2025 #43 Martyr! (Akbar)

 

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This remarkable debut novel lives up to the hype. Fans of Akbar's poetry won't be disappointed, as he weaves in poems into the manuscript authored by the protagonist, Cyrus, an Iranian-American poet, writer, and recovering alcoholic. I did not know what to expect, having read little about the book as I'm simply trying to read all the 2025 Tournament of Books selections, and I think I'm better for not knowing what I was getting into. It is hard to describe the ride that is this book -- it is beautiful, tragic, funny, historical fiction, and one of those books where you feel you can connect with almost every character. There's even a plot twist -- handled deftly by Akbar, without resorting to clichéd sentimentality. Akbar lays bare themes of addiction, abandonment, artistic impulse, religiosity, media filters, racism, sexuality, and yes-- martyrdom--all in a way that seems like one of those rare honest conversations one might have with a close friend (often while inebriated, for some). The only drawback (if I can call it that) for me was the final scene between Cyrus and Zee. While I understand the reason for the lack of earthiness, it jolted me out of what I loved so much about the book -- the "here-and-nowness" of it--the starkness and the reality. I would have enjoyed a more subtle experience. But that doesn't keep me from saying that Martyr! is definitely in my top five books that I've read this year.

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