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American Taliban
An avid, near-six-foot-tall surfer, John Jude Parish cuts a striking figure on the beaches of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. When he isn’t on water, John lives on wheels, a self-described skate rat—grinding and kickflipping with his friends, and encouraged by his progressive parents. His hero is the great explorer Richard Burton, his personal prophet is Bob Dylan, and his world is wide open—to new ideas, philosophies, and religions.
Through online forums and chat rooms, John meets a young woman from Brooklyn who spurs his interest in Islam and Arab literature. Deferring Brown University for a year, he moves to the idyllic New York borough to study Arabic. Like Burton, John embraces the experience heart, body, and soul—submitting to Islam, practicing the salaat, fasting and meditating, dancing with dervishes, and encountering the extraordinary. Burton lived the life of a nineteenth-century adventurer, but he also penetrated the ancient wisdom of secret worlds. John will too—with unforeseen consequences.
Critically acclaimed novelist Pearl Abraham uses her gifts of psychological acuity and uncommon empathy to depict a typical upper-middle-class family snared by the forces of history, politics, and faith. In American Taliban , she imagines this young surfer/skater on a distinctly American spiritual journey that begins with Transcendentalism and countercultural impulses, enters into world mysticism, and finds its destination in Islam.
Provocative, unsettling, and written in a brilliantly inventive, refreshingly original voice, American Taliban is poised to become one of the most talked-about novels of the year.
Through online forums and chat rooms, John meets a young woman from Brooklyn who spurs his interest in Islam and Arab literature. Deferring Brown University for a year, he moves to the idyllic New York borough to study Arabic. Like Burton, John embraces the experience heart, body, and soul—submitting to Islam, practicing the salaat, fasting and meditating, dancing with dervishes, and encountering the extraordinary. Burton lived the life of a nineteenth-century adventurer, but he also penetrated the ancient wisdom of secret worlds. John will too—with unforeseen consequences.
Critically acclaimed novelist Pearl Abraham uses her gifts of psychological acuity and uncommon empathy to depict a typical upper-middle-class family snared by the forces of history, politics, and faith. In American Taliban , she imagines this young surfer/skater on a distinctly American spiritual journey that begins with Transcendentalism and countercultural impulses, enters into world mysticism, and finds its destination in Islam.
Provocative, unsettling, and written in a brilliantly inventive, refreshingly original voice, American Taliban is poised to become one of the most talked-about novels of the year.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
10 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Pearl Abraham
7 books37 followersPearl Abraham is the author of the novels The Romance Reader and Giving Up America, and the editor of the Dutch anthology Een Sterke Vrouw: Jewish Heroines in Literature. Her work has appeared in Brooklyn Noir, The Michigan Quarterly, Religion in America, Dog Culture: Writers on the Character of Canines, and Forward.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
August 11, 2014
Just finished this extraordinary book this morning. I haven't read anything so unpredictable and thought provoking in a long time. Pearl Abraham is a powerful and forceful writer in total command of her characters and her material.
I was transported with the young privileged surf kid John Jude from the shores of the Atlantic to Brooklyn and to the mountains of Pakistan and into the unknown. His story though hard to fathom is utterly plausible in Abraham's hands. She has the knack of creating fascinating characters in such a short space. her touch is light but devastating. Not only did I enjoy it as a page turner work of fiction but I also gained insight into a world I knew nothing about. I Would highly recommend this book.
I was transported with the young privileged surf kid John Jude from the shores of the Atlantic to Brooklyn and to the mountains of Pakistan and into the unknown. His story though hard to fathom is utterly plausible in Abraham's hands. She has the knack of creating fascinating characters in such a short space. her touch is light but devastating. Not only did I enjoy it as a page turner work of fiction but I also gained insight into a world I knew nothing about. I Would highly recommend this book.
May 15, 2012
This was amazing. I heard of it when it came out and was turned off by the title. Not only did it seem motivated by shock value but I hate the ubiquitous use of "American" to modify titles, as thought it were significant. American Beauty, American Idiot, American Woman, American Psycho, etc. Overused. (Well, I sort of give American Beauty a pass because of the wordplay since it's the name of the cultivar of rose, but still...)
