The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1)

Book Description

What would you do to inherit a million dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The Ultimate Gift. Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family. "Although to date your life seems to be a sorry excuse for anything I would call promising, there does seem to be a spark of something in you that I hope we can fan into a flame. For that reason, I am not making you an instant millionaire." What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.

Customer Reviews:

life enhancing experience.......2007-10-10

A close friend gave me the book and the minute I opened it I knew I would not be able to put it down. It is a very fast read and it is packed full of valuable insights. As soon as I finished it I went on line and ordered a copy for each of my adolescent grandchildren. I believe there is something to be gained from each chapter. The book held my interest to the end.

Read the book, watch the movie - both will inspire!.......2007-10-01

I received this book as a gift shortly after watching the movie by the same name - I was greatly impressed with the movie and anxious to read the book (since everyone knows that the book is always better than the movie). This book is no exception to that rule - an outstanding read and it was as easy to read as the movie was to watch. This is a novel, a work of fiction that drives home some real life points! The premise of the book is about what's really important in life - is it what we build with our hands or the money and worldly success we achieve, or is it something more than that, something that isn't tangible and can't be bought or sold for any amount of money? In his final will, a dying wealthy man tries to communicate from the grave the true meaning of life to a family member who up until this point hasn't got a clue!

I would think that this book could probably be read to children in upper elementary school and could be read by 7th or 8th graders on their own. The book should be read by parents first so that they can engage their children in conversation along the way. While the book isn't overtly Christian, you'll find that the lessons taught in this novel are very similar to the wisdom shared in the Book of Proverbs and throughout Scripture. Stovall isn't preaching, but he sure can drive a point home with this story; and these twelve "gifts" passed from one generation to the next are essential for each and every one of us to learn as well.

While some say that the movie isn't as good as the book, I say that they are a pretty good compliment of each other. The movie takes various liberties with the book to get this message on screen, but you won't be disappointed with either. The book is written to provoke thought and discussion and families should use them as tools to teach valuable life lessons to their children - Red Stevens would have wanted it that way!

The Ultimate Gift DVD.......2007-09-27

The Ultimate Gift you sent me was a total disaster. I ordered the movie edition and you sent me a book and a promotional DVD. I did not receive the movie edition of the Ultimate Gift. Unfortunately I had ordered it to take on a bus trip that I was directing and I had not taken the time to watch what you sent me, thinking it was the movie edition. When I put it in the DVD player with everyone on the bus eager to watch the movie there was only the promotional disc. Needless to say I was embarrassed and not too happy. Fortunately along the way I was able to purchase the DVD that I thought I was buying from Amazon at a much higher price. I have ordered from Amazon before and have been very pleased but not this time.

A Timely Gift.......2007-09-24

Several copies of The Ultimate Gift were placed on a table at my workplace. A handwritten note read, "Take one and pass it on." The title was intriguing and never one to pass up something free or an opportunity to read, I took one.

Having gained knowledge of most of these gifts through the ups and downs of life, I enjoyed the validations, while unfortunately identifying with Uncle Red's mistakes. I am grateful to the person who made it possible to have a copy of the book.

I titled this review 'a timely gift' because I received in time read it and mail it to my son as a gift for his 26th birthday. Like Uncle Red, wishing to provide, I robbed my children of many of the gifts. I am hoping the book will make a difference in my son's life as he is not a happy person even though he has many blessings. When and if I am in touch with my prodigal daughter, I will share The Ultimate Gift with her, also. It is my goal to share copies of The Ultimate Gift with many, many young persons.

Good , but not terrific.......2007-09-19

The reviews I read promised an inspiring book. It was not to be. It was an interesting premise and story. But the lack of detailed story left me disappointed. Reading the story from the lawyer's view did not give us an opportunity to really travel the road to enlightenment. I felt I was reading the summary, not the story.

A movie of the book is coming out soon. I dare say, I see an immense opprtunity for the movie to outshine the book.

Average customer rating:

excellent! NOT a waste of your time!
Make time your friend
Too boring to finish
good read
Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants: A Novel
Sara Gruen
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565124995

Amazon.com

Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison.

Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob's life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the "menagerie" and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass and as his reward he spends most of the novel beaten, broken, concussed, bleeding, swollen and hungover. He is the self-appointed Protector of the Downtrodden, and... he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August's wife. Not his best idea.

The most interesting aspect of the book is all the circus lore that Gruen has so carefully researched. She has all the right vocabulary: grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May, what the band plays when there's trouble, Jamaican ginger paralysis, life on a circus train, set-up and take-down, being run out of town by the "revenooers" or the cops, and losing all your hooch. There is one glorious passage about Marlena and Rosie, the bull elephant, that truly evokes the magic a circus can create. It is easy to see Marlena's and Rosie's pink sequins under the Big Top and to imagine their perfect choreography as they perform unbelievable stunts. The crowd loves it--and so will the reader. The ending is absolutely ludicrous and really quite lovely. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.
Jacob was there because his luck had run out—orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act—in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
Surprising, poignant, and funny, Water for Elephants is that rare novel with a story so engrossing, one is reluctant to put it down; with characters so engaging, they continue to live long after the last page has been turned; with a world built of wonder, a world so real, one starts to breathe its air.

Customer Reviews:

excellent! NOT a waste of your time!.......2007-10-20

The amount of time and effort it took the author to obtain the FACTS incorporated into this story are SO evident and appreciated. Both the facts and fiction parts of this novel will keep you in thought long after completing the last page!

