(reviewed by JD Jung)
“Those pleasures that I always had access to with her—the tactile, her body, food, her laugh—I knew I would have to keep her away from my darkness to preserve them. I wanted too many shallow, pleasant insights, and quick repetitive happiness; I did not want to risk discovery. I did not have the endurance for something deeper.”
It had been six months since Omar and Anna broke up when he received a call from her father informing him that she had committed suicide. They had known each other for over ten years, so Omar figured she would have written him a suicide note. Other people, presumably less significant in her life, in fact did. “What kind of person keeps her secrets after death? I thought she would burst open when she died…”
Twenty-seven-year-old Omar is a short-order cook and petty thief, just floating through life in his hometown of Toronto. Her death fills him with anger, alienation, and grief. Did he really know her?
As he deals with these feelings, he ponders his life and Muslim heritage at the same time engaging in superficial relationships and continuing to make poor decisions that throw him into precarious situations.
At first it was difficult for me to get into There Has to be a Knife and I almost closed the book and put it down for good. However, something inside me told me to stick with it and I am so glad I did. The dialogue was so fast-paced between the characters which initially turned me off, but then I found it realistic and refreshing. Though I was ambivalent towards the protagonist, I became totally captivated as the events unfolded. Issues such as misogyny, racism, class ,self-destruction and terrorism were dealt with in a raw and genuine way.
There Has to be a Knife captures life with an intense realism that I think readers will appreciate. Highly recommended.
