The Assassin's Song
by M.G. Vassanji
Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2007, ISBN 9780385663526, 352 pp., $22 paper.

M.G. Vassanji is a great Canadian novelist whose riveting stories transcend the passage of both time and place. In his new book, he moves effortlessly from thirteenth-century India to the cultural revolution of Harvard University in the sixties and then to the placid and peaceful Canadian landscape of the eighties. His fiction provides readers with a synopsis of political issues that appear calm on the surface while provoking thoughtful analysis of their turbulent and hazardous depths by taking into account the historical hues in which they are bound. He continues with a similar trajectory in The Assassin's Song, which is ostensibly about Muslims living and thriving in the Hindu province of Gujarat, co-habiting in harmony by sharing the miracles of their shrine with seekers of all faiths. A novel concept indeed, writing about religion and intolerance, given the divisive times of the twenty-first century.

Vassanji wilily writes about things that can induce snap judgments, given current attitudes towards Muslim political terrorists. While they are currently the most reviled objects of our derision, his subtle, complex story compels cooler heads to prevail, forcing readers to make our own judgments, regardless of spontaneous reactions on Islam and terrorism. There is a forgiving compassion in his curiosity about human foibles, coaxing the reader into a story that focuses on universal family conflicts. He dares to leave controversial questions unanswered. His work is quietly charged with unbearable sadness about the human condition and the choices we sometimes make based on ideology.

It would have been simple for Vassanji to write The Assassin's Song as a straightforward tale of religious fundamentalism and hatred for other cultures, but he refrains. His narrative instead centres on the fatal collision between two brothers, Karsan, the Harvard educated secular, and Mansoor, the radical convert whose zeal and disdain is easily exploited and manipulated by others. Vassanji's story and its historical backdrop are complex, and he is too political a writer to be satisfied with cliche.

Instead, he skillfully explores every character, confronting their strengths and weaknesses, weaving a lyrical story based both in myth and reality. The Assassin's Song begins with Karsan Dargawalla's memories of his eleventh birthday, an unforgettable event because it was then that his father the Saheb (lord and keeper) of Pirbaag, an ancient Sufi ,nstructed him on his rasion d'etre. He is given a bol--a mantra passed on through the generations, to ensure the endurance of traditional teachings. Alas, Karsan is more interested in playing cricket and living in the outside world, and when he wins and accepts a scholarship to Harvard University, he leaves with few regrets. Vassanji's wry comedic depictions of Karsan's time at Harvard are charming and refreshing; so too is the bit about his marriage and subsequent move to British Columbia. However, Karsan is aware that his destiny is always hovering on the periphery: no matter how much he rejects his inheritance, he cannot escape it. A calamity befalls his idyllic Canadian family life, the ancient traditions beckon him and Karsan is compelled to fulfill his obligations.

On returning in 2002 to reclaim his heritage, Karsan visits the ruined shrine, a consequence of the communal rioting that gripped the state. He reflects on his destiny: "My father is dead and so is my mother. And my brother militantly calls himself a Muslim and is wanted for questioning regarding a horrific crime. Perhaps such an end was a foregone conclusion--Kali Yoga, the Dark Age, was upon us." Vassanji the master storyteller weaves his tale to remind us that the gap between enlightenment and darkness is rather narrow.

This mesmerizing story captures the reader's imagination, the author daring us to ponder the daunting universal questions about who we are. His coruscating powers reveal the nature of the political turmoil that continues to pervade and haunt our world.

Within this multi-layered story, rooted in the political climate of the twenty-first century, Vassanji faithfully evokes our world with prescience that is fundamentally grounded in reality and sensory perception. Vassanji's plea for religious tolerance is heartfelt and ought not to be ignored. His sense of eloquent storytelling animates; he does not crowd his characters but allows them to be conjured on the page.

This novel is a poignant, astute work on our contemporary world and about the quirks of fate that inevitably illuminate and disillusion us.

Irene D'Souza is the executive director of the Joshua Project and an active volunteer for Winnipeg arts organizations, including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Manitoba Theatre Centre and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Buy this book at McNally-Robinson Booksellers.

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