Make time your friend.......2007-10-19

The story, the people and of course the animals...you will not want to put this down.....take the time....you will not be disappointed

Too boring to finish.......2007-10-18

I am listening to this book on CD as I write this, and am rereading all the recommendations and aclaim, trying to figure out what I was missing. I don't like this book. It's predictable and boring. I did not enjoy the graphic sexual descriptions or the vivid details of vomit, rotten entrails and pooh, which I am not usually squeemish about, but it really is too much, it doesn't add a lot to the story. Lots of description, not much content. I just could not get into it.

good read.......2007-10-18

A good entertaining read. You will be turning the pages to see how this one turns out. I love elephant stories and this one is good, but if you want an elepahant story that requires 2 boxes of tissues read Modoc.

Water for Elephants.......2007-10-18

This was an excellent, well-written novel. I look forward to reading more of Sara Gruen's books.

Average customer rating:

I hated it
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Love & struggles
fantastic story
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: What an amazing book!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
Lisa See
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812968069
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Book Description

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Download Description

Lisa See is the author of Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

I hated it.......2007-10-18

I wanted to like this book. It seemed like I would like this book, but I didn't like it at all. I put it down halfway through and didn't even finish it. I wasn't crazy about it early on, but then when something awful happened to one of the 2 main characters and I DIDN'T CARE, I knew I was finished with this book.
Although I did find fascinating the whole foot-binding tradition and how Chinese women lived then, I was very disappointed in the story.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.......2007-10-17

Fascinating story about the life of a young girl in 19th century China. Wonderful insights about Chinese customs, life and values. Great selection for our Book Club!

Love & struggles.......2007-10-16

I recently chose Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for a book club. All the ladies seemed to enjoy this pick as it demonstrated in detail the culture and helped us be grateful for our big feet, not to mention our freedom. OBEY, OBEY, OBEY, is not something that I could have done as easily as Lily and Snow Flower. Their courage through it all left me in awe, respecting their everyday life, struggles and love.
This is a recommend read for all mothers, daughter and wives that think they have life difficult.

fantastic story.......2007-10-11

I loved this book - I am a fan of novels that weave historical information, or cultural information thru the story, and See did a fantastic job with both. The characters were so well done and the imagery was fantastic. I only wish it was longer!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: What an amazing book!.......2007-10-10

My favorite book in my 2 year book club. I love the way she writes and describes a world and lives of strong women who have no choice, no love, no life but yet have each other, dreams, and and hope.

Average customer rating:

Great book...well paced and an excellent horror story
A Phantasmagoric Phenomenon
Not Bad But I Expected More Somehow
shocker in more ways than one
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel
Joe Hill
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061147931
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Amazon.com

Do you sleep with the light on? Are you in the habit of checking your doors and windows before you go to bed? Maybe even checking under your bed? If you are about to crack open Joe Hill's chilling thriller Heart-Shaped Box, you might want to rethink your nighttime habits--Hill's story about an aging rock star (with a penchant for macabre artifacts) who buys a haunted suit online will scare you silly. But don't take our word for it. We asked bestselling authors (and masters of dark terror tales themselves) Scott Smith, and Harlan Coben to read Heart-Shaped Box and give us their take. Check out their reviews below, and you might want to pick up a nightlight while you're at it. --Daphne Durham

Guest Reviewer: Scott Smith

In 1993, Scott Smith wowed readers with his stunning debut thriller, A Simple Plan. Thirteen years later, he spooked us again with The Ruins, a horror-thriller about four Americans traveling in Mexico who stumble across a nightmare in the jungle.

The set-up for Joe Hill's novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is appealingly simple. Jude Coyne, an aging rock star, buys himself a dead man's suit. He acquires it online, lured by the promise that the dead man's ghost will be included in his purchase. Jude thinks this is a joke, of course. He also assumes the seller is a stranger. We soon discover that he's wrong on both counts, however, and from this point on the story moves with an exhilarating urgency. Jude wants the ghost gone; the ghost wants Jude dead. We watch, chapter-by-chapter, as they battle for survival. "Watch" is the appropriate word, too, because this is an extremely visual book. Hill's prose is lean and precise, and he renders Jude's world with impressive confidence. It feels solid, every detail both correct and fresh. And this physicality provides a firm platform for the book's otherworldly happenings, which seem all the more frightening for being so securely grounded.

Hill has a flawless sense of pacing. His narrative never flags, nor does it ever move so quickly as to outrun itself. And one can sense his literary ambition pushing at the margins of the genre. There are times when his writing, for all its spare efficiency, seems to jump away from him, stopping one small step short of poetry. An e-mail to Jude from the ghost (trust me, it's not as absurd as it sounds) could even pass for something ee cummings might've written, in an especially morbid mood. And toward the end of the book, when Hill describes a trip down death's "night road" in a '65 Mustang, the passage has a startlingly lyrical beauty.

The story's horror ultimately has as much to do with Jude Coyne's past--his mistakes, abandonments and betrayals--as with anything supernatural. Jude has caused a lot of pain over the years, moving through life with a carelessness that verges on the callous. His battle with the ghost brings this behavior into sharp relief, forcing him to reflect upon his own capacity for cruelty. This dawning self-awareness leavens the book's bleakness and gore (and it is delightfully gory in places) with an unexpected sweetness. Despite our initial impression, Jude is gradually revealed--both to himself and the reader--as an essentially decent, even kind man. It's this kindness, this fledgling ability to love and be loved, that will ultimately be of crucial consequence in his death struggle with the ghost. And it's what makes Hill's debut not only well-written and terrifying, but also--as it draws to its close--surprisingly moving. So go ahead, take a chance, and open his Heart-Shaped Box. I think you'll be happy you did. --Scott Smith

Guest Reviewer: Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is the author of the beloved Myron Bolitar series about a wisecracking sports agent, as well as stunning stand-alone novels like The Innocent and his breakout thriller Tell No One. His new novel The Woods releases on April 17, 2007.

