Book: Martyr By Kaveh Akbar (2024)

“Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

This debut novel explores a lot of themes, mostly philosophical (which probably escapes me), and it’s basic take on theme most of us struggle with – why are we here and how can I be remembered. At times comical, but also serious, Akbar’s poetic prose is something to behold. Still, the tale boils up big ideas, but the writer seems fine with not knowing all the answers. The fact that there is little explanation to those ideas makes book work (though some may have difficulty with the books less than cohesive structure). We all contemplate the human experience and no one really knows how to explain them in any rational sort of way. Maybe Akbar is saying that is okay?

Despite some of the bleakness that Cyrus must endure, the book is filled with wry humor and observations; it’s densely layered and may require a few readings to understand it fully. But I think a reader should have a background in poetry to full grasp what the ideas here (it’s a genre I do not read). Perhaps an understanding of addiction and sobriety would also be helpful.

Martyr, in the end, is interested in the question of how to give life meaning through death - its central focus being martyrdom. Literary fiction such as this book is not for everyone, because most will not understand the central theme here –despite Cyrus’ very, everyday, personal issues. But its fine not to completely understand the book, because trying something new, with original and fresh ideas, is what most novelists strive for. I challenge people to look outside the box of everyday popular fiction and try something new – and not safe.