Anyway, and I wouldn't have liked it so close to the actual events of9/11, but now 9 years after it was published it doesn't seem like a bit of flippant publicity-seeking ephemera. It's actually good. You should read it. You should be aware that--and again this is where the grand title and timing hurt it--it's not supposed to be like the definitive word on muslim-american relations or even John Walker Lindh types. It's an idiosyncratic take on it, by which I mean the author cares more about the story of this particular character than she does about Saying Something. Abraham is very skilled at putting down words on the page (this is my highest praise of a writer). The story telling is skilled and, specifically the fragmentation and analog elements towards the end, was a little ahead of its time.
All of this is odd to say as my sympathy for the main character was very half-hearted, but that just highlights to me how much I like the writing.
*spoilers*
The form of the writing sort of changes to meet the subject of the story. What I liked about Abraham in a previous book and in this one was her good writing about religion which can be understood by me, a non-religious person. The main character is thinking about whether some higher power cares about whether he and his friends get good waves for surfing and if in general religion is necessary to protect people from nature.
"He was still undecided. It depended on how you thought of God. If God is nature, then God doesn't care, since nature doesn't care. But if, as the mystics understood, God is the best of man and within man, then God cares, since man does."
At the end, the writing has a little more flair, which well matches the drama of the immediately-post-9/11 time. The mother has pinned her hopes on her missing son sending them word on Thanksgiving.
"And again the news offered no news: On CNN, a rerun of Larry King interviewing the widowed and the suffering. On CNN2, a rerun of Larry King interviewing a fatherless son. On CNN3, a rerun of Flight 11 flying toward the first tower, in slow motion. On CNN4, a rerun of the tower collapsing, in slow motion, and again the towers fell, again people jumped and died. On CNN5, a rerun of Larry King interviewing a motherless daughter, a daughterless father, inverviewing the motherless, fatherless, wifeless, husbandless, childless, shameless--disgusted, Bill pressed POWER and beheaded King, exiled CNN, and the world went dark. They sat relieved in the silence and dark. Not much road traffic now, but somwhere in the distant overhead the honk and flap of southbound geese, instinct bound, in vees for victory. The turkey was still on the table; the sides were still out. Let all who are hungry come aned eat. Let all who are tired come home."
Anyway, and I wouldn't have liked it so close to the actual events of9/11, but now 9 years after it was published it doesn't seem like a bit of flippant publicity-seeking ephemera. It's actually good. You should read it. You should be aware that--and again this is where the grand title and timing hurt it--it's not supposed to be like the definitive word on muslim-american relations or even John Walker Lindh types. It's an idiosyncratic take on it, by which I mean the author cares more about the story of this particular character than she does about Saying Something. Abraham is very skilled at putting down words on the page (this is my highest praise of a writer). The story telling is skilled and, specifically the fragmentation and analog elements towards the end, was a little ahead of its time.
All of this is odd to say as my sympathy for the main character was very half-hearted, but that just highlights to me how much I like the writing.
*spoilers*
The form of the writing sort of changes to meet the subject of the story. What I liked about Abraham in a previous book and in this one was her good writing about religion which can be understood by me, a non-religious person. The main character is thinking about whether some higher power cares about whether he and his friends get good waves for surfing and if in general religion is necessary to protect people from nature.
"He was still undecided. It depended on how you thought of God. If God is nature, then God doesn't care, since nature doesn't care. But if, as the mystics understood, God is the best of man and within man, then God cares, since man does."
At the end, the writing has a little more flair, which well matches the drama of the immediately-post-9/11 time. The mother has pinned her hopes on her missing son sending them word on Thanksgiving.
"And again the news offered no news: On CNN, a rerun of Larry King interviewing the widowed and the suffering. On CNN2, a rerun of Larry King interviewing a fatherless son. On CNN3, a rerun of Flight 11 flying toward the first tower, in slow motion. On CNN4, a rerun of the tower collapsing, in slow motion, and again the towers fell, again people jumped and died. On CNN5, a rerun of Larry King interviewing a motherless daughter, a daughterless father, inverviewing the motherless, fatherless, wifeless, husbandless, childless, shameless--disgusted, Bill pressed POWER and beheaded King, exiled CNN, and the world went dark. They sat relieved in the silence and dark. Not much road traffic now, but somwhere in the distant overhead the honk and flap of southbound geese, instinct bound, in vees for victory. The turkey was still on the table; the sides were still out. Let all who are hungry come aned eat. Let all who are tired come home."
