The Unyielding Clamour of the Night

A well written novel. It is engaging. It is not fast paced, but it also does not plod. As a previous reviewer stated, if you are looking for someone to cheer for, this is not the book. Initially, the ending of the novel was frustrating too me. However, as I have thought since about the book, I have been fascinated by the open-endedness and the ambiguity. Sometimes life doesn't have heroes. Sometimes individuals feel like they are forced to choose one side or another, with both sides being unsatisfying. This book captures this dilemma.

Arun has left his privileged home on a Southeast Asian island to teach in an area where a civil war is tearing apart daily village life. Motivated by idealism, Arun adopts a life of poverty and dedicates himself to improving the lives of others, but even his optimism and hopes are shattered by problems trying to educate the village's children, and when the war hits too close to home he must confront long-buried secrets and assess his life anew. A stark, evocative novel of goodwill and war evolves. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch