The Commute

I want to start off by saying, I felt this was a brilliantly well written story and I felt rather intimidated writing a review as I wanted to do it justice. This is a short story or novella if you will of a man waiting for his train, in the subway. The subway breaks down which seems to happen frequently, and as it does so, the man starts a stream of consciousness, thinking of his life; comparing it to the myth of Sisyphus.

As an empty train goes by, he looks back on his life; reminiscing on the past thirty-three years. Starting from his encounter with a saleslady at the clothing store and her thoughtless comments about his background “And you got that same adorable accent, too. But your English is really good. Where are you from show more again?” With the next few cars comes the memory of his first meeting of his wife Pam at the very same subway station.

What is so interesting about Ali’s writing is that it is filled with nuance and symbolism throughout this narrative. I had to read it a number of times to catch the imbedded meaning as I missed many of the clues the first time I read this story. Theirs is a marriage of immigrant and citizen. I didn’t quite catch that until Ali explained the nuance and depth of that in his notes and when I went back and re-read the story, I was able see it.

I love how the author describes the delight and love and pride the protagonist feels about his daughter. The light of his life. I didn’t totally understand the symbolism of the Red Sox (I am not a sports fan so it’s lost on me) but was able to glean the meaning that his wife and child were home to him and family was everything. Ali’s notes helped me to understand that Pam was worried that this was a marriage of convenience only and not one of love and romance.

The narrator reflects on the different stages of his daughter and how she blossoms into a mature young woman, taking a boyfriend, which then morphs into grief as Sarah wishes to leave the nest and travel to Europe; leaving him behind. This brings up feelings of fear as well that Sarah has left her childhood for good and things will never be the same. These fears are not unfounded, as the protagonist left his country, his family and all that was familiar to him and did not return.

The tender love between the two parents is apparent as Pam, reassures him in his memories that all would be well. Last of all from his musings, is Josh, his grandson; the apple of his eye, the culmination of blended parentage. As the protagonist is longing for his family, and looking at pictures of them on his phone, the subway appears to have been repaired and things start to light up. The protagonist’s train will arrive soon.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I found it sensitively written, imbedded with many layers. It caused me to look into why people do leave their country of origin and not look back. I have wondered if there was more to the narrator’s story. Why did he leave Iran and his family without returning? Did he continue contact or break contact?

What brought him to a totally different country and way of life causing him to be “unmoored and unrooted with no prior attachments”? These are questions that leave the reader wanting to dig deeper into the psyche of the narrator. Is he truly happy? Has he found fulfillment? The author wraps up the story with a guide and author’s notes to help shed light on the narrative as well as a suggested playlist.

This story resonated with me, as my mother left her country of Jamaica and married my father from the prairies in Canada, so there was a combination of totally different cultures. Sadly, it was not a happy marriage, and we suffered greatly as children. In the author’s notes of home and the question, what does it take for an immigrant to find home is indeed a complicated one.
I look forward to seeing more work from this author in the future and thank Library Thing and 1159 Press LLC for a copy of this story in exchange to give an honest review. show less

A short story about a US-Iranian man on his morning commute to work. Lost in the sounds and smells of the twenty minute journey he reflects on how he met his wife and the relationship he has with their daughter and the fear he has that, like him, she’ll move away and never return to her home. It’s an enjoyable little piece of character introspection that needs to be read twice to get the most value from the writing.

The additional material that the author has bundled into the published form of the story seems excessive for a take that lasts ten pages. There is a suggested playlist provided as an experimental extension to the story. There are fourteen songs—for a ten page story. There are authors noted and discussion points, which show more made me feel like this was a publication to stimulate a discussion in a classroom. The author should trust his readers to understand what it's about rather than explaining it all at the end. We may come away with different meanings but the value remains the same.

These additions were unusual and conveyed to me that the author had invested a lot in his story. This is great to see, and Ali writes well. HIs description of a train passing through a Boston subway station was absolutely spot on, for example. I would encourage him to turn his hand to something longer form, which would suit his desire to do something different and stimulate a broader sensory experience for the reader (perhaps with the playlist at the beginning rather than the end, if he feels the work benefits from the music). show less

When reading a book to review, one doesn’t expect a short story. Just a short story. And even then, scrolling through the pages, half of the book is not the story itself. It is about the story. Explaining choices the author made, hints for readers and book clubs, clarifying the story itself. I thought this was weird. I love to read something new, explore beyond my experience, but do I want to know how I am supposed to understand the story? Do I need the author to tell me what he means?

Then again, the author did drag me into the story, I am standing next to him on the platform, I observe with him, read his mind, follow his thoughts. I have never been in Boston, but I can feel what it would be like. I get to know him; within the few show more minutes I am reading this. I am disappointed the story doesn’t last longer; it isn’t the beginning of a novel.

Shirazi has talent. I would like to read more. Just don’t tell me what I need to understand.

Quote: “He had done this commute for thirty-three years, and he’d bet anything he could tell you the exact number of days if you gave him a minute or two. Especially at times like this, when everything was delayed until the re-adjusting or re-balancing or re-incarnating or re-booting or whatever the hell needed re-ing had finished. Sometimes it took ten or fifteen minutes. Other times, people joked about forwarding their mail to the station.” (p. 6/7) show less