Official Review: The Art Of Being Khan

[Jorge Leon Salazar]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Art Of Being Khan" by David Walter Smith.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Khan is a Korean-American who enlisted in the United States military. He was discharged after being affected by an explosion that caused his left arm practically useless and severely damaged his intestines. The young Korean appears to suffer a mental illness and frequents the Californian coastal streets of Venice and Santa Monica. In there, Khan meets the brothers Vuma and Stopher, who live in their van. They make a living singing and playing guitar in the streets. In addition, Vuma is a failed writer as none of his books have been published. Khan is obsessed with killing a man named Lewis, who was allegedly the one who exploited him when they were both serving in the military.

For a time, Khan and the musician brothers hung out together almost daily until Khan decides he must embark on his mission to assassinate Lewis. After finding him, it turns out that Lewis was hatching a conspiracy to kill actual sitting President Donald Trump. Khan embraces the idea and joins Lewis's group on that operation. But wait a minute, is that real? Or is it a story from one of Vuma's books? Might it be that Vuma took the murder idea from Khan's obsession with slaying Lewis? What would happen if someone authored a book about killing the current president? Would he/she go to jail or serve as publicity to ultimately sell books and be successful?

In The Art Of Being Khan, David Walter Smith presents an atypical literary work in which an Asian character with apparent mental illness stands out. However, the principal character is Vuma, a failed writer who writes a controversial book in which he mentions a plot against the President of the United States.

The story is narrated in third-person perspective. The writing style is florid and ornate at times almost poetic, focused on descriptions, which can be nice. Although, during some passages, it became monotonous as there were many descriptions in comparison to the progress of the plotline. For example, in the first few chapters in Khan's interactions with the musicians when they lived in the van.

The characters are adequately described, especially the primary ones: Khan and Vuma, who have peculiar and interesting personality characteristics. There are many characters with short and specific participation, but they were appropriately employed in the story, for example, Miles and Lewis. The dialogues are humorous and sometimes absurd, which is consistent with the profile of some characters.

I disliked that the author openly manifested a political position against the Republicans. That might be inconvenient since those who do not concur with the same position could present adversity to the book. I also disrelished some references to God that were made in a derogatory tone and in some cases were written in lowercase.

I liked the critical message that the author conveys regarding the use of weapons. He warns of the risks and consequences of not having sterner laws and measures to control and limit the use of guns, especially by the civilian population.

I observed too many typos, most of them referring to missing commas and misspellings. I think the book requires a deeper round of proofreading to correct these editing details. In conclusion, I found The Art Of Being Khan entertaining. The story, although strange is properly built and narrated. However, considering the significant number of typos and aspects that I disliked, I rate it 2 out of 4 stars. I recommend this work for those who like stories with political overtones and an open mind to accept a position different from their own. Since this novel has violent situations and profanity, I do not recommend it for youthful readers.

******
The Art Of Being Khan

******
The Art Of Being Khan
View: on Bookshelves

[Dayodiola]

Writers with their utopian mindset.