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Everything There Is
From two-time Giller Prize winner M.G. Vassanji, one of Canada’s finest and most celebrated writers, comes a brilliant new novel that vividly examines the seemingly incongruous worlds of science, religion and desire.
Nurul Islam is a world-renowned physicist, professor at Imperial College, London, and one half of the Islam-Rosenfeld theory, the first step in a grand unification of forces and a Theory of Everything. A family man profoundly influenced by his pious father, Nurul is happily married to Sakina Begum by an arranged marriage. They have three children. But when Nurul travels to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to give a public lecture at Harvard, he falls in love with a graduate student, Hilary Chase.
At the same time, Nurul Islam’s outspoken, philosophical views about the nature of physics and God have earned him the ire of fundamentalist preachers in Pakistan. He makes enemies of the political and military establishments when he refuses to contribute to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons project. Meanwhile, a contingent of physicists begins a smear campaign, claiming that Nurul Islams’s contribution to the unification theory was plagiarized. All these events converge upon Sakina Begum who, smarting from her husband’s betrayal, unwittingly commits a betrayal of her own. Everything that has worked together as though preordained since his child - hood to take him to the pinnacle of scientific achievement suddenly falls apart.
An exceptionally wise and intimate account of love, honour, guilt and genius, Everything There Is gives us an engaging portrait of a traditional, spiritual man facing the onslaught of inescapable forces.
Nurul Islam is a world-renowned physicist, professor at Imperial College, London, and one half of the Islam-Rosenfeld theory, the first step in a grand unification of forces and a Theory of Everything. A family man profoundly influenced by his pious father, Nurul is happily married to Sakina Begum by an arranged marriage. They have three children. But when Nurul travels to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to give a public lecture at Harvard, he falls in love with a graduate student, Hilary Chase.
At the same time, Nurul Islam’s outspoken, philosophical views about the nature of physics and God have earned him the ire of fundamentalist preachers in Pakistan. He makes enemies of the political and military establishments when he refuses to contribute to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons project. Meanwhile, a contingent of physicists begins a smear campaign, claiming that Nurul Islams’s contribution to the unification theory was plagiarized. All these events converge upon Sakina Begum who, smarting from her husband’s betrayal, unwittingly commits a betrayal of her own. Everything that has worked together as though preordained since his child - hood to take him to the pinnacle of scientific achievement suddenly falls apart.
An exceptionally wise and intimate account of love, honour, guilt and genius, Everything There Is gives us an engaging portrait of a traditional, spiritual man facing the onslaught of inescapable forces.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2023
11 people are currently reading
601 people want to read
About the author
M.G. Vassanji
29 books167 followersMoyez G. Vassanji was born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania. Before coming to Canada in 1978, he attended MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, where he specialized in theoretical nuclear physics. From 1978-1980 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Atomic Energy of Canada, and from 1980 to 1989 he was a research associate at the University of Toronto. During this period he developed a keen interest in medieval Indian literature and history, co-founded and edited a literary magazine (The Toronto South Asian Review, later renamed The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad), and began writing stories and a novel. In 1989, with the publication of his first novel, The Gunny Sack, he was invited to spend a season at the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa. That year ended his active career in nuclear physics. His contributions there he considers modest, in algebraic models and high spin states. The fact that he was never tenured he considers a blessing for it freed him to pursue his literary career.
Vassanji is the author of six novels and two collections of short stories. His work has appeared in various countries and several languages. His most recent novel, The Assassin's Song, was short-listed for both the Giller Prize and the Governor-General's Prize for best novel in Canada. It has appeared in the US (Knopf) and India (Penguin) and is scheduled to appear in the UK (Canongate).
His wife, Nurjehan, was born in Tanzania. They have two sons, Anil, and Kabir. He lives in Toronto, and visits Africa and India often.
Awards: Giller Prize, twice; Harbourfront Festival Prize; Commonwealth First Book Prize (Africa); Bressani Prize. Order of Canada.
Vassanji is the author of six novels and two collections of short stories. His work has appeared in various countries and several languages. His most recent novel, The Assassin's Song, was short-listed for both the Giller Prize and the Governor-General's Prize for best novel in Canada. It has appeared in the US (Knopf) and India (Penguin) and is scheduled to appear in the UK (Canongate).
