A Poet of the Invisible World

November 9, 2015
Golding (Simple Prayers) traces the spiritual journey of Nouri Ahmad Mohammad ibn Mahsoud al-Morad, born with two sets of ears, from early life as an orphan raised by Sufi dervishes in Persia to the far corners of the medieval Islamic world. Nouri's mother tries to protect her infant son from superstitious villagers by bringing him to a nearby city, where she dies and he falls into the arms of Habib, a humble caretaker at a Sufi lodge. Habib, whose hand was crushed by an elephant in a childhood accident, tries at first to keep Nouri's presence secret, bathing him in a soup pot and feeding him stolen goat's milk. Once the baby is discovered, the brothers welcome him into their communityâall except mean-spirited Sharoud, Nouri's lifelong nemesis. Nouri has to contend with Sharoud's resentment and an extra pair of ears, and he struggles with his attraction to other boys. After the boy he likes best is killed in a marauders' attack, Nouri begins his wanderings, during which he becomes a tea boy to the Right Hand at the Sultan's palace, a shepherd on the Spanish countryside, a laundry laborer, a poet, a drug addict, and a lost soul eventually taking refuge at yet another Sufi retreat. Golding creates an Arabian Nights atmosphere infused with compassion for human weakness and diversity, and appreciation for the wonder and temporality of all things. He depicts darkly realistic and luminously magical moments through evocative imagery, captivating storytelling, and gentle insight into one flawed aspirant's search for identity, enlightenment, and acceptance.

August 1, 2015
What to make of a kid born with four ears? One thing's for sure: he's bound to listen. Novelist/screenwriter Golding (Benjamin's Gift, 1999, etc.) strains for significance and symbolic import with this yarn, a blend of fable and what Edward Said would surely call (and not as a compliment) orientalist fantasy, with The Other being strange and inscrutable but all-too-human for all that. With his four ears, "placed side by side, like pairs of matched seashells," Nouri Ahmad Mohammad ibn Mahsoud al-Morad can't help but be noticed for good and ill-and mostly for ill, since the superstitious inhabitants of his little village are naturally curious, and not in a complimentary way, about the kid. The hero has an unusual feature: check. The hero sets off on a heroic journey: check. The hero is misunderstood and feared: check. With a Joseph Campbell-worthy schematic, the kid heads off to the big city to find such fortunes as the djinns and deity will allow. Fortunately for the sage Nouri, he falls in with Sufis whose master sees in him the makings of a pretty cool dude. Followers with arcane knowledge: check, as Golding waxes encyclopedic: "Centered on the chanting of litanies and accompanied by the playing of music, the sema was deep at the heart of Sufi practice." Sema-antics aside, Nouri undergoes all sorts of adventures in quest of-well, that'd be telling, but suffice it to say that there are fraught moments throughout ("the look on Vishpar's face as the marauder ran him through was what remained in Nouri's heart as they carried him away"). There's a Life of Pi-ish tang to the whole enterprise, although, to his credit, Golding is the better writer, and he manages to avoid the worst of New Age treacliness. And, for whatever reason, there's lots of good eating throughout, complete with a glossary of food terms. For what hero wants to go hungry? A modest book with heroic pretentions likely to appeal most to the Sedona/Santa Fe set.

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Starred review from August 1, 2015

In this beautifully imagined parable set in 13th-century Persia, readers accompany a child named Nouri on a lifelong path toward spiritual enlightenment. An orphan, born with an unusual birth defect that some see as a gift from Allah but others believe is an evil aberration, Nouri lands in the protective embrace of Habbib, a sweeper who works for a small sect of Sufi mystics. For months, Habbib shelters Nouri in his cell at the monastery, showering the angelic baby with tenderness while fearing he will be discovered. But when Nouri's presence becomes known, Sheikh Bailiri welcomes the child, teaching him the wonders of language and encouraging a future of contemplation and selflessness. Though various dark forces, from a jealous contemporary to an attack by marauding soldiers, send Nouri on a perilous detour, his innate goodness gives him the strength to eventually distinguish between the sacred and the profane. VERDICT Golding (Simple Prayers; Benjamin's Gift) provides a fascinating primer on the ascetic ideals of Sufism while simultaneously glorifying our physical natures, elegantly describing Nouri's sexual awakening and the love he feels for his young protegee, Ryka. This mesmerizing novel is a gift to anyone looking for a transcendent reading experience. [See Prepub Alert, 4/27/15.]--Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015
In thirteenth-century Persia, Nouri Ahmad Mohammad ibn Mahsoud al-Morad might have two sets of ears, but he harbors a less readily visible secret that threatens to derail his path to Allah. Marked by his deformity and rudderless as a young boy, Nouri is only too happy to embrace the practice of Sufism, becoming part of a band of brothers in a lodge in the bustling city of Tan-Arzhan. Unfortunately the path to spiritual salvation is littered with temptations aplenty, including pleasures of the flesh. As Nouri is uprooted from the lodge to a snowy mountainside in Spain, as he moves from a sultan's court to embracing Sufism again, he is confronted with challenges that test his resolve and the tenets of a religion often misinterpreted by fellow travelers along the straight and narrow. Golding's (Simple Prayers, 1994) taut storytelling and vivid characterization more than compensate for an occasional strained metaphor. The take-home message might be a tad trite, but this is an astute portrayal of human frailties (jealousy, cowardice) and the redeeming power of words and love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)