May 4, 2010
Horrendous. Absolutely awful. SPOILER ALERT: Don't read this review if you are interested in reading the book and don't want to know about it.
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The book starts off okay, but not great. John Jude is a laid-back surfer who is interested in studying the Arabic language. From Washington, D.C. he goes to Brooklyn to attend an Arabic school. Then he decides he needs to fully immerse himself in the culture in order to learn the language. He travels to Pakistan, immerses himself in not only the language but also the Islam religion and sexual preferences. Suddenly he travels to Afghanistan to the mountains where it is cooler, and attends a military-style camp.
In general, the book is flat and strangely emotionless.
The book is written from his perspective until the very end, when his mother takes the narration. The book ends after 9/11, when an "American Taliban" is jailed in the U.S. for his part in terrorism. John Jude's mother frantically searches for her son, as he has gone missing. Then the book ends. No resolution. Nothing.
I guess we are to assume that John Jude became a Taliban terrorist and... what? He is dead? He is in hiding? He is fighting in Afghanistan? He is in the U.S. planning his part in an attack? I would have prefered an ending where he narrated. If he truly became Taliban, the ending with his death would have satisfied me.
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The book starts off okay, but not great. John Jude is a laid-back surfer who is interested in studying the Arabic language. From Washington, D.C. he goes to Brooklyn to attend an Arabic school. Then he decides he needs to fully immerse himself in the culture in order to learn the language. He travels to Pakistan, immerses himself in not only the language but also the Islam religion and sexual preferences. Suddenly he travels to Afghanistan to the mountains where it is cooler, and attends a military-style camp.
In general, the book is flat and strangely emotionless.
The book is written from his perspective until the very end, when his mother takes the narration. The book ends after 9/11, when an "American Taliban" is jailed in the U.S. for his part in terrorism. John Jude's mother frantically searches for her son, as he has gone missing. Then the book ends. No resolution. Nothing.
I guess we are to assume that John Jude became a Taliban terrorist and... what? He is dead? He is in hiding? He is fighting in Afghanistan? He is in the U.S. planning his part in an attack? I would have prefered an ending where he narrated. If he truly became Taliban, the ending with his death would have satisfied me.
September 9, 2019
Dull fictional book about a young American man who falls for an Asian Muslim woman and travels to Pakistan and is there when September 11th happens. His family wonders where he is and if he’s involved. It should be interesting but it’s not.
February 9, 2011
This book starts off following John Jude Parish, the 18-year-old son of Barbara and Bill, hanging out with his surfer-girl friends in the Outer Banks (OBX) of Virginia. John is the product of an upper-class, loving upbringing, and is described as intelligent and well-adjusted. He has chosen to defer his acceptance to Brown University for one year in order to study different topics and really enjoy surfing and skateboarding. A skating injury throws a monkey wrench in his plans, and a series of events lands him studying Arabic in an exclusively Muslim school in Brooklyn, NY. John, who seems over-committed to everything he does, becomes so immersed in the Muslim culture that he decides to go to Pakistan to further his religious and educational progress. In Pakistan, he ends up training with the Taliban and is never heard from again. Instead, Abraham switches the novel's perspective to Barbara and Bill - distraught parents searching for their son. Abraham draws parallels to the real-life story of John Walker Lindh, implying that John Jude has followed a similar path.
I truly enjoyed the beginning of this book. I loved reading about John's rapture for surfing and his relationships with the Wahines, Katie, Jilly, and Sylvie. Abraham does an excellent job of describing how an intelligent teenager might get wrapped up in something bigger than himself - like a religion - and be unable to disentangle before going off the deep end. The book is intriguing and heartbreaking. I felt the first half of the book was better written than the second half. In the first few pages, I was struck by a number of quotes and descriptions, but was not impressed at all later on. The chapters are short and it is an easy read.
Favorite quotes:
"So he is committed to the daily minute, to living in the present in the present tense, to finding the extraordinary in ordinary time, in the here and now" (20).
One of my all-time favorite descriptions of sex: "So he awoke, and with long arms lifted and tucked her into his hips" (13).