His wife, Nurjehan, was born in Tanzania. They have two sons, Anil, and Kabir. He lives in Toronto, and visits Africa and India often.
Awards: Giller Prize, twice; Harbourfront Festival Prize; Commonwealth First Book Prize (Africa); Bressani Prize. Order of Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
May 14, 2024
After reading and reviewing some fluffy novels, I welcomed moving into more serious territory with Everything There Is. I'm happy to report that I was not disappointed.
The writing is simple yet elegant. The 1970s setting roils with unrest, among countries and religious factions. The science is both ominous (the protagonist, a brilliant physicist, resists being pulled into the development of Pakistan's atomic bomb) and ethereal (can the Theory of Everything be within his grasp?). The bitchiness that can exist in an academic environment is vividly conveyed.
The main husband/wife characters (Nurul and Sakina) are believable and sympathetic, for the most part. The Hilary love interest is a cardboard cutout of a North American woman, though, and for a post-grad physicist, she comes across as rather slow-witted. This fact, plus the tragedy when Nurul takes his youngest child to unstable Pakistan— an unbelievable plot twist—are the only reasons I didn't award the novel a full five-star rating.
Am I glad I picked this one up? Absolutely. Good writing, a fascinating decade, and ethical issues galore!
The writing is simple yet elegant. The 1970s setting roils with unrest, among countries and religious factions. The science is both ominous (the protagonist, a brilliant physicist, resists being pulled into the development of Pakistan's atomic bomb) and ethereal (can the Theory of Everything be within his grasp?). The bitchiness that can exist in an academic environment is vividly conveyed.
The main husband/wife characters (Nurul and Sakina) are believable and sympathetic, for the most part. The Hilary love interest is a cardboard cutout of a North American woman, though, and for a post-grad physicist, she comes across as rather slow-witted. This fact, plus the tragedy when Nurul takes his youngest child to unstable Pakistan— an unbelievable plot twist—are the only reasons I didn't award the novel a full five-star rating.
Am I glad I picked this one up? Absolutely. Good writing, a fascinating decade, and ethical issues galore!
March 30, 2025
This character driven novel kept me reading and engaged to the end even though I didn't find the relational dynamics between Nurul and Hilary believable. Nor was the exploration between science and religion explored with as much depth as I had hoped. Even so, the author tried hard to present a life embroiled in political and academic intrigue.
November 3, 2024
I found this book hard to get into. The beginning had too much info regarding physics and I found the story hard to believe.
September 29, 2024
This book is fiction but inspired by a real person. If you are interested in physics this is the book for you. I was not as interested in that. The plot moves slowly at times and then makes large jumps in time.
September 14, 2023
The novel begins in 1971. Nurul Islam is a world-renowned physicist from Pakistan living and working in London. He is happily married to Sakina Begum with whom he has three children. His life changes when he travels to the U.S. to give a lecture at Harvard. He meets Hilary Chase, a graduate student, and falls in love. But it is not just this new relationship that threatens his world. He is accused of plagiarism. Then his comments about the nature of physics and God attract the attention and ire of fundamentalist Muslims. And he makes enemies of Pakistani government and military leaders because of his opposition to the development of a nuclear bomb. This is the story of a man facing forces that threaten all that he has worked to achieve.
This is very much a character study of a man who “resolved to be as good and devout a man as he could” but is definitely flawed. He comes “from a backward place called Pirmai in Pakistan” but because of his intelligence and hard work, achieves great success. When he “got the best matriculation result ever in the whole of Punjab,” his entire community celebrates. He becomes in fact the pride of his nation and becomes accustomed to adulation: “Young people from South Asia normally came in his presence to touch his feet, out of gratitude and respect.” Even his name which means Light of Islam proclaims his specialness.
