6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
intriguing, enlightening content marred by stylistic flaws, October 4, 2004
This review is from: The Last Night of a Damned Soul: A Novel (Hardcover)
The Last Night of a Damned Soul is the story of Raouf, a young Arab-American whose grief/confusion over his father's death leads him down the path of martyrdom, guided by his Palestinian friend and Kuwaiti boss. Over the course of the novel, Raouf removes himself more and more from the trappings of his American life (dog, apartment, girlfriend, mother, etc.) to enter further into the world of Islam and terrorism as he repents, is reborn, and is trained for a terrorist act. These acts of gradual removal are often preceded by long stretches of quoted sermons/speeches or long passages of introspection.
The book, due to its subject matter and its close focus on an individual, has a certain chill to it, and a sense of suspense as to whether Raouf will actually go through with the terrorist act (no telling here). And the passages where he is guided or preyed upon depending on one's viewpoint have a macabre sort of fascination. The sermons also are of interest, giving a window into a set of beliefs, a worldview, that many Western readers probably do not have.
In the end, however, the book's effectiveness is marred by its many flaws. One is that the characters in the book rarely seem to act like fully-fleshed, real people. Raouf's girlfriend, for instance, seems to be there simply so she can be discarded. Her reactions to the changes he displays are either non-existent or unbelievable and his changing reaction to her is all too easily glossed over in a few paragraphs of inner monologue. Before he is lured/co-opted into the terrorist world, it is all too obvious that his friend and his boss have leaning or connections that way and yet there is no recognition of this on his part, no internal turmoil, again, highly unbelievable. His mother too seems to be a role character whose major purpose is to sum up an opposing viewpoint in a lengthy letter clumsily introduced toward the end. And Raouf's own movement from young Arab-American software engineer to fundamentalist Islamic terrorist seems more acted out than acted from within, more staged than developed.
Stylistically, many of the characters do not speak like real people. The dialogue is often stilted and given to speechifying rather than conversing. While the characters are debating politics and religion, they do so less as people involved in a discussion than as people reading from prepared notes. The use of so many sermons quoted at such length also was a problem, slowing the book's narrative pace down, taking us away from the more intense and more compelling first-person narrative by Raouf.
Even the first-person form, however, has its problems as it too often allows the author to pile on the exposition or characterization by telling rather than showing. There were times the internal monologue told us things we had already figured out by more subtle preceding actions or descriptions or told us things that would have been better shown. His relationship with his father and his father's subsequent death, for instance, we're told over and over again, had a deep impact on the character, but we are never given any reason to believe this beyond being told it--we're given almost no scenes to convey it through flashback or memory or third-character viewpoint.
The end of the book is the most effective part, where Raouf must confront the actual decision to take part or not in the attack, where his mother writes an impassioned and eloquent "sermon" in opposition to the many preceding that led him down the path of terrorism. For all it effectiveness, however, the ending also highlights what the book could have been, and thus highlights its flaws.
As a novel, I can't really recommend the book based on its weak characterization and flawed style and structure. On the other hand, if one wishes to set those aside and read not so much for reading pleasure but for insight into a world many of us seldom glimpse let alone imagine, it does awaken an awareness in the reader, a bud of understanding, if not a full flower. If it were a longer work, I wouldn't recommend it even then, but since it's such a quick read, it is possible to tolerate the writing flaws for the payoff of subject matter. Therefore, a very mixed recommendation.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Twisting Religous Convictions to Glorify Death/Martyrdom, May 11, 2005
This review is from: The Last Night of a Damned Soul: A Novel (Hardcover)
This book is frightening in its ability to present how a rather normal individual of a Muslim background, born and educated in the USA, could become susceptible and vulnerable to the "culture of death" as taught by Islamic extremists. The book was originaly written in French and is a translation into English. It is a deep and complex book fraught with personal anguish and emotional tension ... Raouf is the only son of an Egyptian father and Lebanese mother, both highy educated and successful American immigrants of Muslim background. He examines the purpose of his life related to his religious awakening within the framework of the most painful experience of his life, the death of his father.
The emotional turmoil of this young computer engineer is the prelude to his gradual transformation into an Islamic extremist. He does at times have reservations, questions, and conflicts which are examined and analyzed through the dark cloud of his personal tragedy ... when life experiences, that is reality contradicts the teachings... his source of inspiration is a Muslim friend whose answer to most problems is to quote the Koran, a Hadith, or some portion of a sermon by a Mullah which consistently ties any conflict into a "submisson to G-d" response, most of which is associated with tolerating pain and realizing the Here and Now is unimportant and the Hereafter is what matters the most, when one attains the rewards of suffering in this life as promised for those who follow the teachings of Islam. The manipulation of this vulnerable man ... to accept a role to which he succombed is worth reading. It is a true education to see how religion is used for political ends by an extremist group.
The most important literary device or feature of this book is the use of quotations from the Koran and Hadiths which can make it a difficult reading experience . However, the reader will more fully appreciate the complex nature of the subject matter and *how* this literary device is effective when finished reading the book. In the end, most readers will view the recitation of different verses and suras as a device to create a hypnotic effect on the vulnerable Raouf, it can be viewed as the call to awakening of the young man. In this case, it has the same effect as the call to prayer five times a day when facing Mecca. This book would definitely have a stronger appeal if it were made into a film. Most readers will need to be patient ... to understand the beauty of the writing which reveals the genuine talents of this author. This book is a monumental literary achievement toward understanding the complex and difficult world in which we live. Erika Borsos (erikab93)
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent beginning, awful rushed ending..., October 13, 2006
This review is from: The Last Night of a Damned Soul: A Novel (Hardcover)
This books starts off very well. The initial character development is very good and the plot is intriguing enough to keep readers engaged. Unfortunately as the reading progresses the quality of the book deteriorates climaxing with the ending, which is horrible. It leaves the reader wondering whether the author was pressured to end the work or he just got fed up with it himself.
There are some very good lines and deep thoughts in this book and that's why the three stars. Otherwise, it would have received two.
R.
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