(Reviewed by JD Jung)
#CommissionsEarned
What happens when one puts Osama bin Laden and Salman Rushdie at the same dinner table? Yslar Tatuky is such a person as he has grand, though idealistic, hopes for humanity in his novel, My Neighbour Osama Bin Laden.
Tatuky, who plays himself in the story, returns to Okriba, Georgia to restore the “magic forest”, full of jacaranda and maple trees. It was cultivated by his great-grandfather but subsequently destroyed during the Bolshevik invasion of Georgia. His plans are delayed when both Georgian and foreign agents instruct him to help an “Iranian businessman” named Mustafa, who is in hiding. After some thrilling research, Tatuky believes that Mustafa is actually Osama bin Laden. And this is one year after his supposed death.
Yslar wants to convince Mustafa to change his views on Jews, Americans and Western culture as well as educate him on the evils of totalitarian rule. He brings him books to read and American movies to watch without stating his motive. That is, he wants to “humanize” Mustafa.
Yes, the premise is wild and the structure unconventional. Author Yslar Tatuky describes his characters in terms of their resemblance to American movie characters and asks us to listen to certain pop tunes at specific points of the book. He also includes not one, but four introductions.
Both sensitive and funny with an engaging plot, I enjoyed this captivating book. The multiple introductions as well as the story reveal a lot about Tatuky and his beliefs. I found his take on the Soviet Union and the current Russian Federation fascinating. As a philosophy student at the University, he questioned the Soviet take on philosophy, as well as its interpretation of Marx.
In the actual story, he incorporates even more of his social and political philosophy. Yes, he goes off on tangents, but they’re worth the detour. His hate for the Soviet Union “…the Bolsheviks managed to create the Empire of Evil, and then legitimise it.” is as apparent as is his love for Georgia which is shown in a cultural tour of his homeland.
Though his desire to eradicate racism and anti-Semitism is paramount, he wants to go further with themes of “global significance”, humanity and the power of love.
Not all is good though. I did have a problem with his take on the “power of love”.
I just couldn’t get into the sappy romance and didn’t see how it had anything to do with “humanity” or “love” in the broader sense. Call me a cynic, but I don’t agree with his proposition that romantic love can lead to love for all of humanity. Can it even “humanize” a person? I will even speculate that he would not think that this would have been possible for Lenin or Stalin.
So Tatuky may be a hopeless romantic. Big deal. There’s still a lot to love about My Neighbour Osama Bin Laden.