It is not surprising that the word pride appears a dozen times; arrogance is also repeated. Certainly, he behaves arrogantly at times; he is often dismissive of students, touting his accomplishments versus theirs at the same age. Sakina warns him, “’Too much thinking about these matters is not good. It is pride itself.’” Nurul understands she is warning him about being like Azazel, considered to be amongst the nearest to God’s throne, but because he sinned through pride, he became a devil. Nurul does question whether he was “simply callous and greedy for glory” and he tells his father, “’Life at the top of . . . one’s field . . . causes a lot of uncertainty and competitiveness – hassad. There is a word in English, hubris- . . . It means a certain kind of pride, a feeling of infallibility . . . I sometimes think I have it.’” Even his wife mentions his arrogance in believing that “’Nothing could happen to him.’” Nurul certainly pays a high price for his thinking he is somehow above others and untouchable.
It is impossible, however, not to feel sympathy for Nurul. He has been gifted from childhood but “’a gift is also a burden – of responsibility.’” He admits, “He could not forget, of course, that he was the only living Muslim scientist of note. That was a matter of pride but also a burden.” He would like the Nobel Prize for himself “but the Nobel was one gift he could give to his mother and father, to his country, and of course to his small beleaguered Shirazi sect.” He is insecure; he has a dream which he describes as terrifying where eminent scientists laugh at him and he wakes up with the fear that he’s not one of the best. He worries that at forty he is getting old and losing his mental agility so it’s too late to make any significant discoveries.
A character who particularly interested me is Sakina. She had no choice in marrying Nurul; theirs was an arranged marriage. She is unschooled, “removed from school after grade six,” and then Nurul brings her to England where she has to learn the language and culture. She admits to herself that “she would have preferred a simpler, less gifted man; that would have been better for them both. And with a large family around her, in surroundings she knew well, she would not have been lonely. She would have had no apprehension about talking to people, speaking like the others, dressing like them.” And she is definitely lonely: “She had no one to talk to, to express . . . anxieties. Here in London you dared not show any cracks in your exterior.” Then when she returns to visit Pakistan, she is “treated as an honoured and fortunate guest, an ‘England-returned,’ who lived well . . . what concerns could she have?” She feels a “’faariner.’ Pardesi. Everywhere.”
Of course, she is not the only one who is different. Nurul “was different in every way: an Asian Muslim in a white country, a devout Muslim scientist among mostly atheist or agnostic colleagues of Jewish and Christian backgrounds, a persecuted minority in his own country.” And then there’s Hilary, one of the few women scientists.
This is not a plot-driven novel. The story also unfolds slowly. But those who love a novel of character will love this one. I certainly did. And that closing sentence is absolutely perfect!
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski).
This is very much a character study of a man who “resolved to be as good and devout a man as he could” but is definitely flawed. He comes “from a backward place called Pirmai in Pakistan” but because of his intelligence and hard work, achieves great success. When he “got the best matriculation result ever in the whole of Punjab,” his entire community celebrates. He becomes in fact the pride of his nation and becomes accustomed to adulation: “Young people from South Asia normally came in his presence to touch his feet, out of gratitude and respect.” Even his name which means Light of Islam proclaims his specialness.
It is not surprising that the word pride appears a dozen times; arrogance is also repeated. Certainly, he behaves arrogantly at times; he is often dismissive of students, touting his accomplishments versus theirs at the same age. Sakina warns him, “’Too much thinking about these matters is not good. It is pride itself.’” Nurul understands she is warning him about being like Azazel, considered to be amongst the nearest to God’s throne, but because he sinned through pride, he became a devil. Nurul does question whether he was “simply callous and greedy for glory” and he tells his father, “’Life at the top of . . . one’s field . . . causes a lot of uncertainty and competitiveness – hassad. There is a word in English, hubris- . . . It means a certain kind of pride, a feeling of infallibility . . . I sometimes think I have it.’” Even his wife mentions his arrogance in believing that “’Nothing could happen to him.’” Nurul certainly pays a high price for his thinking he is somehow above others and untouchable.
It is impossible, however, not to feel sympathy for Nurul. He has been gifted from childhood but “’a gift is also a burden – of responsibility.’” He admits, “He could not forget, of course, that he was the only living Muslim scientist of note. That was a matter of pride but also a burden.” He would like the Nobel Prize for himself “but the Nobel was one gift he could give to his mother and father, to his country, and of course to his small beleaguered Shirazi sect.” He is insecure; he has a dream which he describes as terrifying where eminent scientists laugh at him and he wakes up with the fear that he’s not one of the best. He worries that at forty he is getting old and losing his mental agility so it’s too late to make any significant discoveries.