I truly enjoyed the beginning of this book. I loved reading about John's rapture for surfing and his relationships with the Wahines, Katie, Jilly, and Sylvie. Abraham does an excellent job of describing how an intelligent teenager might get wrapped up in something bigger than himself - like a religion - and be unable to disentangle before going off the deep end. The book is intriguing and heartbreaking. I felt the first half of the book was better written than the second half. In the first few pages, I was struck by a number of quotes and descriptions, but was not impressed at all later on. The chapters are short and it is an easy read.
Favorite quotes:
"So he is committed to the daily minute, to living in the present in the present tense, to finding the extraordinary in ordinary time, in the here and now" (20).
One of my all-time favorite descriptions of sex: "So he awoke, and with long arms lifted and tucked her into his hips" (13).
March 12, 2011
This is probably the longest review I have written so here is my summary: not bad, but I would not recommend either.
So I picked this up because I found myself in the "A" section of the library. I only glanced at the description because as soon as it started talking about surfing I rolled my eyes. Not sure why.
Anyway, at the beginning of the book I really wanted to relate to the main character. The author gives him a full birthday (including year) and so I knew he was almost exactly the same age as me and graduated high school (um ok ficticiously) in the same year as I did. So I could imagine where I was when he was doing all the things he was doing and it made it seem a bit more real.
However, if anything, the main character, John, reminded me of certain people in high school who think that they know a lot and think that they think a lot and were generally people I didn't want to be around.
The contrast between what he thinks he knows and his search for knowing more made no sense when he went to Pakistan and didn't seem to know anything. I thought the way the Taliban convinced him to join was weak and would have imagined it to be a lot different. Oh, and the sex scenes were pointless.
In the end I didn't end up disliking this book as much as I thought I would in the beginning. It is odd. For the first 1/3 of the book I was sure I would give it 2 stars because I didn't like the main character. At some point though, I really wanted to know what was going to happen so it improved my overall rating of the book.
So I picked this up because I found myself in the "A" section of the library. I only glanced at the description because as soon as it started talking about surfing I rolled my eyes. Not sure why.
Anyway, at the beginning of the book I really wanted to relate to the main character. The author gives him a full birthday (including year) and so I knew he was almost exactly the same age as me and graduated high school (um ok ficticiously) in the same year as I did. So I could imagine where I was when he was doing all the things he was doing and it made it seem a bit more real.
However, if anything, the main character, John, reminded me of certain people in high school who think that they know a lot and think that they think a lot and were generally people I didn't want to be around.
The contrast between what he thinks he knows and his search for knowing more made no sense when he went to Pakistan and didn't seem to know anything. I thought the way the Taliban convinced him to join was weak and would have imagined it to be a lot different. Oh, and the sex scenes were pointless.
In the end I didn't end up disliking this book as much as I thought I would in the beginning. It is odd. For the first 1/3 of the book I was sure I would give it 2 stars because I didn't like the main character. At some point though, I really wanted to know what was going to happen so it improved my overall rating of the book.
March 25, 2011
What did I think? What did I think?
This book sucked. The transitions that John (the protagonist) made in this novel were so confusing. The ending is really confusing but I'm not going to give it away. How can he just get interested in Arabic from a chatroom? This book just sucked..... miserably!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
This book sucked. The transitions that John (the protagonist) made in this novel were so confusing. The ending is really confusing but I'm not going to give it away. How can he just get interested in Arabic from a chatroom? This book just sucked..... miserably!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
July 25, 2013
The author admirably attempts to tackle a thorny and controversial subject—the radicalization of a young white American—but the story craps out right as it is getting interesting. It's like, popularity, girls, surfing, blah blah blah for the first part (boring/bland), then adventure/shocking for the second, then a total flatline for the last bit.
June 22, 2012
The story of an over-priveledged American teenager who turns Taliban fighter over the course of a year of study. The story, far-fetched as it may sound, is very believable, as are the characters Abraham creates. The downfall of the story is actually the title, because it gives away at first glance what my have been a great surprise if presented in a different way. John Jude Parish follows a very American patrh of self discovery that leads to join a war he knows zero about.