You, dear reader, are obviously somewhat versed in making online purchases, so today, immediately after you click on the yellow "Add to Shopping Cart" on the top right hand corner of this page, why not do an online search and buy something totally unique?

Like, say, a vengeful ghost.

That is what rock-star Judas Coyne does, thinking it will be a laugh, fun for his "sick-o" collection of such things. It seems a random buy, but Judas soon learns that it is anything but. This particular ghost is one Craddock McDermott, step-father to recent suicide victim and boy, is he cranky. He demands revenge for his step-daughter's death, which he blames on Judas's shabby treatment of her.

Or is he after something else?

There are Amazon readers who will give you a better plot summary. Don't read them too closely because Joe Hill provides plenty of fun surprises. Heart-Shaped Box is a true spine-tingler. I don't use that hyphenated word much anymore. We have seen and read it all, haven't we? But right away, in the first chapter, there was a subtle line that made the hairs on the back of my neck go up in a way I haven't experienced since I first discovered great horror as a teenager.

Hill writes with a sure hand. The prose is compelling. Like most memorable tales of horror, this book is more about redemption than scary moments--though Heart-Shaped Box has plenty of scares. They are visceral, shocking and very well done. The characters are flawed and real. The father-son relationship adds texture and surprising poignancy.

So here's the thing. My guess is, you won't find a ghost to buy online, but if you read the Heart-Shaped Box, you will be getting something that will haunt you and startle you and stay with you and yes, visit you in your dreams.

Sleep well, dear reader. --Harlan Coben

Book Description

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . .

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts—of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang . . . standing outside his window . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. . . .

A multiple-award winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a blood-chilling roller-coaster ride of a novel, a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.

Customer Reviews:

Great book...well paced and an excellent horror story.......2007-10-13

This is one of the best ghost stories I have read in quite some time. The story is well paced, the characters are well written and the whole read was very enjoyable. Sorry Joe; this is one that I will be letting my friends borrow. You'll lose the sale but expand your fan base.

A Phantasmagoric Phenomenon.......2007-10-13

A horror first, then morphing to thriller - this book is an excellent page turner, and doesn't fall into many cliches unwillingly. This is high praise for a novel of this genre, a genre very hard to break ground in. I hope its not just knowing who his dad is that led me to draw many comparisons between their work, but its pretty much impossible not to do so. Apologies for that, but Mr. Hill starts that ball rolling with his dedication on page 1. Nods/tributes to Steven King seemed to fill the book - maybe its just because SK has so fully explored all the horror archetypes, while building a number of his own along the way. Joe knows the language - and breaks a good deal of new ground himself. It ends well, if a little too cleanly (I'm not saying 'happily')- which is something many horror/thriller writers fail to do.
I'd say the original concepts only carry the book about halfway - and that the second half of the book has outgrown the plausibility established in the first half. The subject matter is handled with a lot of maturity - depending far more on very real human psychology rather than supernatural crutches.
It read as a screen play - with lots of camera direction, I strongly suspect that this was intentional and a businessman's approach to writing (less reworking/reinterpreting to do when/if a movie comes along, which I think is inevitable for this book). This was distracting at times - especially when time motion flicker effects are described (think The Ring or House on Haunted Hill). A novel limited by camera effects - or a novelist calling upon the readers visual vocabulary, you decide.
I give it an 8.5 out of 10 - and though people do seem to love it a bit more because of its 'royal' heritage (Neil Gaiman gives an orgasmic review that comes across to me as excessive and comical), it is defiantly a good read. His comparisons to Clive Barker's first turn out of the gates are apt (Damnation Game is good stuff - highly underrated Barker).
I too have a fascination with the upstarts in the fiction industry - and there is plenty of magic in the idea of Joe Hill following in some very big footsteps.

Not Bad But I Expected More Somehow.......2007-10-09

Many people have already spoken about Heart-Shaped Box, so I won't go into enormous detail in my review. I can say that in general I did enjoy the book, yet I felt somehow disappointed. I know Joe Hill was King's son before I read the book and for me that did not necessarily add any appeal, but it built some expectation in me that the book would be perhaps in the tightly-crafted vein of Stephen King's youthful work. It was and it wasn't.

In the first section of the book, in the initial discovery of the ghost and subsequent run from it, I felt the suspense and characterization was fairly well done. Jude was an aging rock jerk with too much time and money, his girlfriend was attractive, young, and apparently with little self-esteem, his manager was a tool. As the book progressed, however, the reader was clearly meant to see that Jude was undergoing character development and realizing he did indeed love Georgia (and Florida too). But it felt forced to me. Especially **SPOILER**the end, in which Jude and Georgia become a cozy married couple and he is a kindly elder gent. Meh, it did not ring true. Why does Georgia give 2 figs for this guy? Why are they still together? Why does anyone care about him?**SPOILER OVER**

In addition, I can't get over the idea that Jude looks like Lemmy from Motorhead and behaves like Ozzie Osborne (prior to unintelligibility). And frankly, being an unrepentant NIN fan, I just can't imagine, even in fiction, Trent Reznor working with this guy. What would the two possible have in common? And Coldplay references, for heaven's sake?! The cringe-worthy band name dropping Hill does is so like his dad though.

