Martyr!

It is really hard to summarize this book. This is a book written by a poet: about love, loss, death, about self-discovery, and the loss of oneself. One of the best books I have ever laid my eyes upon.

After the first two pages I was done for. Kaveh Akbar's debut novel is straightforward and hauntingly honest in its characters' depiction, while always taking its time to expertly paint the scenes before moving on. Following protagonist Cyrus' life, we flip through his chapters of migration, war, family trauma and, combining it all, the meaning of death. Considering that Akbar is a poet at heart, his writing never failed to astonish me - the amount of sticky notes I used lets the pages disappear. It is a book I will never forget and thoroughly devoured.

This was perfect! 30 pages in, I was telling my roommate how I was going to devour this book and I was not wrong. Martyr! is exactly the type of book I love reading. Kaveh Akbar has such a poetic and unique voice and I was inhaling his words like they were my last breath. I definitely have to check out his poetry collections soon! Honestly I find it really hard to describe this book but trust me it's awesome and the less you know the better.

Martyr! is a messy, heartbreaking, strange, funny and incredibly human book. It felt like being invited into someone's mind while they're trying to figure out what it means to be alive. The protagonist, Cyrus, is flawed and lost and searching for something he can't quite name, and I found myself feeling so much for him. His grief, his loneliness, his obsession with finding meaning: all of it felt painfully real. I really enjoyed reading it.

“Even though the U.S. never fully claimed responsibility for shooting her plane out of the sky, in 1996 they eventually gave the families of each victim a check: 300,000$ for wage-earning men, 150,000$ for women and children (the majority of the dead).” Cyrus gets 150,000$ after his mother’s passenger plane is shot from the sky by an U.S. missle who “mistakes” it for a military jet (an event that actually happened on the 3rd of July 1988). That’s how much she’s worth in their eyes. Not even an apology. Kaveh Akbar already made his name as a poet, but I’m not going to lie, that’s not what drew my attention to this book. I learned about “Martyr” from actor Arian Moayed, who plays Stewy on the show “Succession”, narrates the audiobook and promoted it on his Instagram page. I couldn’t resist buying “Martyr” when I learned it was queer as well! We follow different members of Cyrus’ family through multiple timelines, getting glimpses into the past and present, how modern colonialism, warfare, interference of distant countries and their home country’s politics played with and ruined their lives and how fate has mysterious ways to unite people again we thought long lost. Kaveh Akbar delivers real emotions and discussions about the meaning of life, but most importantly the meaning of death. Ever since his mother’s passing the protagonist keeps asking himself what the meaning of her death has been. Why she didn’t get more time and how not to hate the people in power responsible for it and resist become everything they hate, confirming their prejudices. "Martyr" is heartbreaking and beautifully written.