Scan barcode
thegoodmariner's review against another edition
4.0
Boy this one was nuts. I completely devoured it.
corvinaq's review against another edition
4.0
Well, I don't think I'm quite clever enough for this alternative history take on 9-11, where Christian fundamentalists are the ones who fly planes into two towers in Baghdad. I kept thinking I was supposed to be grasping more geopolitical insights than I did. Whatever, the book's premise is really intriguing. I liked it very much.
karieh13's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot even imagine the amount of research that went into “The Mirage”. Trying to create a storyline that is so similar to the events/people involved in 9/11 and its aftermath – while altering nearly all of the details…must have been incredibly complex. It was a bit complex for me as a reader…but since Ruff creates such great main characters in Mustafa and in Amal that once I was comfortable with them, I could let the “similar while completely different” aspects settle comfortably around me.
There were so many parts of this new/old storyline that I had forgotten – and upon remembering – appreciated the skill behind the new version. There’s no changing what happened that day, this novel aside, but given what happened afterwards, I know that I am not the only one that wishes that was possible.
There is so much in “The Mirage” that makes you think about what MIGHT have happened. All organized religions have their zealots; all have spilled blood in the name of their God – making the new reality described very possible. Including possibilities that I had never even considered. That were Texas ever a sovereign nation (!) – it might appeal to OPEC for help against attack given its major resource. That some enemies were just meant to encounter one another regardless of the circumstances…that some events just seem to be destined to happen, regardless what one might do to change things.
There are parts of “The Mirage” that made me laugh…in a bitterly ironic way. Details about “The Quail Hunter” and a certain Texas man who “in his youth it had naturally been assumed that he too would achieve great things. But he had squandered the advantages of his birth, used up all his second chances, and so come to nothing.”
Other notable figures figure prominently in this book – ones I would not have expected and two were names from the past that made me shudder when I read them again.
I know I missed much of the subtext and greater meaning in this book – I’m just not well versed enough in the subject to catch all of the changes and ironies. Plus I enjoyed reading it so much that I read it too fast.
Many things stuck with me from Matt Ruff’s excellent book “The Mirage”, but one passage in particular. When Mustafa is asked how he could do something that few people find acceptable, he replies, “The short answer is, you do it by deliberately confusing what is permitted with what is right. Money makes the confusion easier.”
While this truth is not what is at the heart of this book, this story, and the true events behind it, would not be remotely the same without it.
There were so many parts of this new/old storyline that I had forgotten – and upon remembering – appreciated the skill behind the new version. There’s no changing what happened that day, this novel aside, but given what happened afterwards, I know that I am not the only one that wishes that was possible.
There is so much in “The Mirage” that makes you think about what MIGHT have happened. All organized religions have their zealots; all have spilled blood in the name of their God – making the new reality described very possible. Including possibilities that I had never even considered. That were Texas ever a sovereign nation (!) – it might appeal to OPEC for help against attack given its major resource. That some enemies were just meant to encounter one another regardless of the circumstances…that some events just seem to be destined to happen, regardless what one might do to change things.
There are parts of “The Mirage” that made me laugh…in a bitterly ironic way. Details about “The Quail Hunter” and a certain Texas man who “in his youth it had naturally been assumed that he too would achieve great things. But he had squandered the advantages of his birth, used up all his second chances, and so come to nothing.”
Other notable figures figure prominently in this book – ones I would not have expected and two were names from the past that made me shudder when I read them again.
I know I missed much of the subtext and greater meaning in this book – I’m just not well versed enough in the subject to catch all of the changes and ironies. Plus I enjoyed reading it so much that I read it too fast.
Many things stuck with me from Matt Ruff’s excellent book “The Mirage”, but one passage in particular. When Mustafa is asked how he could do something that few people find acceptable, he replies, “The short answer is, you do it by deliberately confusing what is permitted with what is right. Money makes the confusion easier.”
While this truth is not what is at the heart of this book, this story, and the true events behind it, would not be remotely the same without it.
slider9499's review against another edition
1.0
I tried but just couldn't get through this book. I got as far as page 180 and couldn't go on. I found it pretty bad. I found the premise interesting and thought it would make a great What If type story. But I simply didn't care at all about the characters and the story really wasn't a story at all. I couldn't see how any of what the author was writing about had anything at all to do with the premise of the book. I really wanted to like this, but just didn't find it at all engaging.
cdeane61's review against another edition
5.0
Very clever flip of the world as we know it, where the countries of the Middle East are banded together as a world power, and the US is a bunch of divided religious territories that spew out terrorist and are responsible for 11/9.
Many historical figures are present, just not in the way that we know them.
The storyline is engaging, and the book moves along at good pace.
Highly recommended.
Many historical figures are present, just not in the way that we know them.
The storyline is engaging, and the book moves along at good pace.
Highly recommended.
mmingie's review against another edition
The ending felt like a cop-out. Not the very end, but the explanation for the mirage itself. Apart from that it was pretty interesting, and addressed many topics of interest in Middle-Eastern culture.
rcthomas's review against another edition
4.0
Updating my review because I don't think I really caught the main theme of the book when I originally read it. Ruff's books have been progressively reflecting on political, social, emotional trends in society and this book is a pretty good satire of the way extremist (specifically right wing) ideologues position themselves in the world. Facts and reality may be changeable but their internal human nature/desire for power is essentially immutable. I think this book stands as an example of something only becoming more relevant over time even as its direct subject matter becomes (slightly) less relevant.
_mjg_'s review against another edition
4.0
I'd forgotten I read this book until I got a ways into it, and didn't remember enough to make me stop. Glad I re-read it. Not my favorite Matt Ruff book, but a solid read.