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We Are Now Beginning Our Descent: A Novel

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Diogenes

A few weeks ago I got into an extended conversation about the life and death of Kevin Carter. Carter was a photojournalist. Carter first made a name for himself in his native South Africa. His photos of life under apartheid were published around the world. His primary claim to fame arose in 1993 when he traveled to war-ravaged Sudan. His photo of an emaciated little girl, struggling to get to a feeding station while a large vulture sat nearby waiting for the girl to die, won him a Pulitzer Prize. It also caused a great deal of controversy as people who were horrified by the picture could not understand why Carter did not act to protect the child or carry her to the feeding station. Six weeks after winning the Pulitzer, Kevin Carter committed suicide. He was 33. Many people made an immediate causal connection between Carter's photograph in Sudan and his suicide. Others argued that Carter's life was far too complicated to attribute his death to one specific cause. In essence, those others asserted that no one event can be explained if we confine ourselves to seeking one cause for every effect. As Italo Calvino has suggested, "every event is like a vortex where various streams converge, each moved by heterogeneous impulses, none of which can be overlooked in the search for the truth."

It was not long after that conversation that I picked up James Meek's "We are Now Beginning our Descent". The connection between Kevin Carter's story and the fictional characters that Meek creates is a powerful one. Adam Kellas is a British journalist. Astrid Walsh is an American journalist. They meet in the Afghan mountains in the months after 9/11. They each arrive in Afghanistan with a couple of suitcases full of emotional baggage. They leave Afghanistan with even more baggage after a chance encounter with some Afghani soldiers has devastating, if unexpected and unintended, consequences. In essence Meek sets up the construct of the ultra-neutral reporter who will observe but never interfere with the action he or she is covering and then creates a situation where that neutrality is or may have been breached.

What Meek has done here is to provide us with a look at the vortex created by the brief meeting of Adam and Astrid. He also provides a look at the `stream' of both Adam and Astrid before and after their meeting. The result is a very entertaining and quite moving look at the lives of two people as they try to come to grips with their lives: with their lives as they existed before Afghanistan and as it exists afterward.

"We are Now Beginning our Descent"is Meeks second novel. I thought his first work, The People's Act of Love was a remarkably good effort and I awaited Meek's second effort with expectation and a bit of trepidation. Second novels are challenging, both for the author and for the reader. The author is challenged to live up to the promise of his/her first work. The reader is challenged by virtue of his/her own heightened expectation and anticipation that the second work will outstrip the qualities of the first novel. Meek has met his challenge with ease. I think this book does live up to the promise of Meek's first book. The book also met this reader's challenge. It met my heightened expectations. L. Fleisig

After the success of The People's Act of Love, expectations for Meek's new novel have been high. In "We Are Beginning Our Descent" Meek demonstrates the best of journalistic and fiction writing as well as some of the weaknesses. Attempting to merge the two styles, his language follows the topic he addresses, thereby losing some of the narrative fluidity and impact. The mostly fast paced story demonstrates his talent for evocative descriptions, whether landscapes, war scenarios or people. Like the author himself, Adam Kellas, the protagonist, is a British correspondent sent to Afghanistan to report the news from there as his audience expects to hear it. It is not necessarily how it is seen on the ground and his frustration with the imposed restrictions is palpable. Meek's experience shines through when he describes, with a mix of irony and empathy, the living conditions of the media contingent hanging out together close to the frontlines. In his downtime Kellas is writing a deliberately provocative political thriller, that he hopes will afford him the means for an easy life in the future. And then he comes across Astrid, a seasoned feature writer from the US who is as aloof as she is beautiful...and an inadvertently provoked action leads to a moral dilemma that will occupy Kellas's mind from then on.