Anyway, a decent read in general. The spirit was there, and I like a little goth in my horror, but the execuion was a little off.

shocker in more ways than one.......2007-09-26

i found this book by reading recommendations months ago. Picked it up out of my "to read" pile of books for plane trip. finished in 2 days.
i thought WHAT A GREAT STORY! i am always intrigued about the author pic.
i kept thinking...gee...who does he look like???
i hand it to my husband and say, "read the first chapter and you will be hooked". he was and finished...last night...i said...wasn't that such a "visual" book...so gooood. he agrees...goes online and looks at me and says....
"you know who the author is don't you?"...i said...no who? he says..
welllllll.....its stephen king's son. my mouth fell open, i got teary eyed for a minute, and said...WOW! genetics!

so read this book and if you get a little ferklempt that stephen king's son is gonna be successful too then all is right in the world.
the bookreader

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.......2007-09-19

One thing I admire greatly about Joe Hill King, son of famous bestselling author Stephen King, is that he didn't get a leg up from his father like our President did. While I'm sure he's had plenty of help and advice, Joe Hill has earned his own success through his own writing. Having won a Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection with his first book 20th Century Ghosts, he now returns with his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, which was naturally making a tremendous amount of buzz before the book even came out. And the congratulatory quote on the back of the book from Neil Gaiman just made it that more popular.

Our main character, Judas Coyne, is a famous guitarist of a band that was once up there with Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, but after the sudden deaths of two band members, the guitarist is now a successful solo artist whose eccentricities range into the banal, naturally. His favorite is to collect items and trinkets of the most unusual - the weirder the better! So when Jude sees a ghost for sale on an auction site, he immediately jumps on it, chooses the buy it now option and soon has the package on its way. The single mother is very happy to get rid of the ghost of her grandfather who has been haunting her and her son for so long, and Jude now has his very own ghost.

The package arrives in a large black heart-shaped box and inside he finds an ancient but impeccable suit. Judas is impressed by it, closes the box and soon forgets about it. Then the haunting begins: strange noises and soon they see the ghost, walking around. Then things take a turn for the worse, as the ghost comes after Judas and his friends.

Sadly, when it is revealed where this ghost has come from the story kind of goes downhill. It turns out the ghost is the deceased grandfather of the sister of a former girlfriend of Jude's who killed herself after he dumped her. While the supernatural element of the ghost remains, and it is on their tail trying to catch them, the reasoning behind it is weak and destroys the foundation of the plot. Nevertheless there is a darkness and depth within this novel that reveals a talented writer with a bold future ahead of him. Like Carrie, this is not the best first novel, but with the talent in Hill's genes, we know there will be many more stories for him to tell that will be great and terrifying.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

Average customer rating:

Started out good, but fizzled
This from a Pulitzer winning author?
Heavy on sensory description, light on story
Caught between two cultures
the struggle with traditions

The Namesake: A Novel
Jhumpa Lahiri
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0618485228

Amazon.com

Any talk of The Namesake--Jhumpa Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning debut, Interpreter of Maladies--must begin with a name: Gogol Ganguli. Born to an Indian academic and his wife, Gogol is afflicted from birth with a name that is neither Indian nor American nor even really a first name at all. He is given the name by his father who, before he came to America to study at MIT, was almost killed in a train wreck in India. Rescuers caught sight of the volume of Nikolai Gogol's short stories that he held, and hauled him from the train. Ashoke gives his American-born son the name as a kind of placeholder, and the awkward thing sticks.

Awkwardness is Gogol's birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, has pretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but like many second-generation immigrants, he can never quite find his place in the world. There's a lovely section where he dates a wealthy, cultured young Manhattan woman who lives with her charming parents. They fold Gogol into their easy, elegant life, but even here he can find no peace and he breaks off the relationship. His mother finally sets him up on a blind date with the daughter of a Bengali friend, and Gogol thinks he has found his match. Moushumi, like Gogol, is at odds with the Indian-American world she inhabits. She has found, however, a circuitous escape: "At Brown, her rebellion had been academic ... she'd pursued a double major in French. Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been her refuge--she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, without guilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind." Lahiri documents these quiet rebellions and random longings with great sensitivity. There's no cleverness or showing-off in The Namesake, just beautifully confident storytelling. Gogol's story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it's simply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: real life. --Claire Dederer

Book Description

Jhumpa Lahiri's debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, took the literary world by storm when it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. Fans who flocked to her stories will be captivated by her best-selling first novel, now in paperback for the first time. The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the tangled ties between generations. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of an arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ashoke does his best to adapt while his wife pines for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of naming him betrays their hope of respecting old ways in a new world. And we watch as Gogol stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With empathy and penetrating insight, Lahiri explores the expectations bestowed on us by our parents and the means by which we come to define who we are.

Customer Reviews:

Started out good, but fizzled.......2007-10-16

I read Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" and very much enjoyed it, so I was looking foward to "The Namesake". This book started out good, but by the time Gogol started dating, I was bored. There is too much detail about Gogal and his girlfriends. All that information about Maxine and her family was pointless. There are other times in the book where too much time is given to mundane stuff.
I found myself rushing through the second half of the book just to get done.

This from a Pulitzer winning author?.......2007-09-28

I have to admit I was surprised at the accolades heaped on this book...it is simply a bland but well-written description of an immigrant family experience in America, a theme previously touched by numerous Indian-American authors (such as Bharati Mukerjee). I felt that the writing was very passive and disinterested, as if the author didnt feel the need to engage the reader with a more compelling storyline, and who instead felt that a quaint description of an exotic cultural experience would suffice to make it a worthwhile read.

And I couldnt help comparing this book to another novel released at the same time which also delves into immigrant experience but within the context of a gripping, heartwrenching story--The Kite Runner (which has received over 200 reviews in Amazon). There, the reader was able to appreciate the Afghani culture and historical context as the author deftly combines it with his storytelling. In the Namesake, the reader is put in the position of an anthropologist, curiously observing a culture from outside. An Indian friend of mine, majoring in Sociology, jokingly referred to the Namesake as a dissertation in immigrant experience. Interestingly, none of my Indian-American friends thought highly of the book!