John Jude Parish is very believable, the motivations that move him along his journey make sense. His parents are also believable, though I continuously questioned why they indulged their teenage son's every whim so easliy. Still, that happens in upperclass American families, and to only children, enough that it is believable. The destruction of the mother after John's disappearance is the most believeable bit of character development in the story, very well done.
Told in a straight-forward, if a little bland, narrative. The story moves along direct and quick enough to keep me interested, but there is nothing to the telling that makes me want to read it just for reading's sake.
John Jude Parish is very believable, the motivations that move him along his journey make sense. His parents are also believable, though I continuously questioned why they indulged their teenage son's every whim so easliy. Still, that happens in upperclass American families, and to only children, enough that it is believable. The destruction of the mother after John's disappearance is the most believeable bit of character development in the story, very well done.
Told in a straight-forward, if a little bland, narrative. The story moves along direct and quick enough to keep me interested, but there is nothing to the telling that makes me want to read it just for reading's sake.
May 26, 2014
I feel underwhelmed by this story of privileged John Jude who finds himself attracted to Islam and gets involved in terrorism, something so much bigger than he understands. Abraham had a good concept, and I liked how she never allowed John to fall into believing stereotypical images many have of Muslims and Islam. John is always receptive to what he learns.
However, I think Abraham had difficulty creating unique and believable characters. I seriously could not stand John ignoring his gut feelings and entering terrorism just like THAT (although, maybe that's how it works, I don't know). Can it be that easy? He is such a dummy at times. The last part of the novel was particularly horrible since we get Barbara's POV. Who cares about Barbara? She's so annoying. Finally, I feel that Abraham wasted the characters who were truly interesting such as Noor. The novel needed more of her.
Overall, I found the novel choppy and inconsistent, although it had a good start and an interesting plot.
However, I think Abraham had difficulty creating unique and believable characters. I seriously could not stand John ignoring his gut feelings and entering terrorism just like THAT (although, maybe that's how it works, I don't know). Can it be that easy? He is such a dummy at times. The last part of the novel was particularly horrible since we get Barbara's POV. Who cares about Barbara? She's so annoying. Finally, I feel that Abraham wasted the characters who were truly interesting such as Noor. The novel needed more of her.
Overall, I found the novel choppy and inconsistent, although it had a good start and an interesting plot.
February 14, 2016
Boeiend boek uit 2010, maar nog steeds zeer actueel.
De Engelse titel "American Taliban" zegt beter waar het over gaat.
John Jude is een Amerikaanse tiener die verzot is op skaten en surfen. Via het schoolvak "wereldgodsdiensten" raakt geïnteresseerd in Arabisch en de islam.
Pearl Abraham verplaatst zich schijnbaar moeiteloos in de wereld van een skatende en zoekende tiener. Zeer vlot geschreven !
De Engelse titel "American Taliban" zegt beter waar het over gaat.
John Jude is een Amerikaanse tiener die verzot is op skaten en surfen. Via het schoolvak "wereldgodsdiensten" raakt geïnteresseerd in Arabisch en de islam.
Pearl Abraham verplaatst zich schijnbaar moeiteloos in de wereld van een skatende en zoekende tiener. Zeer vlot geschreven !
June 22, 2013
A novel to leave you fascinated, shellshocked, confused, and heartbroken. Abraham deconstructs misconceptions and diffuses predispositions, leaving any mind reeling at the complexity of the Middle East, and curious as to how American patriotism parallels a larger narrative of Muslim faith. A stunning read.
May 31, 2021
Well, Secularizing Islam is in no way a solution and stop doing that.
October 2, 2020
I read this book because Pearl Abraham was my teacher/mentor in the MFA program at Western New England University and I wanted to read one of her novels -- and my wife had read all of them and recommended this one most. It was excellent, recounting the tale of a relatively ordinary though privileged family with a bright, surfer son, a controlling get-shit-done mother, and a fade-into-the-background father spending a season together on the Outer Banks as their son takes a gap year between high school and the Ivy League school that has allowed him to defer. We see the son interact with his three closest friends, also surfers, one of whom is his girlfriend, and then a skateboarding accident lands the young man in bed for a couple of months, which leads him to spending a lot of time online and reading. He develops an interest in a lovely young woman who is Muslim and also has an interest in Islam from a world religion class he took; he convinces his parents to let him go study Arabic in Brooklyn. He spends a summer studying Arabic, slow-dating the girl, making friends with the other Muslim kids taking classes with him, and from there convinces his parents to fund him taking a trip to Pakistan to study in a college there. All of these events cascade naturally, one from the other, and make perfect sense.
