Books like Among the Believers : An Islamic Journey

The book is sheer intellection. Naipaul proceeds by letting Muslim converts -- not those who were born to the faith -- speak for themselves. He questions them pointedly. The monologues are interspersed with sequences of analysis so brilliant, so penetrating, that they consistently astound, at times conveying insights that take the breath away. This is not classic travel narrative. This is not Dalrymple or Theroux, which is not to slight those writers. But there's very little description or sense of landscape here, no colorful characters appear to relieve the considerable tension. For Naipaul's questions are not always easy ones to answer and his interlocutors tend to squirm at times. Rather, one has the sense of being Naipaul, that is to say, of following his rigorous thought processes from inception to conclusion. I have never read anything like it. To my mind, it's an entirely new form. That it gives us Muslim points of view is important and necessary, especially today, but it is the book's structure and seamless execution, that is to my mind its true achievement.