American culture and the country itself is featured in a novel about a young Pakistani youth growing up here. We also have a novel about a Russian whose life is ruined here, and another featuring a Rwandan competitive runner who needs to find refuge on our shores. All titles are available at your local bookseller or library.
American Dervish
Ayad Akhtar; read by Ayad Akhtar
Hachette Audio, 9 hours and 28 minutes; www.audible.com, $17.09
This marvelous first novel details the coming of age of a young Pakistani American, revealing his sexual awakening and the disastrous, life-altering way in which he misunderstands, and misuses, his religion. At the story’s core is the miscommunication between old world and new, a clash that occurs between and among generations. This gets under your skin, from its awkward teen angst to the misogyny of people afraid to shed their past. Occasionally a little affected, the writing is overall observant and evocative. The author, a natural at Pakistani pronunciations, is an adept narrator who sounds realistically youthful while subtly defining each character. Grade: A-
Perlmann’s Silence
Pascal Mercier; read by Mel Foster
Harper Audio, 24 hours and 2 minutes; www.audible.com, $29.99
It is extremely long and occasionally one wonders about the accuracy of the translation, but there is good reason that this German novel has been acclaimed internationally. Suffering from self-doubt and depression, protagonist Phillip Perlmann tells a lie. The cover-ups, the desperation, and the anguish that follows would make us laugh were it not such a raw and honest portrayal of the human condition. This desperately needed some humor to break up the brown study of Perlmann’s grief-soaked existence, but is almost surprisingly absorbing. Narrator Mel Foster invokes a wide array of voices and accents that help us to keep them all straight. Grade: B
Running the Rift
Naomi Benaron; Read by Marcel Davis
HighBridge Audio, 14 hours and 7 minutes; www.audible.com, $24.47
In her Bellwether Prize-winning book, first-time novelist Naomi Benaron shows us that it is all about perspective. You can run for sport, or run for your life. You can be the tribe that kills, or amongst those destroyed by genocide. It depends on where you stand in life. For Tutsi Jean Patrick, born with amazing speed in his long legs, it was to be a life of fear and upheaval. Benaron can be simplistic, but overall she successfully depicts a harrowing chapter in Africa’s tumultuous history. Narrator Marcel Davis does a commendable, even memorable, job of capturing rich accents and difficult pronunciations. Grade: B