An excellent novel with some parts of the last third striking me as unrealistic.
Spoilers after this:
The fact that the young man is then convinced to go train in the hills with guns and people waging a holy war seemed far less reasonable to me; the kid loves his peace-loving mother and often says things that echo what she has taught him to think. I appreciated the way we watch as he becomes progressively more isolated from friends, family and everything from his former life, but still the idea that he would abandon all that to go on a war mission struck me as preposterous.
I was also struck by the homosexual activity that pops up (literally, lol) once he's in Pakistan, leading the young man to wonder if it's just normal for men to have sex with one another there. I wish I knew the answer to this and had more of an explanation for it if it's true. But either way I suppose it's part of the slow isolating and disorienting that is happening to him before he vanishes.
An excellent novel with some parts of the last third striking me as unrealistic.
Spoilers after this:
The fact that the young man is then convinced to go train in the hills with guns and people waging a holy war seemed far less reasonable to me; the kid loves his peace-loving mother and often says things that echo what she has taught him to think. I appreciated the way we watch as he becomes progressively more isolated from friends, family and everything from his former life, but still the idea that he would abandon all that to go on a war mission struck me as preposterous.
I was also struck by the homosexual activity that pops up (literally, lol) once he's in Pakistan, leading the young man to wonder if it's just normal for men to have sex with one another there. I wish I knew the answer to this and had more of an explanation for it if it's true. But either way I suppose it's part of the slow isolating and disorienting that is happening to him before he vanishes.
November 20, 2017
I would just rate this okay. It was a novel and therefore should not be considered totally factual, but I did wonder how accurate this story was. And the end just left me hanging. What happened to John? It almost felt like "wait for the second book to find out what happened..."I think I would have been more satisfied by reading an biography of John Walker Lindh (if there is one). That said, it is an easy read, and I finished it in a day, and it shows how we can all dramatically change through small steps.
July 20, 2020
I so enjoyed this story of a young, free spirited American man converting to Islam and ultimately disappearing in Pakistan. The ending is so thrilling- A different American boy comes back to American soil as a prisoner convicted of treason right in the midst of the massive search for the main character of the same description, and even the same name. The ending does not offer a resolution. Readers are left to imagine what happened to John Jude.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2019
Fiction, but I thought the author made a valiant & successful attempt to take Islam seriously & try to understand how it could captivate a young, somewhat disaffected American.
(This author is most well-known, I think, for The Romance Reader, a novel from the mid-1990s, about a young Hasidic girl extricating herself from the strictures of that life.)
(This author is most well-known, I think, for The Romance Reader, a novel from the mid-1990s, about a young Hasidic girl extricating herself from the strictures of that life.)
August 10, 2017
I didn't like this. It was interesting but I disliked the way the author chose to eliminate quotation marks during dialogue & I wonder what research went into this. It left me with more questions than answers.
December 28, 2017
What a terrific waste of time!
Never have I had less concern for a main character than I did while reading this book. Not only is his "growth" abrupt and completely out of the blue, but also it seems to be set off by meeting characters who are absolutely unbelievable and unlikeable.
Never have I had less concern for a main character than I did while reading this book. Not only is his "growth" abrupt and completely out of the blue, but also it seems to be set off by meeting characters who are absolutely unbelievable and unlikeable.
August 8, 2020
This is easily the third or fourth time through on this book.
Maybe the most interesting part for me - is Ms. Abraham presenting us with a sympathetic protagonist? Is this meant as a cautionary tale? John Jude Parish is an undistinguished and more or less unformed young man. His parents dote on him in a way that may be seem peculiar to some, but (to be honest) is extremely commonplace here in D.C. and in the "inside the Beltway" upscale communities. He is perceived as precious and money is lavished on his every want and need. He has no responsibilities and experiences no limits. He makes numerous wrong turns based on nothing more than complete naivete.