A character who particularly interested me is Sakina. She had no choice in marrying Nurul; theirs was an arranged marriage. She is unschooled, “removed from school after grade six,” and then Nurul brings her to England where she has to learn the language and culture. She admits to herself that “she would have preferred a simpler, less gifted man; that would have been better for them both. And with a large family around her, in surroundings she knew well, she would not have been lonely. She would have had no apprehension about talking to people, speaking like the others, dressing like them.” And she is definitely lonely: “She had no one to talk to, to express . . . anxieties. Here in London you dared not show any cracks in your exterior.” Then when she returns to visit Pakistan, she is “treated as an honoured and fortunate guest, an ‘England-returned,’ who lived well . . . what concerns could she have?” She feels a “’faariner.’ Pardesi. Everywhere.”
Of course, she is not the only one who is different. Nurul “was different in every way: an Asian Muslim in a white country, a devout Muslim scientist among mostly atheist or agnostic colleagues of Jewish and Christian backgrounds, a persecuted minority in his own country.” And then there’s Hilary, one of the few women scientists.
This is not a plot-driven novel. The story also unfolds slowly. But those who love a novel of character will love this one. I certainly did. And that closing sentence is absolutely perfect!
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski).
February 16, 2024
You know the movie The Deer Hunter? When we watched it for a film class in university I remember the professor telling us that test audiences hated the slow, seemingly purposeless first hour, but when the studio insisted on testing a version that took out at least most of that first hour, the new audiences didn't like the other two hours nearly as much as the first audience did. As much of a slog as viewers found that first hour, getting to know the characters in that way was somehow responsible for the rest of it working so well.
My kneejerk response to this novel is that it's a bit like if they redid The Deer Hunter but only got to Vietnam at the 2.5 hour mark. It was only about the last 50 pages (out of ~320) where I started feeling any kind of way about what I was reading. And maybe if it'd been done differently I'd be like that second test audience, maybe the relative peak of the ending here only works because of all the stuff I found boring as I read it, but I couldn't help thinking that I'd like a novel that starts with Hilary and Sakina Begum's decision and goes from there. Instead, just as things are winding down it feels like we get practically a montage of more consequential stuff.
I have to admit, I read this because my mom slipped it into my stocking for Christmas, and she picked it not because she'd read it but because the (great) cover design appealed to her (and then she liked the synopsis). Academics and infidelity are not an area I tend to be interested in, and this was better than I was fearing it'd be from the jacket copy. But while it wasn't bad, I'm not sure I would have finished it if it hadn't been a gift, and some of the prose felt awfully inert to me.
My kneejerk response to this novel is that it's a bit like if they redid The Deer Hunter but only got to Vietnam at the 2.5 hour mark. It was only about the last 50 pages (out of ~320) where I started feeling any kind of way about what I was reading. And maybe if it'd been done differently I'd be like that second test audience, maybe the relative peak of the ending here only works because of all the stuff I found boring as I read it, but I couldn't help thinking that I'd like a novel that starts with Hilary and Sakina Begum's decision and goes from there. Instead, just as things are winding down it feels like we get practically a montage of more consequential stuff.
I have to admit, I read this because my mom slipped it into my stocking for Christmas, and she picked it not because she'd read it but because the (great) cover design appealed to her (and then she liked the synopsis). Academics and infidelity are not an area I tend to be interested in, and this was better than I was fearing it'd be from the jacket copy. But while it wasn't bad, I'm not sure I would have finished it if it hadn't been a gift, and some of the prose felt awfully inert to me.
June 19, 2025
Fascinating love story of Nurel Islam, world renown physicist professor in England, from small Religious community in Pakistan, with his arranged marriage wife, Sarina, their three children, his love of his Muslim religion, and then in his 40s, his love of graduate student Hillary Chase, a true American doctoral student who falls in love with him at first sight, at a conference he is attending, where she is his guide. Oddly, she loves him so much that she agrees to be his second wife in London. This was very hard for me to accept.