Most of "We are Beginning Our Descent" is written in flashbacks as Kellas ruminates over where he has been and what is in store for him when his plane touches down in New York. The Afghanistan images and the portrayal of the local people he encounters are the most vivid and convey the reality better than many news articles. His character's reflections on his own less than successful life suggest a complex and emotionally charged and restless personality. His relationship to his eclectic circle of friends, in London and in his Scottish home region, is conveyed as essential for his emotional stability. Will it be sufficient to sustain him in the long term? While Meek's well-developed characterization of the diverse personality adds to the breadth of the story, these sections of the book are less powerful than the account from the frontlines. Overall an intriguing and worthwhile read. [Friederike Knabe]

Journalists flock to Afghanistan after 9/11, among them would-be novelist Adam Kellas, thirty-seven, rootless and dispossessed by the terrorists' claim to the great theme of his novel-in-progress. Scribbling a new book in his down time, Kellas fixates on Astrid Walsh, an American journalist who waxes hot and cold, planting the seeds of longing that are so familiar to him, a man unable to totally inhabit his present, eyes ever on the horizon. Adam seeks love, success and a viable self, constantly betrayed by the truth and the disappointment that accompanies his every leap of faith. This interior journey is revealed in flashbacks; Kellas moves from place to place- mindset to mindset- personality reflected in the company he keeps, mirrored by his friends' actions and reactions, a strange brew of impressions that is not clearly defined. The result is a psychological maze; wandering through this emotional incongruence is the protagonist, spectral, existing in moments, forming and reforming his relationship to the world.

In a tenuous, shifting existence, Adam is dependent on others for direction: his best friend, poet Pat M'Gurgan makes a decision to write fantasy, then retreats to his former passion for a finer craft, albeit less remunerative; an American journalist in Afghanistan draws close to Kellas, then disappears, stepping out of his life but never his imagination; Kellas aspires to create a significant novel, only to see his plot stolen by the masterminds of 9/11, unable to recover his equilibrium. The individual who emerges on these pages is an assimilation of images, as though we are piecing together this character from fragments to assemble a whole. Certainly, the most astute observations come from the women Adam has encountered over the years. Juxtaposed against our first meeting with Kellas in Afghanistan post-9/11, his evolution is more perfectly realized in the contretemps with the objects of his desire, yielding trenchant clues to Adam's chronic isolation and the longing he wears like a crown of thorns: "Love. Oh, Adam. You're just not qualified to use the word." Even in Afghanistan, Adam has difficulty fitting in, preoccupied by how he is viewed by others. He is a watcher, a thinker, an intellectual fearful of participation. A dreamer.

Kellas is a competent journalist unable to write the novel that will deliver distinction and respect, a condition that constantly undermines his self-worth. Discontent, yet unable to perform to his own expectations, 9/11 has stolen not only his central theme, but the ability to replace one vision with another. In response, Kellas resorts to dissecting the women on whom he has fixated, demanding from them what is lacking in himself. Projections of desire, they cannot fail to disappoint. European in its angst and perspective, this novel reflects the ambivalence of a world off kilter and a man in search of self, dangerously flailing at his friendships. Yearning to reconfigure himself ("I am going to get away from the idealizing and the demonizing"), Adam turns to his work, this time in that Middle Earth, Iraq, another country in turmoil where he will dwell for a time. For Adam Kellas, unsure whether he is on solid ground or a land mine, "hope and defeat are still in balance." Luan Gaines/ 2008.

"The theme of the West's (and journalism's) distanced overflight of the rest of the world is an arresting one, richly written and cleverly developed. But like a Strasbourg goose force-fed for its liver, the organic growth and movement a novel requires are forced into distortion and bloat. What the characters stand for is interesting, but often they hardly stand at all. They are stood; they are moved about.' Richard Eder

'We Are Now Beginning Our Descent", when most of us hear these words, we are relieved, we are reaching our destination. However, these words written by James Meek have a totally different connotation. In the context of this novel, America, full of its own power is losing altitude and coming to face the power and anger of the third world. James Meek has the ability in his precise and so thoughtfully written prose, to put us in our place with many reminders of where we have been and how silly and frightening the lies and power of the United States have become. It seems most every other country has faced these idols. Now, James Meek tells us we must face ours.

