Terrorist: A Novel | John Updike | Important book- flaws are minor

Terrorist: A Novel | John Updike | Worthwhile, but Flawed

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Terrorist: A Novel

	Terrorist: A Novel John Updike Ballantine Books, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 143 reviews view larger image
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John Updike has written a brilliant novel that ranks among the most provocative of his distinguished career. Terrorist is the story of Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy, an alienated American-born teenager who spurns the materialistic, hedonistic life he witnesses in the slumping New Jersey factory town he calls home. Turning to the words of the Holy Qur?an as expounded to him by the pedantic imam of a local mosque, Ahmad devotes himself fervently to God. Neither the world-weary guidance counselor at his high school nor Ahmad?s mischievously seductive classmate Joryleen succeeds in deflecting him from his course, as the threads of an insidious plot gather around him.

?One compelling and surprising ride.??USA Today
?The startlingly contemporary story of a high school student . . . whose zealous Islamic faith and disaffection with modern life make him a pawn in the larger conflict between Muslim and Christian, East and West. They also make him a powerful voice for Updike?s ongoing critique of American civilization.?
?Time

?A chilling tale that is perhaps the most essential novel to emerge from Sept. 11.?
?People (Critic?s Choice)

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Important book- flaws are minor

The story here is well described by other reviewers. Mr Updike sets out to answer two questions that have haunted Americans since 9/11 i.e., why do they hate us and what makes someone become a terrorist. The answer to both questions is the same. Two words, the Koran. Hatred of infidels is hard-wired into the Koran as Mr Updike demonstrates by citing the appropriate sura. The term "terrorist" is a western misnomer as exemplified by the 9/11 suicide bombers who were not terrorists but rather devout muslims seeking martyrdom through violent jihad, the sure way to enter paradise.

While many of the negative reviews relate to the style, the plot, the descriptions, the characters etc. in my opinion these are all minor complaints. The major strength of this book is that Mr. Updike has given western readers a chance to see ourselves as a "terrorist" sees us. And yes the US has its share of problems and its decadent aspects that need addressing,however that is not the reason they hate us and seek to destroy us. It's more simple than that. We're infidels. That turns out to be reason enough.

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Worthwhile, but Flawed

Updike uses the young Arab-American terrorist as a device for criticizing modern American popular culture. The criticism is withering and effective. The book also uses humor and satire to poke some more holes in American culture. On the whole, the humor was quite well done and effective.

On the down side, some of the plot twists and character sketches seem surprisingly amateurish for a writer of Updike's caliber. Also, the "terrorist" as a character is not quite fleshed out and is more effective as a device for criticizing American culture than he is as a realistic, fully developed character.

The ending of the book was well done, and the last few passages beautifully written.

Worthwhile, but flawed.

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Updike's always good, but this isn't his best

I found this readable and fast-moving, but in the end it seemed not to amount to much. Even so, I admire Updike for taking on such a volatile and timely topic.

Good but not one of his best

This was probably a difficult novel to write and as a result it does not flow smoothly...some passages confusing and disoriented requiring a lot of skimming back and forth of pages..The sex scenes more like one of those trashy novels that sell in shopping centers and airports, they added nothing to the story. The character development very good especially that of Jack Levy, he ends up being the real hero of the book..I nearly put this aside a few times but stuck with it...all in all entertaining, but not his best..

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Arabbit

This book was not Updike's best.

He examines post 911 America through the eyes of a lapsed Jew who is a high school counselor, a radical young Muslim of mixed race recruited to perform a terrorist act, and a cast of minor characters - and reveals a society with little moral center. The radicalism espoused by Ahmed, whose mother is a white nurse's aide and failed painter and whose father is an Egyptian long gone, is more comforting to the reader than the unhappy mental meanderings of the other characters unbound from certainty. Although the book contains interesting ruminations on faith and of course Updike's beautiful prose, the characters feel paper-thin and the plot - especially the puzzling and ultimately disappointing end - moves with stilted deliberation.

It will still take some time before even our best novelists can confront post-911 life in America head-on. This attempt by Updike seems almost like a requisite contribution to great-authors-tackle-911 rather than a true rumination on the current state of America, told so eloquently in his Rabbit series and other books.

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