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One night, Akram Khan walks out of his house towards an appointed time and place where he is supposed to detonate a bomb that will end his life and that of many innocent bystanders. As he wanders through the town he encounters Grace, whose life has been marred just as his has, forming an unlikely closeness borne of need and necessity. Akram tells Grace about his seemingly inexorable journey towards radicalization: a childhood within the tight-knit Pakistani community, his complex friendships among outcasts, his disastrous years in the army, and his empty arranged marriage to a woman who remains a stranger. Delicately drawn, Akram's War is an honest and shocking kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary Britain, and of the ways in which the twists and turns of fate can scar and mark a life.
My thoughts:
This is the story of Akram on his way to a suicide bombing. But then he meets Grace and at first I am all, what made you stop? And we find out. He tells her his story, and she tells him hers.
Akram was never a fundamentalist. He had an ok homelife. Sure the kids at school called him a Paki, but then kids are idiots. He went on with his life, he even joined the army (since they pay you for being there), and he even fought in Afghanistan. He made a good friend, who he had never liked before. But war makes your life fall apart. And his home life turned into a mess too when his parents arranged a marriage for him.
Grace was a mess from the start. Hooking. Mental issues. A kid that the social service took. She was broken. While he just gave up, she tried, and failed.
Even with the bomb he was never a believer. He was just lost. Though the end, I wonder about the end...I so wonder.
Conclusion:
It was an interesting story, there are many roads that leads to his road. And the only reason I could like him was because he was not a bad man. He was a fool who did not even want this. He was a coward. Which ultimately makes it a sad story.
Paperback, 240 pages
Published May 5th 2016 by Atlantic Books
Fiction
For review
Sounds interesting indeed!
ReplyDeleteAre you the only one brave to comment ;)
DeleteAnd yes, this is more your style, no romance
oh this sounds so different and unique!!! Not my style of story--too sad for me.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya
DeleteNo comment on the cover??
ReplyDeleteI get it, a map of the place and reeed, but...eh
DeleteOh I don't know... sounds like an open ending. I'm thinking this one isn't for me. I need a solid HEA right now. :)
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I imagined it was an open, or if it was meant to be a solid this will turn out well, or
DeleteHave you ever read The Reluctant Fundamentalist? This sounds similar to that one, and that one was truly excellent.
ReplyDeleteNo I haven't. I would actually have wanted more of the how he ended up on this road. Now we mostly cos the early stuff, maybe it was meant to be a surprise, look what happened
DeleteYou got cryptic there. So I'm translating this as the ending has no closure? If so, that sucks!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure, maybe I imagined it? Cos it was a happy ending where he found closure, but at the same time I am all..really...stuff can still happen
DeleteHmm, the no romance makes it less my style, but interesting premise
ReplyDeleteNo romance here
DeleteHoly crap. This book is cray. It can mess a person up.
ReplyDeleteYup
DeleteSounds like some very heavy issues in this book. You've made me curious though, what kind of conversations the two characters have.
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
He has a lot to get of his chest...
DeleteOh a coward so I can see how that would not make for total great ending. Interesting premise in this day and age for a story line.
ReplyDeleteActually the ending was the only time when he was not a coward
DeleteHuh, I think I would like to read this one. I'm always interested in what motivates people to do what they do. Thanks for the sum up.
ReplyDeleteInternet is driving me crazy..let's see if I can reply
Deleteit's not an usual story, it sounds interesting
ReplyDeleteIt's a hard one
DeleteDon't you ever wonder about suicide bombers? Surely not all of them "want" to do it, but are brainwashed? I don't know, I just try to rationalize everything. Don't mind me.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder. WHat makes them that crazy! Insane
DeleteHm, maybe.
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteNow that sounds intense.
ReplyDeleteKaren @For What It's Worth
Yes
DeleteCan't help buut feel bad for the fools.
ReplyDeleteIf they werent so evil..
DeleteHmm. I've not heard of this one. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete:)
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