolerate as we want? How much influence does the tabloid/24 hour news networks have in creating our opinions. These are all the questions that Waldman submits and to a certain extent she gives her answers. That said, I found some the characters flat. At times, I found the book working so hard to be serious that it was aloof and distant. I also felt the ending, was much to predictable and much to tidy.
After the terrorist bombings of Sept. 11, 2001, an committee was formed to create a memorial to those lost. Included on the panel was Maya Lin, the architect who was responsible for the Vietnam Memorial, created when she was 21. The irony of course is that Ms. Lin is Asian. This book deals with what happens when an Islamic submission is picked to commemorate 9/11. What does it mean to be an American? Some good one-liners. Title deals with submission to crowd mentality; submission to the will of Allah; submission to the arts panel.
OK, after being encouraged by a book club member I persevered to the end. After, I accepted that I didn't like the characters and this was not going to be a feel-good book ,I appreciated the varied and discordant voices in the story, and the last chapter is powerful. I think it will make for a great discussion.
Utterly brilliant novel. Insightful, humane, complex, intricately plotted - phenomenally good.
Really powerful book that is a fascinating cultural study on modern post 9/11 politics, art, the 24/7 media buzz. With a series of "real life" type characters - a Rush Limbaughish, an Ann Coulter, and many others. Focused on the building of a memorial garden to commemorate those who died on 9/11. The select art jury is stunned when the anonymous art committee reveals the winning design to be created by a talented Muslim American. Thus ensues a media and public outcry from both sides.
This is an intricate, complicated, very engrossing book about 9/11, Islam and America, grief and healing, art and politics. It follows what happens when the artist chosen to create a 9/11 memorial turns out to be an American architect who is Muslim. It bogged down for me a little in the middle, but I was complete re-engaged particularly with the plight of Asma, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh whose husband was killed in the attacks while she was 8 months pregnant. While there is some resolution, it remains complicated and thorny to the end--no easy answers but a very engaging and thought-provoking story.
The premise is so intriguing: What would happen if a nation-wide contest to design the 9/11 Memorial was held and the blind judging panel picked a Muslim winner?
SPOILERS AHOY AHOY
Amy Waldman's story unravels realistically. The media churns out drivel and instigates more controversy. The panel collapse into themselves with over-thinking and uber-PC dialogue. The winner broods and employs lawyers to get a fair shake at the prestige of honoring those that were killed. The racists rally. The liberals worry. It's a very complicated affair.
So, you'd think the book would be more interesting to me, right? I wonder if I would have thought differently had I skipped the author's biography (she's a well seasoned reporter), but for me the writing was as flat as a newscast. The characters were mostly stereotypes. We maintained a comfortable surface level with them: her brow was furrowed like rain on glass; he stewed in his kitchen in a red robe. That sort of thing. And I just wanted to get into the brains of some of the key characters and talk about the complex feelings they experienced instead of what shoes they chose to wear.
I should disclose here that I was in the minority of our book group. Most of us liked it. Praised it. Got behind the characters and seriously connected to one side or other of the causes.
I did not. I felt like the POV should have focused on three characters (Claire, the winner and the (edit) Bangladeshi immigrant). That way the repercussions of the events would have hit home harder. I feel like whoever gave the author the advice 'writing is reporting with adjectives' (because that's very much how I felt it was written)should have expounded a little further.
Amy Waldman has talent for writing. Don't let what I wrote here make you think otherwise. I'm just going to give her a few books before I try her again.
SPOILERS AHOY AHOY
Amy Waldman's story unravels realistically. The media churns out drivel and instigates more controversy. The panel collapse into themselves with over-thinking and uber-PC dialogue. The winner broods and employs lawyers to get a fair shake at the prestige of honoring those that were killed. The racists rally. The liberals worry. It's a very complicated affair.
So, you'd think the book would be more interesting to me, right? I wonder if I would have thought differently had I skipped the author's biography (she's a well seasoned reporter), but for me the writing was as flat as a newscast. The characters were mostly stereotypes. We maintained a comfortable surface level with them: her brow was furrowed like rain on glass; he stewed in his kitchen in a red robe. That sort of thing. And I just wanted to get into the brains of some of the key characters and talk about the complex feelings they experienced instead of what shoes they chose to wear.
I should disclose here that I was in the minority of our book group. Most of us liked it. Praised it. Got behind the characters and seriously connected to one side or other of the causes.
I did not. I felt like the POV should have focused on three characters (Claire, the winner and the (edit) Bangladeshi immigrant). That way the repercussions of the events would have hit home harder. I feel like whoever gave the author the advice 'writing is reporting with adjectives' (because that's very much how I felt it was written)should have expounded a little further.
Amy Waldman has talent for writing. Don't let what I wrote here make you think otherwise. I'm just going to give her a few books before I try her again.
I liked the idea of this book, and I liked the story, but I have to agree with my friend Jessamyn that the characters were not well drawn enough. They sort of seemed like cardboard representations in some respects, which is too bad, because this could have been a really lovely and moving book. I have yet to read a 9/11 book that really does that.
Well written, but not a work of fiction so much as an extremely detailed philosophy exercise. It's profound but far from poignant.