Yusuf Toropov

Jihadi; A Love Story – The Truth Is a Horrible Thing

Jihadi; A Love Story is a novel from Yusuf Toropov an American Muslim, which in itself must be a double edged sword at the best of times. He is an opinionated observer of American relationships with the Middle East and the psyche that they have while out there. While at the same time observes those whom the Americans have gone to ‘save’ and how they react.

Jihadi is not an easy book to read, it takes work, a lot of work if I am an honest but it is worth it for the searing observations that Toropov has about the relationships between America and the Muslim World. This is a book that is packed with pathos, questions, humour and leaves you to make your mind up at the end, even though the story has its own conclusion.

Toropov reminds me of two great writers of English Literature who both if alive today would be writing a book similar to this. Toropov is doing what Dickens and Orwell would have done challenge those who are leading us, and telling us that we are fighting fire with fire for our own good. When the reality is we have just created a bigger fire with angrier people than before.

A former American intelligence officer is being held in a secret overseas prison, that he refers to as the Beige Hotel and has written his own autobiography on smuggled in paper. His book is now in the hands of a quite erratic psychologist who annotations across the text, using the Beetles White album across his notes. The problem is this makes for a much darker picture of the Intelligent Officer.

We see the Intelligence have what seems like a nervous breakdown when he gets back to America after being held captive in an Islamic Jail. He also observes that how the Americans are ignorant and at times over aggressive towards the citizens of Islamic City, urinating on the Koran being an example. How American fears seem to be self fulfilling especially as they tend to provoke Muslims by being heavy handed and overbearing.

At the same time Muslims do not help themselves especially when a new Imam who seems devote, but likes to drink bourbon provokes outrage against America. How this new Imam is able to twist the words and meaning of the Koran ignoring all theological meaning but addressing what the people want to hear encouraging them to rise up against the Imperialist ambitions of the Americans.

This is a complex novel, which will challenge you, make you think and not accept what you think you know about the Middle East and how much do we stir up our own problems. We are asked to consider our understanding of good and evil alongside that of nationalism, freedom and terrorism. It also raises the issue is our we guilty of creating the terrorism that we are afraid of, which only we can answer ourselves.

This may not be an easy read but stick with it, and at the end of the book one can see the questions that have be raised through the power of the story. This really is an intelligent thriller, asks the big questions and we see the actions of both sides, whether we like the answers is a different matter.… (mais)