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As the title suggests, one of the main characters is a blind Iranian long jumper. Amir works for the British Government but in his free time he trains for the Olympics. He might be blind, but his other senses are very sharp and he has heightened observational skills. So, he is a valuable agent both on the field and off.
Grace is one of the leading scientists in her field, and she strives to finally put an end to world hunger. Actually she makes her goal tangible and together with her team, they accomplish astonishing results. The theories they put forward seem viable and intriguing and could be extrapolated from this fictional world. After an assault, Grace loses her sight in one eye and she struggles to accept her condition. This is when her doctor intervenes and introduces her to someone who has an even more severe eye condition, but learned to accept it and to be a productive member of society. However, will his story impress Grace and lead her out of the maze of self-pity she got lost in?
Clive Bennett introduced me through The Blind Iranian Long Jumper to the Pearly Kings and Queens. Bringing such a detail to the book added a lot more credibility to the story. Actually the author himself is a Pearly King and his intimate knowledge of their society transpires through the pages. Their contagious spirit and embellished clothing brought a note of eccentricity and spice to the novel. The cockney rhyming slang was another favorite detail, I could not get enough of it!
Each character has his own pattern carefully woven on their life string. Clive Bennett succeeded in not only outlining a diverse bunch of people, but also to harmoniously bring them together and he leads the reader from a chaotic start to a well tied finish. But in between the first and the last page there lies a bundle of suspense. You never know what will happen next and you sink into the story with a gripping anticipation. The only thing that bothered me slightly, was that the characters seemed to all get a long almost too naturally. They effortlessly formed close and powerful bonds. This to me seemed hard to believe, and I stumbled over this generalization of ease in socializing as I read the novel.
All in all, I give The Blind Iranian Long Jumper 4 out of 4 stars as it turned out to be a gripping suspense novel, with a cherry of grotesque on top (which I especially savored). The author’s initiative to tap into his surroundings for inspiration paid off, as the characters and contextual details added lively colors to the picture.
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