The book focuses on physic laws and politics of discoveries and Nobel prizes, and the possibility of a nuclear bomb being created in Pakistan. nurel is against that and will not help and becomes , even more than he was, labeled as a traitor or worse, of the Muslim religion. His life and stardom is deeply slashed when photos are shared of him and Hillary before they have become open. Sakina, his first wife, lovingly, gives her permission for him to marry Hillary, and become his second wife. There is a tradgedy that cuts him even deeper, but in the end, he is persuaded to accept the Nobel prize with his fellow physicist in Boston, Abe Rosenberg. I found the whole book was written in a sad, minor chord, as I was always waiting for sadness to find him.
The book focuses on physic laws and politics of discoveries and Nobel prizes, and the possibility of a nuclear bomb being created in Pakistan. nurel is against that and will not help and becomes , even more than he was, labeled as a traitor or worse, of the Muslim religion. His life and stardom is deeply slashed when photos are shared of him and Hillary before they have become open. Sakina, his first wife, lovingly, gives her permission for him to marry Hillary, and become his second wife. There is a tradgedy that cuts him even deeper, but in the end, he is persuaded to accept the Nobel prize with his fellow physicist in Boston, Abe Rosenberg. I found the whole book was written in a sad, minor chord, as I was always waiting for sadness to find him.
October 19, 2024
Taken only as a character study, this book is profound and thought-provoking. A study of arrogance and choices, luck and faith, Everything There Is describes an unexamined life that takes a turn when a renowned physicist, who believed that his success is due to his own hard work and genius, is accused of plagiarism.
Unfortunately, there are far too many implausible plot elements in the story for me to recommend this book. The notion that a presumably intelligent, American PhD candidate would agree to being a second wife in a Muslim marriage is unlikely. I'd be skeptical that the family and colleagues of both the young woman and the professor would celebrate or even accept a polygamous marriage. And the notion that the father of the young woman could convince a Christian church to sanction a polygamous wedding ceremony, is completely unbelievable.
Perhaps this part of the story should be overlooked, as it is secondary to the study of an arrogant man's journey to self-examination and loss of faith. Or perhaps it is the self-absorption of the main character, with his disregard for the perspective of his collaborators and his own children, that, for me, makes both the unrealistic plot, and the character himself, unforgiveable.
Unfortunately, there are far too many implausible plot elements in the story for me to recommend this book. The notion that a presumably intelligent, American PhD candidate would agree to being a second wife in a Muslim marriage is unlikely. I'd be skeptical that the family and colleagues of both the young woman and the professor would celebrate or even accept a polygamous marriage. And the notion that the father of the young woman could convince a Christian church to sanction a polygamous wedding ceremony, is completely unbelievable.
Perhaps this part of the story should be overlooked, as it is secondary to the study of an arrogant man's journey to self-examination and loss of faith. Or perhaps it is the self-absorption of the main character, with his disregard for the perspective of his collaborators and his own children, that, for me, makes both the unrealistic plot, and the character himself, unforgiveable.
February 2, 2025
MJ Vassanji is a celebrated Canadian writer who has won The Giller Prize and The Governor General’s Literary Award, so I had high expectations for Everything There Is. The main theme is the incongruity between science and religion. The main character, Nurul Islam, is a world-renowned physicist and a devout Muslim. He sees no reason to feel conflict between his dueling love of God and physics. But during a convention at Harvard, he meets graduate student Hilary and is torn between the affection he feels for his wife and the excitement of romance. Caught in the crossfires of political agendas, Nurul loses what matters most to him.
I found satisfaction in reading about a character who didn’t feel conflicted between God and science. I resonated with Nurul’s belief that one is simply a matter of faith while the other is the observation and study of the physical world. Unfortunately, I found the proliferation of technical physics terms a distraction, and the character of Hilary felt one-dimensional. The last part of the novel felt rushed. Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Nurul brings about his downfall because of excessive pride. The beautiful prose couldn’t compensate for my lack of engagement and Nurul, despite being based on a real physicist, didn’t feel believable.
