cover image Diamond's Compass

Diamond's Compass

P. H. Liotta. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $18.95 (273pp) ISBN 978-0-945575-74-0

Varying perspectives on the countries of the Middle East, particularly Iran, provide the setting for this intriguing bildungsroman , which juxtaposes the elusiveness of love and trust with the ineluctability of violence and war. Culling information from such diverse sources as letters, military briefings, postcard captions and ancient Persian poetry, poet and essayist Liotta ( Rules of Engagement ; Learning to Fly: A Season with the Peregrine Falcon ) evokes two Irans. Sometime in the future, U.S. Air Force pilot Dante Diamond flies high above one in space-age battle; and in 1978, as a troubled cadet, he visits his parents in the other during the waning days of the Shah. The future war story serves as a frame for reminiscences of that past visit and its lessons, which reach a climax in Dante's near-fatal climb up Mt. Damavand. Liotta writes knowingly of Iran's political predicament and of the riches of Persian culture. His characters are credible and interesting. When cataloging Dante's epiphanies, however, his generally elegant and evocative prose becomes disturbingly florid. Ostensibly pregnant ambiguities and frequent shifts of point of view further obscure the story's insights. Ultimately, this ambitious first novel, despite its accomplishments, leaves too many unanswered questions, both philosophical and practical. (Apr.)