Abandon : A Romance

Rating:
Summary: Yep, disappointing
Review: Great idea for a novel but it doesn't work. Not here, anyway. I like Iyer and wanted so hard to like this novel. Unfortunately, the characters are completely unsympathetic. Whatever it is that keeps bringing them together is never exerienced by the reader. Occasionally wants to be a mystery story--John gets home and finds out someone was on his computer earlier. Never worries about it again. Hmm. The various persons with manuscripts and what they may have known or not and how their narratives might have played out was the only thing that really captured my interest. But that would have been a different book. A more interesting one, I expect.

Rating:
Summary: Much ado about nothing
Review: John Macmillan is a scholar, writing his thesis on Sufi poetry, in particular the Islamic mystic Rumi, at UC Santa Barbara. The thesis must be completed before his return to England, but the work is proceeding well for this dedicated scholar, who travels at the behest of his thesis advisor.

Just returning from India, John is caught in the web of intrigue surrounding Camilla Jensen, a young woman of contradictory traits, whom he meets when delivering a package to her. He is romantically involved with a woman in London, but chooses to ignore this reality as he spends more time with Camilla. The insipid Camilla is more the product of a male-dominated culture than the author's "New-Age" description indicates. Her behavior both attracts and repels Macmillan. Against his better judgment, he is drawn to Camilla's fragile unpredictability and the glimpses of passion she exhibits. In point of fact, she is dependent, childish and singularly unattractive. The romance is hopelessly pedestrian.

Iyer writes with confidence about foreign countries, Islam, Rumi and the shadowy Sufis as Macmillan does Professor Sefhadi's bidding; the professor is, after all, his mentor and necessary to the completion of the thesis. At the professor's request, Macmillan travels to India, Spain and Iran, where he has conversations about manuscripts that may or may not be in circulation. Yet everything in this book is vague, indirect; conversations are purposefully ambiguous, correspondence filled with inconsistencies, as though Macmillan thrives on misdirection. I find myself discomfited, as though I can't trust the author to be truthful. The relationship between Camilla and John may serve as a metaphor for Macmillan's search for the essence of Sufism, the letting go of self, "being" the experience. But it is unclear whether Macmillan is the professor's pawn, Camilla's fool or a man more comfortable with mystery than with answers.

Altough not as impressive as the ubiquitous Rumi, common usage would suggest that "water seeks its own level". Simple, perhaps, but in this case, appropriate. Sacrificing himself on the altar of dysfunction, Macmillan is not grasping Heaven with his new lover; rather he is dancing merrily along the precipice of Hell. Luan Gaines/2004.

Rating:
Summary: Mystical Journey To Nowhere
Review: John MacMillan is an English graduate student in California, working on his thesis. He is studying Sufi poetry, with a special interest in the great Rumi. Camilla Jensen is his off-again, on-again girlfriend, a young lady with--shall we say--issues. Major issues.

John works sporadically on his thesis, runs off to Syria and Spain, looks for lost manuscripts, and accomplishes little or nothing, while ruminating about Sufi philosophy, and trying to make sense of his relationship with Camilla.

Author Pico Iyer is a gifted writer who appears to be intrigued with Sufism. One of the themes of this intriguing novel is the idea of emptiness, of giving up trying to understand. He writes in a rambling, ruminating style which seems to create that very effect. He gives us dialogue in which we are not clear who is speaking. Then he tells us what the characters were thinking. Then he analyzes what their thoughts and actions might mean. Then he takes us on long drives throught the countryside. Sometimes it is hard reading.

Is author Iyer giving us a Sufi teaching story? Or is this, in his own words, pointless mystification? Will John and Camilla ever work out their relationship? Will John ever finish his thesis? Well, you will have to read the book to find out. I found this book hard going and had to force myself to finish it. I'm glad I did, though. I recommend it, but it's not for everyone. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.