A Book Review

“Terrorist” by John Updike was Hannah’s pick for Book Club, and I have to say that after a shaky beginning, it turned out to be a great read for me. Being Updike’s newest novel, he appropriately chooses to weave his story around a very hot topic. The main character in the book, Ahmad, is a young impressionable American with an Egyptian father and an Irish-American mother. Although the first eleven years of his life were absent of any religious teachings, he chooses to embrace Islam and spends the next six years studying the Koran with a very questionable character. Because Ahmad is young and pliable, the imam is able to impress upon him a very fundamentalist view of their religion, and in doing so, develops in the boy, a hatred for all “unbelievers.” So, not to ruin the book for any possible readers (probably just Susanne), I won’t divulge any more of the details, I will however, discuss the main theme in the book and how it relates to my ideas about life.

First of all, I think the development of Ahmad’s beliefs and his subsequent actions are probably a fairly accurate depiction of how terrorists go about breeding young men and women who commit acts of horror in the name of God. Other than religion, there is little else in this world that has the ability to evoke enough passion in humans to cause them to kill masses of people they have never met. This is, at least as far as I’m concerned, the main problem with organized religion. If you can get someone to believe in an omnipresent and omnipotent creator, and instill in them a passion about this creator, then you probably can get them to do just about anything. The lack of logic and reason in “believing,” allows the “believer” to make the jump, based on faith, to whatever his or her motives require.

I do recognize, however, that most of the time organized religion uses the faith of its “believers” to promote for the good of humanity. But, faith-based religions are not the only way to teach ethics, nor do I think it’s the best way. Logic and reason lead to most of the same conclusions, without instilling a faith-based passion that can be absolutely devastating to society.

Okay, I’m probably digressing…

Anyway, this being my first John Updike, I have to say that I’m impressed and interested in reading more. Like Paula says, this was a “meat and potatoes” book, one that makes you think about life and all of its complicated complications!