Afrah Jamal

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Published in Daily Times / Saturday, July 03, 2010 Author: Yann Martel According to a website, the Middle East, race relations, gun control, origins of man and religion are among the top 10 things that can never be discussed online “without serious drama following shortly thereafter”. “The systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborator,” otherwise known as the Holocaust, is number four on this list. Their reasoning is simple: whichever side you are on, this one topic is a guaranteed firestarter. Yann Martel is not just talking about the fourth item on the list but is also seeking a new venue altogether to stage his ‘representation’ of that event. To know how he intends to take on such a delicate subject and why it took him eight years to write another book, one must meet Henry. Henry L’Hote, the main character of this book, is an author...