Heavy on sensory description, light on story.......2007-09-23

Lahiri has created an evocative masterpiece, a minutely detailed world that the reader can imagine tasting, smelling and hearing. The description begins in the first paragraph with a vivid account of a heavily pregnant woman and her unusual cravings. Other reviews cite Lahiri's gift for chronicling the outsider experience; I have never lived anywhere other than the US but I think everyone has felt slightly different at times, and she captures that sentiment perfectly. It is remarkable that the more specific a piece of writing is, the more universal it can feel. On the whole, lovely description of a family's experience; the reader should expect no cliffhangers here.

Caught between two cultures.......2007-09-15

"The Namesake" is the story of Gogol Ganguli, a man born to Indian parents who moved to America shortly after they were married. Gogol's name has always been a source of deep resentment for him, as it is neither Indian or American. Eventually Gogol opts to have his name legally changed before he leaves for college. In addition to adjusting to his new name, Gogol continues with a struggle he's faced his entire life: How to relate to and maintain his Indian culture while living on American soil. Gogol rejects most things about his heritage, preferring to lead a more "Americanized" lifestyle. His choices create a barrier between him and his family, but try as he might, Gogol never feels completely at ease within the American culture, either. He establishes a successful career for himself and has has several serious relationships, but Gogol never really finds a comfortable place for himself in this world. Eventually he finds happiness with an Indian woman, of all people, who relates to him on so many levels. However, Moushumi has her own way of rebelling, and at the end of the novel we find Gogol back at the very place his life began, where he begins to rediscover himself.

I fell in love with this book after reading the first few pages, and I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed it even more than author Jhumpa Lahiri's collection of short stories, "Interpreter of Maladies." Lahiri writes in a simple yet emotional style that is rich in detail. Although the novel revolves around Gogol, Lahiri occasionally shifts perspective and gives the reader a glimpse of the story from the eyes of Gogol's parents and Moushumi. All of the characters make a lot of mistakes, but I was able to easily relate to and empathize with each of them.

This is a book about family, identity, heritage, and self-discovery. You don't have to be the child of immigrants in order to relate to the process of pulling apart from your family and discovering the person you're destined to become. I think this book has something to offer everyone, and it also happens to be a beautiful, poignant story. "The Namesake" is a must-read.

the struggle with traditions.......2007-08-31

I just finished reading "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri and I am still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. There was no story, per say. There was no mysterie to solve, no one to really root for, no hero. The story is a 30 year slice of life of the Ganguli family - how the husband and wife married, how the wife joined her husband in America while he was in school, them having children and the children growing up. The book was slow, sometimes even boring and it was easy for me to not like the main character, Gogol (the son), because he was never happy about anything and he was always whining to himself about something. But through all this, Lahiri is illustrating the importance of traditions and how they can be simultaneously comforting, necessary, burdening and sometimes hated. This, I believe, is what Lahiri is trying to show her readers. I ended up really liking this book, but it didn't move fast enough for me and at times felt like a chore. The content of traditions and family values and relations is in there - in fact it is quite strong at times, however the way that Lahiri presented it was too slow for me to want to seek out her other works. One thing that stood out for me with this book though, was the food. Lahiri made me so hungry in the way she described the food in how it was prepared and what was in it, describing how it tasted and what it looked like. I wrote down some of the foods so that I can look them up and try them out.

Average customer rating:

A "HOW-TO" for citizenship and political leadership
excellent
Call to Greatness
Current state of affairs for the middle class
Long-winded and Confusing Story

The New American Story
Bill Bradley
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400065070
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

“Politics is stuck,” writes Bill Bradley, in this insightful, informative, and provocative book about America at a crossroads, but “idealism isn’t dead. It can be reawakened.”

What will it take to make America a better, stronger, truer country? asks the bestselling author, former Knicks star, and onetime presidential candidate. Bill Bradley believes that America is at a teachable moment when we are compelled to reevaluate our political system, our leadership, our agenda as a nation, and ourselves as citizens. With clarity and urgency, Bradley shows why the story we are being told now about who we are as a people is not true. He then offers a new story about our nation, based on America’s rich heritage and his belief in the character of the American people. Bradley explores what changes need to be made in our parties, in our politics, and in citizen activism to ensure America’s future. He asserts that the American people are ready for the truth and suggests that the party that chooses to embrace this new story will be in power for a generation.

Writing from his own experience in politics and drawing on his knowledge of history, Bradley shows how the Republican Party has built a solid pyramid structure since the 1970s, at the base of which are money, ideas, and media, whereas the Democratic Party’s structure is an inverted pyramid, with too much emphasis put on the need for a charismatic leader to hold the pyramid up. Each party, for different reasons, fails to deal with the real issues that now confront America.

This informed and inspiring call to action is addressed not only to the parties and elected leaders, but to citizens as well. Bradley proposes things every American can do to shape our nation’s future. He points out that if eighty percent of the electorate voted, instead of fifty percent, it would be the most important change in American politics since women got the vote. Now more than ever, he says, we need to embrace an “ethic of connectedness,” a combination of collective action and individual responsibility, to solve our nation’s most pressing problems, and he argues that the fate of all countries is bound together as never before. Writing today with the freedom of a private citizen, Bradley provides this transformative and eye-opening book about the danger and the promise of America’s choice at this crucial moment in the nation’s history.

Customer Reviews:

A "HOW-TO" for citizenship and political leadership.......2007-09-29

Why should you read this?

