Wednesday, November 6, 2013

So the stories aren't just stories, is what you're saying. They're really secret knowledge disguised as stories

Alif the Unseen is one of those books I'm sure I would have never picked up if it wasn't for the book blogging world. It's still a book I'm confident I could mention in a crowded room and most people would give me blank looks. It's a strange feeling. I know there is talk about the internet world versus the real world, but whenever I'm actually smack dab in an example of it I realize how true it is. Which segues nicely* into the plot of Alif.

Alif is a hacker of sorts. He's a programmer who is happy to work with anyone online to hide their identity and keep their business safe. He'll work with revolutionaries from all sides of the political spectrum. This does not make him especially popular with the local government who want to find him and his friends and shut them down. He lives...somewhere in the middle east. The city is unnamed so it's just not me being oblivious (thought I forgive you for thinking that as I had to confirm it myself). Alif has a failed relationship with a rich lady and in an attempt to completely cut her out of his life he writes a program that will recognize her. Not just her handle or her IP address, something that  seems to go even beyond recognition in how she writes so he can make sure he will never accidentally run into her online and she will never have to "see" him. Of course this software is powerful and when the antagonist know as The Hand gets ahold of it, Alif's online friends are in danger. So first we have a techno thriller set in a dystopian (though set in the real world present) city.

But the book doesn't open with Alif. It opens thousands of years ago as a man takes down the stories from a captured jinn to wrote the Alf Yeom. This book is supposed to have strange powers, though it's considered no more than a legend in modern day. So we have these supernatural elements. I was thrown at first by the opening of the book because I was expecting the story above. What is this about genies and jinn and ancient texts? But when I shut up and just went with it, it worked so well.

There are also scenes where the characters discuss religion and spirituality and morality and modern technology that work well within what's really a face paced story. I never felt bogged down by these moments or like someone was getting on a soap box. If nothing else it made me rethink my opinions and assumptions on the hijab.

And the book is funny. Or, OK, it's not exactly a laugh out loud riot but it has a lot of funny moments.

I'm struggling with what else to say about this book without spoiling anything. Also it's been awhile since I read it. I can't believe I forgot to review Alif the Unseen. Or, I guess I didn't forget to review it so much as I had written down notes for Quiet and then when I was like "Hmm I should probably write a review" I saw those notes and figured that's where I last left off. But please, do not take my lack of organization to mean anything bad about Alif. I was sucked into the story, worried for the characters, if they would get out of this peril while also moved by some of the stories and discussions they had.

To make up for the fact that this review is short, and due to the fact that looking through my highlights makes me realize how many great quotes there are, here's a few of them for you to enjoy

"She can't quite see me as I am," [Vikram, a jinn] said. "It's an American quirk. Half in, half out. A very spiritual people, but in their hearts they feel there is something shameful about the unseen.

"All translations are made up," opined Vikram, "Languages are different for a reason. You can't move ideas between them without losing something. The Arabs are the only ones who've figured this out. They have the sense to call non-Arabic versions of the Criterion interpretations, not translations."

"For God also tells us that when you perform an action you believe to be a sin, it still counts as a sin even if it is proven to be permissible. Conscience. Conscience is the ultimate measure of man."

*And totally unintentionally. I'm not that clever.

Title quote from page 108, location 1616

Wilson, G. Willow. Alif the Unseen. Grove Press, 2012.