Review: JIHADI A Love Story by Yusuf Toropov
With a fantastic opening purportedly penned by a recently deceased narrator and edited via running commentary by a secondary narrator, JIHADI: A Love Story is written by Yusuf Toropov. The emotional intelligence of the main protagonist and the story itself are high on the list of pluses at the outset. Although many expectations are confounded throughout the story, the expectation of more confusion, while reading the opening pages, does not bear out. So if you find yourself asking: “What’s this about?”, just power on through the opening five pages. The quality of the writing will draw you in at the outset. But the plot is riveting, and it all starts to become fairly clear fairly quickly. It’s one of those novels that merits a second read not because of its difficulty, but because of the prose's beauty. In terms of plot, there is so much to it that there are things you may miss the first time out. Among much else, readers may find they are reading the novel for its story, and then
Funny. Riker always thought of himself as such a ladies' man.
ReplyDeleteThanks! True about Riker. Remember when they made First Contact with the aliens on that planet where he had been wheeled into the hospital in a coma, he comes round in the hospital, and seduces a nurse or something so that he can get away? Scores his way out of the facility? What a dog! :-) (It's not quite Deanna and Riker, but a just a rendering of the franchise.)
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