- If you care about our democracy and want to help make it strong again

- If you want to understand the big domestic challenges we face today

- If you want thoughtful proposals to addresses those challenges

- If you want to better the understand the Democratic and Republican parties; what makes them function, what makes them DYSFUNCTIONAL

- If you want to hear an insider's take on what makes our democracy tick, what makes it great, and what threatens its survival

This is a terrific book. If I had the money, I'd buy one for every member of Congress.

I listened to this book unabridged on audio, narrated by Michael Prichard. He does a good job capturing Bill Bradley's dignity, but to my ear doesn't quite capture his enthusiasm and passion for good government.

excellent.......2007-08-28

bradley is a truly brilliant man. the book is filled with hundreds of good ideas. hopefully he will stay involved in politics. the problem is that the people who need to read this book will not. our government is controlled by big business and greedy men with their own agendas. how soon is that going to change? i highly reccomend this book.

Call to Greatness.......2007-08-20

You'd swear Bill Bradley was running for office or dashing down court for a breakaway three-pointer. This one-time presidential contender and New York Knicks superstar writes with the energy and urgency of a man on a mission.

Read his book, The New American Story, and you'll be tempted to join him. Bradley has issued a powerful call to action--one that promises to rescue our nation from political infighting and restore America's leadership role in the world.

His is not a story of military might and moral superiority; it is the story of our nation's founding principles, written by the men and women whose active engagement at pivotal points in history assured the country lived up to its highest ideals.

We have a choice before us that could transcend our current state of affairs, says Bradley. A choice that puts country over political party, the common good over the distracting issues that divide us.

One of our nation's most admired leaders--Abraham Lincoln--knew a thing or two about bringing a divided nation together. When he was president, Lincoln would often sneak out of the White House on Wednesday nights to hear sermons of a well-known preacher at the New York Presbyterian Church. One night, an aide asked Lincoln what he had thought of the sermon. "The content was excellent. The minister had a strong voice and a good delivery," said Lincoln, pausing. "But he forgot the most important part. He didn't ask us to do something great."

Bill Bradley is asking us to do something great.

"The answers to our problems rest in our hearts as well as in our heads," Bradley says in the introduction to his book, "and until we understand that, we'll make marginal improvements, but we won't make the quantum leaps that our Founders made and hoped we would continue."

I am drawn to stories of ordinary Americans who overcame obstacles to achieve great things. Freedom fighters on the Underground Railroad. Journalists who exposed unethical business practices at the turn of the 20th century. The immigrants who built our transcontinental railroad. A country lawyer who became a United States Supreme Court Justice, America's chief prosecutor of Nazi War criminals, and the founder of international law. These are the stories I want people around the world to know about when they think of America and its unique contributions to the world. That's why my husband and I make historical documentaries for a living.

Bill Bradley's book had me from hello, or at least from the moment I read the book jacket blurbs written by David McCullough, David Halberstam, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Robert A. Caro, all Pulitzer Prize winners. Because I love history, and because I believe in the strength of our nation's collective character, I kept on reading.

There is no question the bold policies outlined in Bill Bradley's book will be hotly debated in the coming weeks. He takes both political parties to task, taking aim at the current administration's policies with the finesse of a seasoned athlete and senator. And while I don't agree with every single one of Bradley's strategies on health care, education, environment, tax reform, and national defense, if this American story is to have a happy ending, I, like all other Americans, will have to look for common ground, and make sacrifices for the greater good.

Bill Bradley has faith that, given the right information--the true American story--we will do the right thing.

Current state of affairs for the middle class .......2007-08-07

I confess I have read many other books on the current status quo and state of politics in our country before reading this book. If you have too, this may be a bit repetitive as most issues have been discussed before. What I do like about Bill Bradley's book is it is not simply a laundry list of complaints. He offers at the end of each chapter (designated to each issue) some thought out solutions. This is a good book for eye-opening for our major issues - health care, education, energy... and would recommend it to readers who want to learn more about the who, what and why our social issues are being ignored by government. I also recommend "War on the Middle Class" by Lou Dobbs or "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class -- And What We Can Do About It" by Thom Hartmann. I enjoyed reading those a little more.

Long-winded and Confusing Story.......2007-07-29

I'll confess right up front that I haven't finished the book yet, and I'll update this review when I do. I'm still slogging through lengthy, wandering passages that fail to make any points. I keep waiting for any kind of "here's a solution" or "here's what we should do" sentence, but I have yet to find one. He spends a lot of pages in the first 25% of the book telling the reader about the "story" that he says we're being told -- by whom? On every issue he seems to pick the most extreme right-wing position as representative of this "story" rather than the positions that the majority of Republicans and conservatives hold. And thus far all he's offered for his "new story" is idealistic pie-in-the-sky notions with no plan to get there. I trust that he gets there in the second half of the book.

Just one example of the poor writing and editing: In the section titled "Inequality" in chapter on The Economy, he goes on for quite a while about financial inequality, then about globalization and technological change, finally claiming that you can no longer get ahead by working hard. He then admits that that there is no way around benefiting the wealthy if you want to encourage investment. And then this sentence:
"But there is no excuse for failing to conduct rigorous oversight of and increase resources to education ... which in the long run will result in ... greater equality."
Okay, he tied it back into equality, but how did he suddenly switch from tax cuts and investing and unions to education in the middle of the same paragraph? Where did this out-of-the-blue accusation come from that someone isn't overseeing and funding education? I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with that accusation, just pointing out that it's completely out of place in any kind of logical or narrative flow.

And so goes this story so far. I'll keep at it and hope the writing and presentation of ideas tightens up. Maybe his publisher paid him by the word...