John is not wholly unsympathetic, although he's not really sympathetic either. This may be my thing, I tend to find that many of the adults (and nearly-adults) who emerged from this type of childhood and adolescence to be somewhat unformed and irritating in general.
Yet there is something still nagging at me about this.
Still trying to work this one through, I am looking forward to reading it again soon.
Maybe the most interesting part for me - is Ms. Abraham presenting us with a sympathetic protagonist? Is this meant as a cautionary tale? John Jude Parish is an undistinguished and more or less unformed young man. His parents dote on him in a way that may be seem peculiar to some, but (to be honest) is extremely commonplace here in D.C. and in the "inside the Beltway" upscale communities. He is perceived as precious and money is lavished on his every want and need. He has no responsibilities and experiences no limits. He makes numerous wrong turns based on nothing more than complete naivete.
John is not wholly unsympathetic, although he's not really sympathetic either. This may be my thing, I tend to find that many of the adults (and nearly-adults) who emerged from this type of childhood and adolescence to be somewhat unformed and irritating in general.
Yet there is something still nagging at me about this.
Still trying to work this one through, I am looking forward to reading it again soon.
October 22, 2011
John Jude Parish is the scion of a wealthy,loving,and educated family who seems to be headed for a life full of only the best accouterments that the western world can offer. However, this college aged 'truth seeker' becomes attracted to the tenets of Islam, and makes a pilgrimage to Pakistan right before the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Abraham's central character, John Jude Parish is modeled after John Walker Lindh who actually did join the Taliban in 2001. However, John Jude is much more enamored by the nineteenth century explorer, philosopher, and adventurer, Richard Burton, than the violent interpretations of Osama Bin Laden. He views Islam as a viable world religion, and is enthusiastic to understand and to be moved by the beliefs and principles of this doctrine. This novel examines the teachings of Islam through the eyes of someone who is searching for a new meaning for life, and it allows the reader to understand how one might come to embrace this faith. I think that too often westerners think that to embrace Islam is to be, "hypnotized by The Evil Doers", and Pearl Abraham makes the case that this faith is as legitimate as any other.
July 11, 2015
Well, this book got three stars because the subject matter is interesting. Based on the writing alone, I would have given it two stars. The writing is needlessly sensational at times. She uses far too many sentence fragments. The big problem I had with it was the progression. I understand the protagonist's interest in the Arabic language. I understand how he went from that to submitting to Islam. I understand how he wants to submerge himself in the culture and explore Sufism. I lost track when he suddenly joins the Taliban. How did he get from yearning for enlightenment, with hero worship tendencies toward Richard Burton, to a terrorist? You never really found out. And you never find out what happened to him after 9/11. Both caused me irritation toward the book and the author. I was seeking to understand why an upper middle class kid would choose the life of a terrorist and was not fulfilled in my quest.
January 17, 2011
I wasn't too excited about this book while listening to it. I didn't feel for the character, I thought that he was too cliche. I didn't like that he was supposed to be a 'typical' just graduated from high school American. He wasn't. The character is sooo smart at well versed in many types of literature. This didn't mesh with his lack of understanding of political climate in the Middle East.
However, I finished this book almost a week ago. I still am thinking about it. I'm still trying to pick apart the bits and pieces and cliffs at the end of the book.
Thought provoking, what more can you want from a book?
Oh yea, to not have meaningless gay sex. (At the end of the book, a reason becomes apparent, but I think its a stretch and the gay sex scene description is just needlessly gratuitous.)
However, I finished this book almost a week ago. I still am thinking about it. I'm still trying to pick apart the bits and pieces and cliffs at the end of the book.
Thought provoking, what more can you want from a book?
Oh yea, to not have meaningless gay sex. (At the end of the book, a reason becomes apparent, but I think its a stretch and the gay sex scene description is just needlessly gratuitous.)
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October 10, 2011It was a very interesting read and a unique perspective on the question of extreme religiosity. I am somewhat doubtful to the believability of the story (even though it of course could be true, since reality can triumph fiction at times in unbelievability). having said that the character of John feels real and his relationship are portrayed in a fascinating way. He is certainly a developed character and Abraham has been able to capture how a person can be very divided, or at least appear so from the outside. Abraham must have done much research in both the surfer/skater world and in the religious islamic fundamentalist world. I am somewhat doubtful to the openness (even if private) to homosexual acts that is found even in a islamic school in Pakistan. I have a strong suspicion that the close male to male bodily contact has nothing to do with an openness to homosexual acts.
