How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position

December 23, 2013
Khair overstuffs his latest (like his previous effort, The Thing About Thugs), which, despite the author's ability to capture the specificity of placeâin this case, Ãrhus, Denmark (coincidentally or not, the author's own place of residence). With chapters entitled "Prolegomenon to a Plot," Khair seems more determined to show off than to compel. The novel follows a nameless narratorâ"a more or less Muslim-skinned" Pakistani literature professor who, after his divorce, shares a flat with his friend Raviâand an Indian taxi driver named Karim, who set off a chain of "events that have exercised considerable media attention in Denmark." The nature of these events is not explicitly revealed until nearly the end of the book, but the reader has a very good sense of what's involved beforehand. On the plodding way to the unsurprising dénouement, there is an unconvincing love story, and much theorizing about the perception of Islam by the West, the limits of Danish tolerance, and, of course, terrorism.

December 15, 2013
A combination of immigrant academics in Scandinavia, a Muslim taxi driver, girlfriends, marital discord and homosexuals gives rise to dangerous prejudices in this slender, darkly ironic fable from a noted Indian writer. Khair's (The Thing About Thugs, 2012, etc.) curious fusion of social observation, romantic philosophy, comedy and morality tale is played out by a cast of assorted nationalities centered on an apartment house in arhus, Denmark, after Ravi, an Indian Hindu, and the unnamed narrator, a Pakistani Muslim, decide impulsively to move in with devout taxi driver Karim Bhai. Ravi and the narrator, colleagues at the local university, are intrigued by their landlord, who hosts Quranic study sessions at the apartment on Fridays, takes mysterious phone calls, is constantly in need of funds and sometimes disappears overnight. But they are more preoccupied with their search for women, which eventually results in a perfect partner for Ravi and a good enough one--"a half [glass] of love"--for the narrator. While notions of terrorism are constantly hinted at, Khair spends more time considering relationships, a strange balance that renders the act of violence that eventually occurs almost incidental. It does, however, give expression to the latent Islamophobia found both in society at large and nearer home, while the truth about Karim Bhai, when it emerges, is more humane than horrific. Witty and incisive but insubstantial.

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