The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers

Average customer rating:

A captivating story of a harsh life
Poignant and profound
Excellent book
A read to get you thinking
Vivid Memoir

The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
Harry Bernstein
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0345495802
Release Date: 2007-03-20

Book Description

“There are places that I have never forgotten. A little cobbled street in a smoky mill town in the North of England has haunted me for the greater part of my life. It was inevitable that I should write about it and the people who lived on both sides of its ‘Invisible Wall.’ ”

The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the “invisible wall” that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. Only a few feet of cobblestones separated Jews from Gentiles, but socially, it they were miles apart.

On the eve of World War I, Harry’s family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry’s mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: new shoes that might secure Harry’s admission to a fancy school; that her daughter might marry the local rabbi; that the entire family might one day be whisked off to the paradise of America.

Then Harry’s older sister, Lily, does the unthinkable: She falls in love with Arthur, a Christian boy from across the street.

When Harry unwittingly discovers their secret affair, he must choose between the morals he’s been taught all his life, his loyalty to his selfless mother, and what he knows to be true in his own heart.

A wonderfully charming memoir written when the author was ninety-three, The Invisible Wall vibrantly brings to life an all-but-forgotten time and place. It is a moving tale of working-class life, and of the boundaries that can be overcome by love.

Customer Reviews:

A captivating story of a harsh life.......2007-09-03

This book is full of the details of a life that many of us will never experience. The authors story of extreme poverty living in a large family with a hardworking but struggling mother and a distant and often abusive father is both horrifying and captivating.

While it sounds like this should be a depressing book, the details of the moments of hope and happiness lifts it out of the dark side of life in Lancashire and made me wonder about the future for the various key characters. The book is set before and after the great War, but it could be timeless. The central location is a street of two rows of houses facing each other with the 'jews' on one side and the 'christians' on the other. For most of the book there is almost no mingling between the two sides. But at times when their lives are most difficult, they do get together to support one another.

I don't want to give away the story line too much. Some of the difficult scenes are extremely hard to endure, but the details really light up this book even things are hardest.

I would not recommend for anyone younger than about 13, there are too many difficult details here. But for the rest of us, there's LOTS to learn about the silly things that divide us and the fact that despite religious difficulties our lives are more similar than we'd like to believe.

Poignant and profound.......2007-06-26

An absolutely wonderful book written by a 93 year old author who captures the very essence of anti-semitism in pre-World War I England through his own childhood experiences. The last chapter is so descriptive and poignant...really tugs at the heartstrings. I hope Mr. Bernstein continues to share his gift of the written word.

Excellent book.......2007-05-28

Wonderfully written. This book surprised me because of its unpredictability. I couldn't put it down. Mr. Bernstein's story is beautiful, it's a wonder why he waited so long to share it.

A read to get you thinking.......2007-05-25

My six member book club read this last month, and all of us, including our most critical member, found this book very enjoyable and enlightening. The inclusion of dialog easily puts the reader in the time period. The tone and style of the author encourage empathy and understanding of both populations on either side of the invisible wall. The author conveys his and his sibling's emotions in the gentlest of ways while the reader easily grasps that at the time they were much more. While not quite a page turner, my attention never lagged and I would have willingly read more. I would have appreciated more wisdom on the overall subject such as was found in Arthur's letter to Lily.

Vivid Memoir.......2007-05-25

Harry Bernstein writes in a descriptive manner that makes all the characters seem to be living right in front of the reader's eyes. The story is so interesting that I could not put the book down until I finished. It was hard to believe that a man at ninety years of age could remember so much detail and emotion back to his early childhood. The book was well worth reading. I look forward to Mr. Bernstein's next book.

Average customer rating:

Nepal, symbol of loss, confusion and conflicted lives
great book
Enthralling But Grim Picture
An absolute delight
just a matter of taste, I guess . . .

The Inheritance of Loss
Kiran Desai
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802142818

Book Description

Published to extraordinary acclaim, The Inheritance of Loss heralds Kiran Desai as one of our most insightful novelists. She illuminates the pain of exile and the ambiguities of postcolonialism with a tapestry of colorful characters: an embittered old judge; Sai, his sixteen-year-old orphaned granddaughter; a chatty cook; and the cook’s son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one miserable New York restaurant to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the INS. When a Nepalese insurgency in the mountains threatens Sai’s new-sprung romance with her handsome tutor, their lives descend into chaos. The cook witnesses India’s hierarchy being overturned and discarded. The judge revisits his past and his role in Sai and Biju’s intertwining lives. A story of depth and emotion, hilarity and imagination, The Inheritance of Loss tells a story of love, family, and loss.

Customer Reviews:

Nepal, symbol of loss, confusion and conflicted lives.......2007-10-14

2006 may have spawned the weakest shortlist of titles in years for the prestigious Booker Prize, so it was relatively easy for the critics to pick Kiran Desai's "The Inheritance of Loss" for the winner of the award. The only real contender in my opinion was Kate Grenville's "The Secret River".

Desai doesn't really offer any fresh perspectives on the evils of colonialism or the trauma they bring upon the colonized but what she does beautifully, sometimes to devastating effect through her vividly descriptive prose, is to evoke the sense of loss and confusion through conflict and the bitter ironies of internalizing yet detesting the ways of one's conquerer.

Jemubhai Poptalal, the cranky old retired Cambridge-educated judge who lives at Kalimpong at the foot of the Himalayas with his granddaughter Sai and his cook, is the living embodiment or more accurately, the withered fruit, of this phenomenon. As he lies on his bed at night, he dreams of years gone by, of his undergraduate days in a distant land and the gross indignities he suffered from landladies who slammed their doors in his face because he was of the wrong colour, his loveless arranged marriage and the strange cruelties he used to exact upon his hapless wife, etc.