I found satisfaction in reading about a character who didn’t feel conflicted between God and science. I resonated with Nurul’s belief that one is simply a matter of faith while the other is the observation and study of the physical world. Unfortunately, I found the proliferation of technical physics terms a distraction, and the character of Hilary felt one-dimensional. The last part of the novel felt rushed. Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Nurul brings about his downfall because of excessive pride. The beautiful prose couldn’t compensate for my lack of engagement and Nurul, despite being based on a real physicist, didn’t feel believable.
April 25, 2025
As I read this book, I couldn't help feel that I was reading two different stories.
One is that of the boy Nurul, growing up to become a renowned physicists; the cultural context of India/Pakistan at the time of partition and subsequent ethnic violence; the pull of scientific research, the anchor of family ties and the habit of religion. All that is carefully woven into a rich tapestry.
The second one is that of middle aged Nurul, falling for a doctoral student of one of his colleagues; and the repercussion of this onto every aspect of his life. I could never quite buy into this thread which seemed told from a distance and lacked the compassion that was palpable in other scenes... hence my lower rating.
Otherwise, the novel is beautifully written-clear, direct and yet in passages so lyrical as to be almost poetry. That alone is a great pleasure and the slower pace of the narrative allows the reader to savour it.
One is that of the boy Nurul, growing up to become a renowned physicists; the cultural context of India/Pakistan at the time of partition and subsequent ethnic violence; the pull of scientific research, the anchor of family ties and the habit of religion. All that is carefully woven into a rich tapestry.
The second one is that of middle aged Nurul, falling for a doctoral student of one of his colleagues; and the repercussion of this onto every aspect of his life. I could never quite buy into this thread which seemed told from a distance and lacked the compassion that was palpable in other scenes... hence my lower rating.
Otherwise, the novel is beautifully written-clear, direct and yet in passages so lyrical as to be almost poetry. That alone is a great pleasure and the slower pace of the narrative allows the reader to savour it.
February 4, 2026
4.1/5???
I don't understand the attraction between Hillary and Nurul, and for that reason, cannot fathom why she married him (to be his second wife) and bore him two children. Fortunately, she was accomplished in her own right and was able to continue her career after the marriage and subsequent death of her child.
I struggled to get through this and put it aside for a few weeks while reading Flashlight as I found it difficult to connect with the world of academics and physicists. What initially drew me to Everything There Is was the premise: a devoutly religious Pakistani-Muslim academic falls in love with a young American scientist. Concurrently, he rejects his country's mission to develop a nuclear bomb and is made an enemy of the state and religious clerics.
It's surprisingly full of emotion and honesty (but also drama and scandal). I greatly enjoyed the glimpses into Partition and the lives of Nurul's family.
I don't understand the attraction between Hillary and Nurul, and for that reason, cannot fathom why she married him (to be his second wife) and bore him two children. Fortunately, she was accomplished in her own right and was able to continue her career after the marriage and subsequent death of her child.
I struggled to get through this and put it aside for a few weeks while reading Flashlight as I found it difficult to connect with the world of academics and physicists. What initially drew me to Everything There Is was the premise: a devoutly religious Pakistani-Muslim academic falls in love with a young American scientist. Concurrently, he rejects his country's mission to develop a nuclear bomb and is made an enemy of the state and religious clerics.
It's surprisingly full of emotion and honesty (but also drama and scandal). I greatly enjoyed the glimpses into Partition and the lives of Nurul's family.
November 14, 2023
"A phariner (foreigner) everywhere" sums it all up. A brilliant Pakistani physicist, who - as a Shirazi - is declared an apostate by the Pakistani religious imams, is considered an "outsider" after having lived and taught in England all his life, taken down by his peers who cannot stomach his success while he himself tries balancing all these dichotomies. To top it all, he has two loves of his life and is equally devoted to each.
My review is biased because of my close relationship with the author. However, I am most impressed by the research conducted to bring authenticity to the use of quantum physics terms, scientists named and the fictional narrative woven, using elements from a real-life person.
My review is biased because of my close relationship with the author. However, I am most impressed by the research conducted to bring authenticity to the use of quantum physics terms, scientists named and the fictional narrative woven, using elements from a real-life person.
