While I was sick with reaction to vaccine number 2, I picked up “Homeland Elegies- A Novel” by Ayad Akhtar and could not put it down. Salman Rushdie was right to invent a word “unputdownable”! The questions Ayad delves into are common- our need to find belonging, to find a home and feel accepted as individuals. As the American born son of immigrant parents who was raised in the Midwest, he wrote this book ostensibly as a novel, but seemingly more a memoir. He deals with the intertwined issues of immigration, integration, adaptation, identity from the perspective of an American Muslim in the pre and post 9/11 era. For me, it is a heart-wrenching story about the desire to belong.
It is a brilliant piece of writing. His courage leaves one in awe as he shares his most intimate thoughts (although a bit too much about bedroom scenes) about his identity and belonging journey. His skill at depicting all the complexities and uncertainties of the journey through various characters – which he admits are from his own life, or composites thereof- is brilliant; e.g., his mother who never stopped thinking of her birth homeland Pakistan, his father who adapted to America awkwardly and happily, a family friend who went back to Pakistan to help the US and Afghan mujaheddin defeat Soviet Union only to be killed when the US left Afghanistan (pre-9/11), etc. And his mingling of writing styles – prose and drama script is truly innovative.
9/11 features prominently in the book as he describes the agony of being in New York City as a Muslim that day, feeling both the pain of the victims and the anger of those who saw him as the enemy. His love for America is deep which I appreciated so much. He shares the sad state of the Middle of America which has lost so much due to globalization. And he brilliantly asks how a society can survive when only bound by a consumer culture that destroys so much of what was built before. Ayad also touches on Islam and Prophet Mohammed a bit unfortunately. I heard him say in an interview that he cannot even go to Pakistan as he is accused of blasphemy. But leaving that aside, I am not sure why he chose to touch the subject – faith- even peripherally. We all have our spirituality and derive great comfort and meaning from it. Why even touch that subject, especially if you are a self-avowed non-practicing non-believer?
The word “elegies” means lamentation, and I really appreciate all the questions and concerns he raises. He deals with the central issue of belonging and identity. For me he left me with the question: “does belonging and identity even make sense in our globalized world, where we are free to belong to many places and cultures?” We have so much to learn and teach each other- if we could thrive on differences, our sense of belonging could be so much larger, e.g., just a citizen of Planet Earth.
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