Gods Without Men by Hari Kunzru

Have you ever thought about the enigmatic nature of some of the cover blurbs on books, particularly those contributed by other writers, rather than by professional reviewers? For example, the front cover of this novel quotes David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas): "A beautifully written echo chamber of a novel." What do you think he meant? The "beautifully written" part is clear enough, but what about the "echo chamber of a novel"? In common parlance an echo chamber is a large empty space. Is Mitchell slyly saying that this is excellent writing with a hole of nothingness?

No matter what Mitchell really meant, that's what this novel feels like to me. Kunzru tells several stories here, all connected by the Pinnacles, three mysterious towers of rock arising out of the Mojave Desert, taking place at various times from 1775 to 2009. Some of the stories are very interesting, some are intriguing, some are insightful, and some seem to be pointless. Many of the stories feature seemingly supernatural or super-terrestrial occurrences, including disappearances and re-appearances of children. Taken together, the whole emerges as fascinating and highly readable, yet so devoid of coherent meaning, or filled with so many possible meanings, as to become meaningless, empty on the inside.

The central story is that of Jaz and Lisa, whose autistic son Raj mysteriously disappears while they are sightseeing at the Pinnacles. This part is very engrossing, as they are confronted with the media circus surrounding such disappearances, as they become the focus of suspected blame circulated on the internet, as they become estranged, blaming each other and themselves. This part could have been expanded to become an excellent novel all by itself.

Another entertaining and insightful storyline develops around a cult which gathers at the Pinnacles, a site of cosmic power to them. This, also, could have been expanded into a full length novel with good effect, as it describes how full belief can devolve into chaos.

Native-American lore enters here, too. The story of how Coyote entered the world of the dead to retrieve a friend and was tricked into taking the friend's place is part of the mix.

Particularly surreal, even though not central, is the story of the Marine training camp near the Pinnacles where immigrants to America from Iraq and warriors bound for that country act out scenarios that might occur as they try to woo the hearts of minds of villagers while battling insurgents. Here's a quote: "Usually the soldiers just walked around with sh**-eating grins on their faces saying Salaam alaikum. This seemed to be the main plank of their counterinsurgency strategy."

Here are some of the possible goals of this novel: a examination of American weirdness, an exploration of the search for faith, a revelation of the "the fiction of the essential comprehensibility of the world," a search for the face of God.

It is impossible to ignore comparisons with David Mitchell when considering this novel, particularly as his quote graces the front cover. He, also, told several stories in Cloud Atlas and connected them together to make a whole. In my judgment, his stories were better, his narrative voices seemed more realistic, his goal or theme resonated more clearly. While I would definitely recommend this book as worthwhile and engaging reading, I believe it will leave most readers feeling that it is empty inside.