Wolf Dreams

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It followed the path of Jihadi from disaffected youth to unstoppable monster. It showed how vague idealism and vanity can create a perfect storm from which otherwise normal and ambitious young men are transformed into vicious monsters that will kill women and children. I thought the complexity of this book extended further than expected, including portrayals of strong (but amoral) women as well as redeeming grace and nobility from otherwise corrupt aristocrats. The author is often ambivalent about the competing sects in Algerian society, even though it is plain that he does not withhold moral judgment from the terrorist/protagonist. I think that the issue of our times is Islamic terorrism and Yasmina Khadra gets inside of the terrorist mind and the social-psychology of the Casbah in a way that is neither overly didactic, nor morally obtuse. I think this book exceeds "In the Name of God" both as a narrative and for showing how Islamists are a form of revolutionary at war with existing society, in spite of their pretensions of conserving Islam in pure form.

Rating:
Summary: A Bright Light on a Dark Subject
Review: This is a book that surprised me with its insights. The author was recommended by NYT book review but the insights into the Islamic Fundamentalist culture and the violent whirlpool that a young man can be sucked into were a surprising revelation. The relatively innocent immature young man who starts out the book slowly is degraded into a monster who is to be destroyed. I often thought of the young men who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the corruption of their souls that turned them into monsters who needed to be destroyed.