Title: Terrorist
Author: John Updike
John Updike is one of those authors I've been meaning to read all my life, but never quite got around to. He has published something like 30 novels, and has won practically every writing award available to a serious American novelist. When Terrorist was released to big-time buzz this spring, I decided to mend my errant ways and read the novel.
I found the first 100 pages really slow-going. In the novel Amhad Mulloy is an 18 year-old covert to Islam living in New Jersey. We follow his life for several months from high school graduation to the suicide mission his imam promises will secure him a place in heaven. In the beginning, I was frustrated with Ahmad and his imam and their single-minded view of life (at the same time admiring, just a little bit, their ability to pick a viewpoint and see things in black and white). But gradually, I got more into the story as Updike brought in more characters (Ahmad's mom, Teresa, his guidance counselor Jack Levy, and his boss Charlie) and eventually found the climax pretty gripping.
But I've got to hand it to Updike. Most of the time I don't really notice an author's writing, unless it's so bad that it calls attention to itself. With Updike, I was very conscious of his careful choice of words and the way he included details to make a scene feel rich. I'm not sure that the richness he painted wasn't eventually distracting to the story, but it was enjoyable in its own right.
--originally published 7/9/06
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