Tournament of Books discussion

Space to discuss the 2025 TOB contender Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.

I've been wanting to discuss this book since I read it last summer. I really enjoyed it until the end. I have two questions: WTF happened? And why aren't more people discussing it/writing about it in their reviews? I've had such a hard time finding any commentary about it at all, and most of the reviewers I follow barely mentioned it. To me, it's the absolute crux of the book and the ambiguity is so high that it made me unable to process whether it's a brilliant book or a giant dumb joke.

Anyway, looking forward to hearing what you guys think. Did you understand the ending? Do you think that matters?

I think the ending is intentionally vague to allow for multiple interpretations. I can think of several, but I landed on this (just my view and I don't expect everyone will share it):

(view spoiler)[
I think Cyrus, once he finds out Orkideh is his mother Roya, follows her example and chooses art (and life) over martyrdom, which he then attempts to fulfill by writing his book. In creating something that will last beyond his own life span, he then would achieve a meaningful life by leaving a legacy and thus obtain a form of immortality. (hide spoiler)]

ETA - Perhaps people aren't discussing it in reviews in order not to spoil the ending for those who haven't read it yet.

Joy, you're probably right and I don't want to spoil it for anyone! Just looking forward to talking about the ending when "everybody" has read it.

Oh, I didn't mean that you were looking to spoil it - hope I didn't come across that way. I agree it's a great book to discuss with others! I hope people will chime in on how they interpreted the ending. It threw me for a loop when I first read it. I see that we both ended up giving it 3 stars.

I'm looking forward to discussing that ending during the tournament. Personally, I think that (view spoiler)[his foot went septic and that accounts for the visions, etc... Whether he wakes up in the hospital with Zee at his bedside, or dies is unknown. (hide spoiler)]

Rose wrote: "I've been wanting to discuss this book since I read it last summer. I really enjoyed it until the end. ..."

I wasn't a fan of the ending either. I've become hyperaware these days of those book endings that seem to get all abstract and diffuse, where everyone dissolves into the great sense of being or whatever. Ugh. I'm not saying that can never work, just that it often feels unearned - a cheap way of imparting a grandiose finale when maybe the author can't figure out how to do that concretely.

I'm not the right person to assess the end of =Martyr!=, I thought the book had some moments, but overall was ... fine. And I'm clearly in the minority on that.

You'll want someone who really connected with it as a whole to tell you how that ending makes sense.

I thought the 'meetings' he imagined were kind of interesting, and the story of his uncle was an engaging piece of the book. The ending... I am not sure exactly what I got from it, but it kind of felt like "I am going to decide to stop being depressed and start being happy!!!!!" which didn't really feel earned. (It has been a time since I read it, so my memory of the ending is somewhat vague.) I'm with Tim, mostly - it was fine, but nothing that I'd push on other people to read.

Tim wrote: "Rose wrote: "I've been wanting to discuss this book since I read it last summer. I really enjoyed it until the end. ..."

I wasn't a fan of the ending either. I've become hyperaware these days of t..."

Tim I could have written this post exactly.

Agree with much of stated above. Was definitely giving it a bonus star personally just because of all the Purdue in it. Not a place that normally gets featured in literature.

This was was very compelling to me until it became contrived and incredibly far-fetched in the last half.

I just finished the audiobook and came here to see how others interpreted the ending. I didn't find Cyrus' connection with the artist far-fetched, but didn't understand what happened in the park with Z. The parallels between Layla (sorry I'm sure I'm spelling all these names wrong since I listened to the audio) and his mother hearing the ground shake when they kissed in the alleyway and Cyrus hearing it when waiting for Z on the park bench felt intentional and earned, and I was hopeful that they would come back together and Cyrus would move towards healing and a meaningful life (rather than seeking a meaningful death). But then... did they die? Did he die? That feels more out of place to me.

I wasn't crazy about Martyr until the part where Zee called Cyrus on his bullshit. LOL After that it got more interesting to me. I admit I don't have a lot of patience with dreams, imagined conversations, etc., in my reading. A very little of that goes a very long way.

I was also quite confuse by the last scene between Cyrus and Zee, but also about why the coda focused on the moment it did. What did putting that flashback at the very end do? It would have made more sense to me earlier I think.

i haven't finished so i'm not reading allthe comments but I laugh every time I realize Akbar named his Purdue University analogue 'Keady,' presumably after Gene Keady the long time badletball coach. That is so incredibly Indiana of him.

*basketball

Ah! Caroline I’m so glad you mentioned the name. It’s very Indiana. Not Purdue was so Purdue I’m surprised Akbar didn’t just use the actual name. I’ve been saying that it’s the world of Martyr! is like ours but just one step away.