February 7, 2024
M.G. Vassanji is a prolific award-winning author and this most recent book does not disappoint. It is fiction, but inspired by the life of Abdus Salam, a mathematical physicist working on the "Theory of Everything" who was also a devout Muslim. The main character in this book, Nurul Islam, lives in England with his wife and children but travels home to Pakistan occasionally to see his parents and is pursued to contribute to Pakistan's nuclear weapons project. He travels to international conferences and while in the US falls in love with a young graduate student. This is an exploration of the ethics of a man who believes in God but also a unification theory of physics, and the ethics of his relationships with fellow scientific researchers as well as with the women in his life.
March 22, 2024
I was engulfed by a feeling of awe and wonder as I listened to the audio book of Everything There Is. It was a strong connection with the characters and I felt melancholy a night before finishing the book, because I had gotten so attached to the character and was having separation anxiety knowing that the end is near of me reading the novel. This book told the story of what could have, should have and would have had violence and fundamentalism not sabotaged the Muslims’ world. I felt a strong admiration for Nurul’s first wife and inevitable sympathy for the other characters in Nurul’s family. This story is simply a favourite and there is no better way I could’ve spent my time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2024
I admire Vassanji's writing, and I enjoyed the descriptions of his domestic life, but I didn't share his fascination with his physicist protagonist who was able to believe in God while achieving impressive goals in physics. I couldn't believe in the love relationship he so quickly began with a young American grad student on such short acquaintanceship. And I couldn't accept his decisions to proceed with the relationship, which ultimately brought him down professionally. I felt irritated by his naive behaviour. There seemed to be almost a kharmic consequence of his decision. The story is based on the life of Pakistani physicist, Abdus Salaam.
November 10, 2023
Such interesting narratives on the interconnection of science and religion. I didn’t always find it easy to understand the motivations of the protagonist but found it enjoyable to read a perspective so different from mine. The dynamics within the scientific community and around the nuclear weapon development were fascinating. Although I didn’t love it, this was something different and new and for that I enjoyed it.
November 13, 2023
A melancholy mediation on faith, genius, and choosing one's fate. It's less of a story and more of a series of choices and consequences, and watching as the results bounce off multiple walls: patriotic, scientific, religious, and emotional. The tone reminds me of the film "Oppenheimer": contemplative, but without the unnecessary titillation present in the film.
February 2, 2024
I have loved many of Vassanji's books in particular The Book of Secrets. Unfortunately, he seems to be writing the same books over and over again. This seemed too derivative of his earlier novels with the same themes (multiculturalism, religion, the protagonist does not fit in the West or the East). Not terrible but not his best work.
February 22, 2024
Vassanji has done it again basing his novel on a clash of cultures as 2 unlikely people meet and truly fall in love at first sight. Set against a background of genius physicists working in America and England the author skillfully draws us into the complexities of Nationality and religion within the fields of Science and love.
September 17, 2023
Thanks to Goodreads for a copy of this book. I like to try new authors I have never read before. I found this book to be a little slow, and the story is a bit disjointed. I enjoyed the last 100 pages.
October 13, 2023
What a brilliant novel! So well-written and well-thought out. What struck me were the many ironies in the lives of the characters as they strive to achieve professional and personal goals. At the heart is the human component which is always present, which can help make one soar or destroy.
Read
November 9, 2023Another author with whom I have a very hit and miss relationship - and this is a miss for sure.
A brilliant example proving that just because he has won the Giller twice does not mean everything he writes is golden.
Let’s just say I must not be the reader for this title.
DNF
A brilliant example proving that just because he has won the Giller twice does not mean everything he writes is golden.
Let’s just say I must not be the reader for this title.
DNF
September 28, 2024
Everything about this novel felt very restrained. I kept waiting to feel some emotional impact, but it never really happened, which felt disappointing considering the significance of the events as they unfold.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
September 1, 2023
Thank you for sharing this novel with us! It was a great read, I thoroughly enjoyed it so much and the characters were phenomenal.
September 21, 2023
Brilliant.
Again, brilliant.
Again, brilliant.
October 29, 2023
Began very slowly then rushed the ending.
January 13, 2024
I gave up on this one after the first chapter.
February 13, 2025
Intriguing, disturbing, educational and entertaining.
July 2, 2025
Physics, academia, culture conflicts. I enjoyed reading this - peopled as it is with fictional references to real physicists. Vassanji is a great writer.
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