Adam Kellas is an English journalist who portrays the guilt of the West in his behaviors. He has his entire life, done whatever he wanted, when he wanted, with no thought of anyone else. Relationships come and go, friendships are sometimes built of straw, and his career is as aimless as his thoughts. He is offered a job in Afghanistan to report on the war. At first, he says no, but then realizes he does not want to be thought of as a coward. His last relationship has ended, he is at loose ends. He hops a plane and in a matter of hours is in Afghanistan, joining other journalists. All of them intelligent and talented, but many without any goal but to be the first reporting the War. It is in this context that Adam meets Astrid Walsh. Astrid an American, thin but attractive. She carries a gun, which is unusual for a journalist. Guns portray taking a side, but Astrid says she needs to protect her self from unwanted advances from the many men who surround her. Soon they fall into a liaison. A memorable event occurs and Astrid up and leaves. Adam cannot find her, and in his misery he gives up his assignment in Afghanistan to go home and write a novel that will make him rich. In this sense Adam reaches his pinnacle and his downfall.

This story is told in flashbacks and in present tense, but is told in such a manner that we are able to appreciate the story within. James Meek has the talent to hold our attention when all seems to fall apart. The observations that James Meek makes held me spellbound. His development of the characters was superb. We all have our selves that we present to the public, and then we have our selves that are true, the troubles and inner secrets we all share. Kudos to James Meek.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 08-11-08

The People's Act of Love: A Novel

Art of Engraving: A Book of Instructions

As with his first novel, "The People's Act of Love", James Meek grabs the reader and holds him(her) for the duration----not only his turns of phrase, but the ideas behind them are riveting. Meek creates an imperfect hero, but one I could identify with. I kept turning pages to see how much further Adam Kellas' life would spiral towards hell, hoping all the while he'd resurrect.

The overall theme of the book: accepting things (and people) as they are, not as one would like them to be, resonated deeply with me. I loved Meek's first novel, and his second did not disappoint me. With entirely different subject matter, Meek has crafted a topical story for anyone human enough to regard himself in the same mirror as Adam Kellas.

I look forward to Mr. Meek's future books; I hope he has a lot of them to come.

I became a fan of Meek's work after reading The People's Act of Love. Beginning Our Descent is nicely written, and at times brilliant, but occasionally veers into self-consciously pretty prose. This is rare enough, though, that the otherwise excellent writing and strongly-developed characters more than make up for it. The overall plot comes across as a bit thin for my tastes, but the protagonist's bottomless self-regard and cringe-worth circumstances keep the reader turning pages. It's still unclear to me how the reader is supposed to react to the protagonist, Kellas. With pity? Disgust? Admiration for his pointless perseverance? But this ambiguity only adds to the greatness of this novel. After finishing it a few days ago, I find it still lingers in my mind as I work through it again and again trying to figure it out.

After reading a People's Act of Love, Meek's previous novel, I was anticipating Meek's next book, but largely I was disappointed. The book spends too much time explaining what it means and not enough time inviting the reader to make his/her own meaning. What I really liked about People's Act of Love was not just the unusual characters and their development or the unusual setting but the openness of the novel to interpretation.

In this novel, set in Afghanaistan after 9/11, the main character, Kellas, is a reporter for a British newspaper. He's both a jerk and a nice guy but rather than let his actions show us this complex personality, characters explain the other characters for us, as if we might not be able to figure it out on our own. The novel does attempt to showcase the self centeredness of those who go to cover tragedies, but again it is not done in a particularly unique way.

"...Novels and plays weren't there to show people what to be or predict what they would do. They showed what human beings are." And that, James Meeks does incisively.
Adam Kellas, the protagonist of Meeks fine new book, is a human being fully engaged in the process of finding out who he is. As a journalist charting the course of the Afghanistan conflict, mere months before Iraq widened the scope of east-west conflict, he is suspicious of all he sees and feels, all he does. Meeks special skill, that of great writers, is that he makes the questions that Kellas ask himself ones that we have asked ourselves. Is my distance from the conflict and disagreement with my government enough to give me ethical cover? Are journalists ever truly neutral? As he pursues a woman fellow journalist - are people what they seem? Is love real or even possible? Are my friends who they are or what I conceptualize them to be? His war reportage recalls the romance and adventure of Hemingway while never losing sight of the reality of innocent Afghans vaporized by thousand pound bombs.
While the plot does gyrate in a manner that leaves one wondering, with some sense of dread, where he will go next the sheer pleasure of reading his sentences trumps all.