August 31, 2010
In a quest for purpose it is those left behind that bear the burden. This book takes a strong look at what is the attraction of Islam for the youth culture of America. In an American culture where detraction from the beauty of religion is rampant it would seem easy to dismiss the importance of self-realization through dogma and ritual. In my opinion the beauty and poetry of Islam is truly remarkable. The sense of oneness with the spiritual is something that could easily capture the wayward souls of American youth as in the case of John Jude. The problem lies in the fact that too much politicism is waged in the name of religion which is touched on extensively in this book. In the end, I felt most sympathetic towards the mother.
January 1, 2012
The novel is somewhat engrossing, since the protagonist is SO flaky you really don't know what he will do next.
But I am about 75% through the book now, and almost every single page of the book I wanted to jump in and kick his ass for being a flaky dummy. Lol. So...I'm not sure I'm in it for the right reasons.
However, I must admit I remember being a young leftist and being open to many experiences, TOO many experiences. And perhaps if all of this had come together sort of accidentally for me as it did for him, I could have fallen into it to. What it teaches is that: young people in search of ADVENTURE, once they head down the wrong road it might not just lead to tatoos, smoking too much dope, or whatever.
But I am about 75% through the book now, and almost every single page of the book I wanted to jump in and kick his ass for being a flaky dummy. Lol. So...I'm not sure I'm in it for the right reasons.
However, I must admit I remember being a young leftist and being open to many experiences, TOO many experiences. And perhaps if all of this had come together sort of accidentally for me as it did for him, I could have fallen into it to. What it teaches is that: young people in search of ADVENTURE, once they head down the wrong road it might not just lead to tatoos, smoking too much dope, or whatever.
July 10, 2010
This is fiction! Written by a woman! To get a more honest reflection of youthful male angst it would be better to read a true story like "Into the Wild." Liberal parenting gone horribly awry. Be careful what you wish for as you bring your children up they might actually take you up on it. I guess this could tell you how such a thing happens but first you have to believe that the author knows what she's talking about.
A plate of tandoori chicken cooked over an outdoor fire, preferably while camping above the tree line and sitting next to a bowl full of terribly over ripe fruit - read smelly - would be the meal I'd suggest to complement this book.
A plate of tandoori chicken cooked over an outdoor fire, preferably while camping above the tree line and sitting next to a bowl full of terribly over ripe fruit - read smelly - would be the meal I'd suggest to complement this book.
May 20, 2010
John, an 18-year-old surfer dude with a deep contemplative streak, explores religion ... and feels increasingly drawn to Islam. The novel begins in the late summer of 2000 ...
... I'm reminded a little of Ann Patchett's *Bel Canto* -- There's a sudden shift in atmosphere, a moment when one sentence becomes the pivot around which John's nascent Islamic cosmology spins beyond his reasoning ...
It's most interesting that this novel begins about a year before 9/11 ... and from the perspective of a curious, kindhearted, upper middle-class American boy ...
... I'm reminded a little of Ann Patchett's *Bel Canto* -- There's a sudden shift in atmosphere, a moment when one sentence becomes the pivot around which John's nascent Islamic cosmology spins beyond his reasoning ...
It's most interesting that this novel begins about a year before 9/11 ... and from the perspective of a curious, kindhearted, upper middle-class American boy ...
July 15, 2010
I love a book with good characterization. If I feel a connection with the characters I care what happens to them and can really immerse myself in their story. This book did not have that. Rather than feeling like I was getting to know the main character and the people of his world, I was just reading about some guy and stuff that he did. The ending, in a better written novel, could have been filled with emotion and introspection. As is it was written, though, I just shrugged and tossed it aside.
August 25, 2010
This was a good book in that it remained on my mind when I was doing other things and throughout the week after I finished it. I thought the beginning was way to slow for me, but it was weaving the story of a boy who was lost, looking for guidance he did not get from his liberal parents. He, unfortunately, found that substitute family in the taliban. I certainly learned more about the arabic language. A good read. The end was somewhat rushed. I did like how the end was left wide open for you to decide......
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