Terrorist

Terrorist, the newest novel by John Updike, is well written and thought provoking. Ahmad is a high school senior living with his mother, a flirtatious Irish woman, having been abandoned by his father, an Arab, while he was an infant. Even though he is only half Arab and is raised by his ex-Catholic mother, he chooses to follow Islam. He is very serious about his faith and studies the Koran with an Yemini Imam, who fills his mind with anti-American rhetoric and a Jihad.

His Imam convinces him to become a truck driver and not go to college. After high school he gets a job delivering furniture for an Arabic Furniture company. He discovers that on some of his deliveries he is dropping off more than furniture when he secretly watches the recipients tear the furniture open and take out thousands of dollars hidden inside. He confronts his coworker who explains that they are payments for a terrorist cell planning an attack on the anniversary of 9/11. Ahmad agrees to drive the truck that will be laden with explosives and die a martyr’s death by blowing up a commuter tunnel during the morning rush hour.

John Updike writes with a deft style and fully develops his characters. Scenery and action are vividly painted without bogging down the plot. He does an excellent job portraying the mindset of an Islamic extremist. By listening to Ahmad talk and think, you get a sense of how a young Muslim thinks and feels. The faith of a terrorist comes to life in this novel, giving you a better understanding of what drives these men to commit suicide in the service of Jihad.

However, there are several problems with this novel. First, John Updike always works graphic sex into his novels, and this novel is no exception. Second, the ending is not completely believable. I don’t want to ruin the ending, so let me say that there is not enough psychological development to support the choice Ahmad makes at the end. Also, it is unlikely that the events could realistically play out the way he portrays them. In light of these drawbacks, I feel that this novel is an important contribution to understanding the religious, social, intellectual and emotional context of radical Islamic terrorism. Anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of how such attacks can be justified in the minds of the terrorists, this novel will be very helpful.