Although I cannot pretend to have a strong working knowledge of the Koran or of the Islamic faith in general, this book seemed very good overall. It is about a young man, Hayat Shah, growing up Muslim in Michigan, who finds his faith challenged by society, by both his direct and extended family and the larger community overall, by his emerging sexual desires that seem to strange and foreign to him still, and by his strange and not altogether innocent and jealous love of a beautiful young woman who happens to come to live with the young man's family.
Hayat is a largely immature and overly naive boy who's inflexible idealism leads him to make some bad decisions with very wide ramifications for the lives of others around him. He has a literal belief in his Islamic faith fostered by the beautiful Mina that he loves so much. She is a childhood friend of Hayat's mother, and Hayat's parents accommodate her when she makes an escape from an abusive situation with her husband in her native Pakistan . He uses the religious instruction he receives from Mina to develop his faith, but he is also troubled by the more lax faith of his parents, particularly of his scientist father. Adding to the confusion are the various levels and interpretations of faith of those around him in his community and in his life.
Nothing is really out of the ordinary for a while, but all of that changes. When his beautiful Mina begins to get serious with a Jewish man, the trouble begins. The Jewish man, Nathan, who is Hayat's father's coworker and a fellow scientist, seems to be comfortable with both his profession and his religion and is not troubled in holding onto both> Still, his involvement with Mina leads to the inevitable conflict between the two faiths, which comes into play and ultimately destroys their love, with Hayat playing a surprisingly huge role, considering his young age. They both fall into misery, and the tragedy of their doomed love leads them both to immense suffering and regret. Only the adult version of Hayat will come to understand the fuller ramifications of actions taken when still just a child.
Things do happen in this novel, and yet, most of it is simply the thoughts and psychology of a growing and bright, but still rather immature boy, who's thinking is still not quite on the adult level. Hayat makes unfortunate decisions that will haunt him for a long time, perhaps even for the rest of his life, and make the reader cringe. Of course, we all think strange thoughts at that age, but this boy takes it to another level, and his actions have very serious, and ultimately tragic, ramifications – strong enough ramifications that he tried to come to grips with the results years and years later, as a young adult himself, now.
As for the writing style, Ayad Akhtar is able to move this story along with ease, and makes the reading pleasurable. He also has the ability to make the Koran and the teachings and interpretations accessible to a Western audience that might not be all that familiar with it – which was admittedly the case with me. It is hard not to cringe at the literal interpretation of these works by a young teenager, yet the author makes this believable, to the point that it is the essential element that moves the book along. Akhtar is able to juggle some complex themes, such as a faith and various interpretations and applications by it's practitioners, as well as
For a first novel, written earlier this year and just released, this is a remarkable work, and one that promises some great things for this author in the future. I, for one, will look forward to more of his works.
Below is a link to a very good review of this work by Adam Langer, of the New York Times:
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