Customer Reviews

Night Journey: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An Amazing Novel and An Even More Amazing Debut. From the first sentence it is atmospheric and intense, dark, and intelligent. A joy to read.

The story focuses on two brothers raised by their mother in Phoenix's poor and desolate Third Ward. Eddie, the thoughtful and more sensitive brother will become a boxer, encouraged by his erratic hustler brother, Turtle. At its heart the novel is a story of growing up poor and Black in America and in that way reminiscent of Invisible Man, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The truly remarkable achievement of Night Journey, though, is that while the writing lives up to these weighty predecessors, the novel is itself an original and thoroughly modern addition to the line. And while it is the story of two boys, it is also in many ways a deeply insightful meditation on the state of race and poverty and meaning in America today.

I truly enjoyed this book, in fact, carried it with me everywhere reading any chance I had until I finished it. The characters are deeply understood and caringly rendered. Kalam exhibits both a deep sympathy for the people he writes about and a commitment to show them as they are, complicated, confused, and flawed. The characters stay with you, as if they are people you know. That I enjoyed this book, couldn't put it down, is testament to the strength of these characters because the novel deals with hard topics in an unflinching way. Prostitution, drug abuse, poverty, none are glamorized, are simply laid before the reader to view, to consider. But you care so much about the characters that you must deal with these difficulties simply because they must.

I can't recommend this novel enough. In a sea of the fluff published today, Kalam floats to the top, taking on hard issues through beautiful writing, creating a truly original and inspired work of literature.

Night Journey is a compelling work of literature by a young author destined to become a literary star. In his remarkable novel, Kalam dares to go where few other writers have gone, using the Third Ward in Phoenix Arizona, an area where prostitution and drugs are rampant, as the setting for his novel. Night Journey beautifully tells the tale of Eddie Bloodpath, a young man who struggles to become a boxer in order to avoid a life of hustling and drug dealing. In addition to Eddie, Night Journey's cast of characters includes pimps, hustlers, drug dealers, and prostitutes- all of whom are depicted with a sense of tragic realism. Few other writers could have written about Phoenix's Third Ward with the same sense of grace and humanity. Although this book certainly deserves 5 stars, I'm withholding one star until the author writes a sequel finishing Eddie's tale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which describes people, places, and events completely outside anything I have ever (or will ever for that matter) experience. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a gripping story.

"Night Journey" is a good book that had me totally fooled. After reading the title and skimming the author's bio I thought it would include more in depth details of a religious and/or spiritual journey. To my surprise the novel is full of obstacles that a young boy must overcome to free himself form the microcosm that he knows as the world. The end of book leaves a lot open for interpretation and hopefully an empowering and uplifting sequel.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel, but I find myself remembering the characters at random moments days after I finished the book. Kalam is good at writing memorable characters, and it's easy to envision them. I admit the first 70 pages or so were too graphic for me. I stuck with it though and was rewarded for my effort. I find it hard to believe that Kalam did not grow up as his main characters did -- gang-banging and pimping -- because he describes these activities so well. But the way these activities are described, the reader does not have a contempt for them. It's a way of life, good or bad. The main character -- Eddie -- hopes that boxing will be his way of overcoming his rotten childhood. In fact, his older brother, Turtle, forces Eddie to take up boxing to distract Eddie from his affection for Tessa, one of Turtle's prostitutes. Eddie triumphs in the end, but not as we expect -- in a way that is actually more personally satisfying. Even Tessa turns out to be the great love of Eddie's life but in reality not. Eddie accepts this reality, just as he accepts his brother's bad ways, his own shortcomings, his dissillusionment with the Nation of Islam, which he joins towards the end of the book. Eddie is a boxer outside of the ring too: keeping his head low and averting punches but fighting still. It's an inspiring book. The writing is well done too. I am a slow reader generally, but, once I was past the first 70 pages, I was breezing along -- which happens rarely for me. I think it's because I became a part of Eddie's world too.

"Night Journey" is a fascinating book. I didn't know what to expect simply from the book title, but I was drawn in instantly after reading the first chapter. The description of the characters, scenes, and emotions was crafted with such charisma and skill. I often felt like I was a silent character in the book watching as the plot unfolded. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a great read.

Night Journey is both an impressive debut novel, and an intriguing, modern addition to the genre of "coming of age" novels. Much like Richard Wright, Kalam is able to write about so-called undesirable members of society with unparalled complexity and lyricism. Kalam demonstrates a great deal of promise in this novel, and is definitely an author to watch. As an additional introduction to Kalam's work, I highly recommend the 2005 edition of Best American Travel Writing, which includes a captivating article that Kalam wrote about his hajj experience. Additionally, the author's website, muradkalam.com, has links to several of his NPR commentaries.

This book encompasses a new version of an old theme. In many ways, it has a little bit of everything in it, enough for most readers to sink their eyes into. The main character reveals aspects of ourselves which enables the reader to build a stronger connection to the story. It's not the best book but it gives a worthwhile effort based on what it set out to accomplish. The prose is passable and does not detract from an understanding of what's going on. Thankfully, the author didn't try to overwhelm the reader with ten-dollar words so that you'd need an MIT degree to figure things out. The author does a good job setting up the plot but didn't thoroughly probe into the characters' motivations and psyches. Overall, this book is an interesting read, even if one isn't particularly interested in the underlying subject matter.

Critics all said this book was a great debut. This book was full of let downs. The author has a lot of talent, which is evident in his ability to show rather than tell. However, the plot was "like" Ralph Ellison only because the Kulam is trying to be Ellison. The plot was full of build-ups with no real climaxes in my opinion. It even smelled like Invisible Man without the real big climaxes and social commentary. I just can't say I enjoyed reading this book.