Beyond Belief Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples

by NAIPAUL, V. S.

• ISBN13: 9780375706486
• ISBN10: 0375706488
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-12-07
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

"Brilliant. . . . A powerfully observed, stylistically elegant exploration." --The New York Times A New York Times Notable Book of the Year "The book's strength lies in Naipaul's extraordinary ability as a storyteller to draw striking portraits of a cross section of individuals."--The Boston Globe Fourteen years after the publication of his landmark travel narrative Among the Believers, V. S. Naipaul returned to the four non-Arab Islamic countries he reported on so vividly at the time of Ayatollah Khomeini's triumph in Iran. Beyond Belief is the result of his five-month journey in 1995 through Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia--lands where descendants of Muslim converts live at odds with indigenous traditions, and where dreams of Islamic purity clash with economic and political realities. In extended conversations with a vast number of people--a rare survivor of the martyr brigades of the Iran-Iraq war, a young intellectual training as a Marxist guerilla in Baluchistan, an impoverished elderly couple in Teheran whose dusty Baccarat chandeliers preserve the memory of vanished wealth, and countless others--V. S. Naipaul deliberately effaces himself to let the voices of his subjects come through. Yet the result is a collection of stories that has the author's unmistakable stamp. With its incisive observation and brilliant cultural analysis, Beyond Belief is a startling and revelatory addition to the Naipaul canon. "Highly accomplished. . . . Another display of Naipaul's remarkable talent." --The Independent (London)

Author Biography

V.S. Naipul lives in England.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 1
Indonesia: The Flight of the N-250
The Man of the Moment	p. 7
History	p. 26
A Convert	p. 41
A Sacred Place	p. 56
Kampung	p. 73
Below the Lava	p. 83
Oh Mama! Oh Papa!	p. 104
Ghosts	p. 118
Iran: The Justice of Ali
The Foundation of the Oppressed	p. 143
Mr. Jaffrey's Round Trip	p. 153
The Great War	p. 166
Salt Land	p. 175
The Jail	p. 190
The Martyr	p. 201
Qum: The Punisher	p. 213
Cancer	p. 236
The Two Tribes	p. 249
Pakistan: Dropping off the Map
A Criminal Enterprise	p. 263
The Polity	p. 271
Rana in his Village	p. 285
Guerrilla	p. 295
Penitent	p. 311
Loss	p. 325
From the North	p. 335
Ali's Footprint	p. 350
War	p. 363
Malaysian Postscript: Raising the Coconut Shell
Old Clothes	p. 385
New Model	p. 397
The Bomoh's Son	p. 407
The Other World	p. 420
Acknowledgements	p. 439
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