For a big book just shy of 500 pages, Zia Haider Rahman's debut novel In the Light of What We Know can be effortlessly boiled down into a simple, bare-bones summary. One morning in 2008 an unkempt South Asian man with little in the way of baggage turns up on the doorstep of a wealthy investment banker's London townhouse. The banker, born to privileged Pakistani parents, is nameless; the visitor is Zafar, a Bangladeshi raised in Britain and a long-lost college friend who has finally reappeared after years of absence.
The two men talk and walk, pooling memories, filling in the blanks. A journey unfolds with incident-rich pit-stops in Kabul, New York, Oxford, Princeton, Islamabad and Dubai. Along the way are discourses and meditations on topics as diverse as love, war, literature, religion, music, class, empire, finance and mathematics. It is a motley mix in a vast, sprawling, continent-hopping narrative; a novel so capacious it should sag, so ambitious in scope it should falter. But Rahman snares us from the start and pulls us on until his bitter end.
The banker announces early on that the book we are reading is based on recordings of his conversations with Zafar, together with the material culled from Zafar’s extensive notebooks. Although he intercuts this with snippets from his own life – his road to success culminating in a present troubled by job insecurity and a marriage on the skids – Rahman’s novel is essentially Zafar’s story.
It is quite a tale. We are led through Zafar’s formative years, from the happiest time of his life in rural Bangladesh to a period of uncertainty and detachment as a shy mathematics genius at Oxford. In New York he establishes a reputation as “a bright though erratic financial wizard” on Wall Street, while in post-9/11 Pakistan and Afghanistan he shines as an “adviser” – or is he a spy? – among Brits who are proficient players of “the game of Empire and Ego”.
Zafar drifts, perpetually unmoored, and is stabilised only by great love, Emily, who resurfaces at surprise junctures in his narrative. In contrast to his well-connected banker-friend who hobnobs with Hamid Karzai and city-slicking movers and shakers, Zafar remains gauche, reserved, absorbed in mathematical worlds.
He may dominate the book but Rahman ensures he stays lightly sketched, which in turn renders him decidedly shifty. The reader, like the banker, must piece together Zafar’s past and sift certain rumours. When we learn “he had killed a man” and when Zafar is told he is “an Oxford man”, we recall the same mystique that shrouds Jay Gatsby. Indeed, Rahman’s novel resembles Fitzgerald’s and also Brideshead Revisited insofar as it is, at heart, about one man being captivated enough by another as to want to tell his story. Rahman takes a considerable risk here – a lengthy novel about a Fascinating Friend can be as deadening as a prolonged account of an Interesting Dream – but fortunately his characters, their exploits and their colourful and intelligent debates are thoroughly compelling.
Not that the book is impervious to criticism. In the Light of What We Know is, quite simply, too eager to display its knowledge. All too often Rahman’s characters digress to quote famous writers and flaunt facts. “There’s a funny little story about Charles II…” begins one offshoot; or “Do you know what an axolotl is?”; or “What do you know about the Ponte Vecchio?” At best, explanations give rise to elaborate metaphors. At worst, they transform a careful calibrated character into a walking thesaurus. Some pages are thick with footnotes, and chapters only get under way after two or three chunky epigraphs that are prone to clogging the whole page. At times, it isn’t an editor’s red pen that is required but a scythe.
But if In the Light of What We Know suffers from being too know-all, it constantly redeems itself by being knowing. Rahman’s subtle, ironic touches invite us to see more than his characters do or help obscure key truths so as to wrong-foot us later. Alongside these deft flourishes are numerous passages of bravura prose – particularly in the climactic scenes where we find ourselves “circling towards violence” and privy to shock confessions.
“Epic” is now a word too freely bandied around to describe big, multifaceted novels. And yet that’s what Rahman’s hulking debut is: epic in scale and reach, and pulsing with life. Whittled down, however, it concerns one flawed man and his unique and mesmerising journey. Ultimately it falls marginally short of being the masterpiece it should be but it is full of supremely good intentions.
Malcolm Forbes is a freelance essayist and reviewer.
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Autumn international scores
Saturday, November 24
Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia
School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
Persuasion
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Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
FORSPOKEN
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Scores
Rajasthan Royals 160-8 (20 ov)
Kolkata Knight Riders 163-3 (18.5 ov)
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