The struggle with the loss of one's own identity extends even to his cook, eternally grateful and obsequious, whose one dream is for his son Biju to have a better life in New York, not knowing that race and cultural differences are timeless constants that would continue to dog his efforts on the other (read brighter) side of the globe.

Meanwhile, Sai the granddaughter who landed quite by chance at the doorsteps of her grandfather's residence following the sudden and unexpected death of her parents, falls in love with her young Nepalese tutor, Gyan, who once taken up with the revolutionary Nepalese independence cause, begins to despise her and see her as a class enemy. Regrettably, Sai's and Gyan's tentative love story is the least convincing element and the weakest link in Desai's story. Sketchy and underwritten, it seemed like an afterthought best abandoned at the first opportunity.

However, the supporting cast of characters that weave in and out of the lives of judge and his family are brilliantly essayed, especially the Bengali sisters Noni and Lola who lay trapped between their own shaky ethnicity and the genteel English manners they have unwittingly acquired and who pay dearly for it when the precariously perched political status quo proves illusionary and falls apart. Nepal and the other neighbouring Himalayan states share the distinct characteristic of being wedged between great powers. In Desai's novel, they symbolize the inherent contradictions that arise among the colonized from the self-loathing of being Indian and foreign at the same time.

"The Inheritance of Loss", a story of an intricately interwoven tapestry of conflicted lives, though sad and painful, is also universal, moving and poignant, and an astounding piece of work from the obviously talented Desai. A certain entry into the canon of contemporary literature.

great book.......2007-10-10

This was a great read. I enjoyed the analogies between the lives of all the different characters as they played out in the novel. Most of them were very pitiful and sad, and indicative of changes we all must make in this globalized new world, good or bad. I really enjoyed the authors use of words; they were very unusual. The author left all the characters dangling as far as their future was concerned. They all came to a crossroads in their lives with no resolution and it bodes the possibility of a sequel to this. I would really enjoy that. I recommend this book for anybody who is interested in the human condition as it applies to decisions we make as our world advances forward not be leaps and bounds but by turbocharge.

Enthralling But Grim Picture.......2007-10-02

This novel is set in a relatively isolated village in India, with characters ranging from poor to upper middle class. A secondary setting is Manhattan where undocumented immigrants work in squalor and try to survive. The picture of life in India is one I had never seen, and the picture of the impact of British rule is far from complimentary. Character development, plot and historical context are all quite strong, leading to a bittersweet ending. I thought this work was a little drawn out toward the conclusion, which is the only reason for 4 rather than 5 stars.

An absolute delight.......2007-09-25

Beautifully written, charming, playful and yet melancholy, fantastically absurd at times and bitterly realistic at others. I was hooked from the first page. It is a book to be savoured: delightful imagery and perspectives. In the same company as The God of Small Things, another Booker winner that has clearly (and surprisingly) polarised readers into those who loved it (me included) and those who could not finish it. For anyone who enjoys good modern Anglo-Indian writing.

just a matter of taste, I guess . . ........2007-09-24

There isn't much I can add to the positive reviews here. Kiran Desai is a wonderful and talented writer; her canvas is vast and all-encompassing. Far from being bored, I couldn't put it down from the first page. And when I was finished, I went right back to the beginning and read the first few chapters all over again. Go figure.

Average customer rating:

Well-Told Thriller of American Disenchantment
The behavior of the main character is repugnant
Missing color and texture
A three-star thriller
Compelling story of life in America after 9/11

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Mohsin Hamid
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0151013047
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Amazon.com

Mohsin Hamid's first novel, Moth Smoke, dealt with the confluence of personal and political themes, and his second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, revisits that territory in the person of Changez, a young Pakistani. Told in a single monologue, the narrative never flags. Changez is by turns naive, sinister, unctuous, mildly threatening, overbearing, insulting, angry, resentful, and sad. He tells his story to a nameless, mysterious American who sits across from him at a Lahore cafe. Educated at Princeton, employed by a first-rate valuation firm, Changez was living the American dream, earning more money than he thought possible, caught up in the New York social scene and in love with a beautiful, wealthy, damaged girl. The romance is negligible; Erica is emotionally unavailable, endlessly grieving the death of her lifelong friend and boyfriend, Chris.

Changez is in Manila on 9/11 and sees the towers come down on TV. He tells the American, "...I smiled. Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased... I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees..." When he returns to New York, there is a palpable change in attitudes toward him, starting right at immigration. His name and his face render him suspect.

Ongoing trouble between Pakistan and India urge Changez to return home for a visit, despite his parents' advice to stay where he is. While there, he realizes that he has changed in a way that shames him. "I was struck at first by how shabby our house appeared... I was saddened to find it in such a state... This was where I came from... and it smacked of lowliness." He exorcises that feeling and once again appreciates his home for its "unmistakable personality and idiosyncratic charm." While at home, he lets his beard grow. Advised to shave it, even by his mother, he refuses. It will be his line in the sand, his statement about who he is. His company sends him to Chile for another business valuation; his mind filled with the troubles in Pakistan and the U.S. involvement with India that keeps the pressure on. His work and the money he earns have been overtaken by resentment of the United States and all it stands for.

Hamid's prose is filled with insight, subtly delivered: "I felt my age: an almost childlike twenty-two, rather than that permanent middle-age that attaches itself to the man who lives alone and supports himself by wearing a suit in a city not of his birth." In telling of the janissaries, Christian boys captured by Ottomans and trained to be soldiers in the Muslim Army, his Chilean host tells him: "The janissaries were always taken in childhood. It would have been far more difficult to devote themselves to their adopted empire, you see, if they had memories they could not forget." Changez cannot forget, and Hamid makes the reader understand that--and all that follows. --Valerie Ryan

A Conversation with Mohsin Hamid