The Secret Room

by Kazim Ali

Kazim Ali's wildly inventive novel The Secret Room asks: how does one create a life of meaning in the face of loneliness and alienation from one's own family, culture or even sense of self?
In the space of a single day, the lives of four people converge and diverge in ways they themselves may not even measure. Sonia Chang, a violinist, prepares for a concert. Rizwan Syed, a yoga teacher, makes one last panicked attempt at reconciliation with his family. Jody Merchant tries to balance a stressful work life with a dream she abandoned long ago. Pratap Patel trudges through his life trying to ignore the pain he still feels at old losses. The experiences of these four characters, woven together in the manner of a string quartet, together create a raw, fluid composition.
Kazim Ali (born 1971) is an American poet, novelist, essayist and professor. Born in the UK to parents of Indian descent, and raised in Canada and the US, Ali is an assistant professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin College. He cofounded the independent press Nightboat Books.

Genres: Poetry

184 pages, Paperback

Published March 28, 2017

About the author

Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass multiple genres, includingthe volumes of poetry Inquisition, Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps & Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism. After a career in public policy and organizing, Ali taught at various colleges and universities, including Oberlin College, Davidson College, St. Mary's College of California, and Naropa University. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His newest books are a volume of three long poems entitled The Voice of Sheila Chandra and a memoir of his Canadian childhood, Northern Light.

Author photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones from Kazim Ali's press kit.

Reviews

[Emily]

This is an exceptional book. The book follows four characters, each written as the line in a string quartet. This is experimental fiction and it won't be for everyone, but I thrive on it. Initially, I misunderstood and thought the characters were members of a string quartet, but it became apparent quite quickly that was not the case.
I think this could be adapted to a piece of music, to a vocal score for SATB. As a chorister, that is actually how I imagined the music playing out.
The layout can make for challenging reading, but it is worth the effort. You can see the book develop, climax and finish as many pieces of music.

[Celestine Woo]

I loved this book--it's captivating, the way the four voices do solos, duets, and jointly scored intertwining lines of musical poetry. The moments when you discover how one character relates to another are stunning and clever. Haunting, poignant, quiet, thoughtful, with an appreciation for silence and spatiality.

[dearlittledeer]

Really cool poetic novel for adventurous readers!

[Brooks]

Experimental. You get four narratives happening at once, like parts of a string quartet, and in the same way, you find yourself following one line while the others are background, sometimes rising in moments of harmony.

Throughout the book, I marveled at how effectively the structure of the book gave this feeling of listening to music. And still, there are four distinct, interesting characters here with a narrative for each that made me keep reading.

I'm probably over-rating this one right now in the flush of finishing it, but it was a great reading experience.

[Lisa Stice]

The Secret Room is a beautiful book that exposes the human soul. You can read my full review at https://militaryspousebookreview.com/....

[James Guy]

so damn good