From prize-winning Bangladeshi novelist Anam comes her deeply moving second novel about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh seen through t...
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Nov 19, 2011
Jeanette
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A Golden Age introduced the widow Rehana Haque and her two teenagers, Sohail and Maya, as they participated in the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence.
The Good Muslim is the second book in the Haque family trilogy. It begins in 1984, thirteen years after the war. Bangladeshis are not necessarily much better off than before the war. The country has had two presidents assassinated and is now living under the thumb of the Dictator. Martial law is in effect, war criminals still have not been p More...
The Good Muslim is the second book in the Haque family trilogy. It begins in 1984, thirteen years after the war. Bangladeshis are not necessarily much better off than before the war. The country has had two presidents assassinated and is now living under the thumb of the Dictator. Martial law is in effect, war criminals still have not been p More...
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Jan 30, 2012
Rosemarie
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The story shifts between action remembered in 1972 at the ending of a revolutionary war in Bangladesh, and the present time, 1984, when Maya returns to her mother's home after spending years as a doctor in the countryside. Her brother, Sohail, adopted a devout way of life after his return from being a revolutionary soldier, and now is regarded as religious leader of a group of followers. His wife is dead and his son, Zaid, is neglected by him and his followers. Unresolved disputes, unexplaine
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Jan 11, 2012
Mark
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For her second novel, following 2007's Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner 'A Golden Age', Tahmima Anam tackles the not inconsiderable, and certainly timely, topics of revolution and fundamentalism in her native Bangladesh. As the Arab Spring turns cold in Egypt, The Good Muslim begs the question of whether so-called liberation is ever entirely achieved by mass rallies in public squares or newsreel footage of toppling statues.
In Bangladesh, which achieved independence after a short war with More...
In Bangladesh, which achieved independence after a short war with More...
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Dec 03, 2011
Lisa
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I really liked this book: longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 it’s a superb example of writing that is both ‘domestic’ and ‘big picture’.
It’s the story of Maya Haque, a young woman seeking an identity which fulfils both her intellectual and emotional needs. But, set in Bangladesh in two alternating time periods, 1972, just after the war of independence and 12 years later in 1984 when political disillusionment had set in, the novel does not only depict the conflicts that More...
It’s the story of Maya Haque, a young woman seeking an identity which fulfils both her intellectual and emotional needs. But, set in Bangladesh in two alternating time periods, 1972, just after the war of independence and 12 years later in 1984 when political disillusionment had set in, the novel does not only depict the conflicts that More...
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Oct 01, 2011
edj
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The book opens with Maya preparing to return to the home she had fled 9 years previously. She has been working as a doctor in a small traditional village, delivering babies and trying to educate the community. They turn against her after a woman delivers a Downs Syndrome child, and her husband assumes his wife has had an affair with a Chinese man. The wife is beaten to the point of requiring 3 months of hospitalization, and Maya, after receiving some very definite threats, decides to return home
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Sep 16, 2011
Amy
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This is a truly powerful story that offers an in-depth look into war, family, and the strength and courage that’s needed to let go of the nightmares of the past and begin a brand new future.
Maya and her brother Sohail Haque are the ‘stars’ of this incredible novel. These are two souls who have survived the war of Independence that birthed the nation of Bangladesh, and the revolution that finally has calmed down in their world. Maya wants nothing more than to begin again. Deciding to More...
Maya and her brother Sohail Haque are the ‘stars’ of this incredible novel. These are two souls who have survived the war of Independence that birthed the nation of Bangladesh, and the revolution that finally has calmed down in their world. Maya wants nothing more than to begin again. Deciding to More...
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Sep 08, 2011
Violet
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The Good Muslim begins 10 years after A Golden Age ends.The war has ended, a new country, Bangladesh is formed and 10 years have passed. This book is from Maya’s point of view and she is now a women’s doctor in a remote village in Bangladesh, leaving her mother and brother, for reasons unknown at that point. Due to some unfortunate circumstances Maya has to return to Dhaka. She finds that a lot has changed while she was away. Her brother has dedicated himself to Islam and he is no longer close
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Aug 31, 2011
Felice
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The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam is the sequel to her novel, The Golden Age. In that accomplished novel she chronicled the 1971 Bangladesh War for Independence through the fortunes of the Haque family. Rehana Haque was a widow who was thrust into the war because of the involvement of her two teenage children, Maya and Sohail. Anam’s portrait of a quiet family without political leanings suddenly finding they have to choose sides and take a stand in a civil war they neither wanted nor saw coming i
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Aug 29, 2011
Joanne
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I really liked A Golden Age, which was about Bangaldesh's war of independence from Pakistan. This book picks up with the same family a decade or so later, though focuses on the children instead of on the mom, and is told mostly from the point of view of Maya, the daughter. She's dismayed by the rise of Muslim fundamentalism around her, especially from her brother, Sohail. His faith is treated somewhat sympathetically - he's trying to make sense of war-caused suffering, and of the suffering an
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Feb 01, 2012
Tariqul
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Well, this is Anam's 2nd book. And I was really eager to read the book since I liked A Golden Age so much.
The whole story is actually seen in the eye of Maya, the protagonist, and occasionally hopping into other minor character. Among them we also have Rehana, the protagonist of the first book and Sohail, mainly in flashbacks, the mukti who has become religious after the war.
There are a lot of books on the after effect of war on personal minds. This is one such book. Written in More...
The whole story is actually seen in the eye of Maya, the protagonist, and occasionally hopping into other minor character. Among them we also have Rehana, the protagonist of the first book and Sohail, mainly in flashbacks, the mukti who has become religious after the war.
There are a lot of books on the after effect of war on personal minds. This is one such book. Written in More...
Sep 03, 2011
Marcy
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The events in this story flash forward and backwards, slowly unravelling and revealing the problems of Bangladesh and the main characters. Mysteries are solved, but there is never a "solution" or happy ending. The truth why Sohail, "the good Muslim," becomes lost in a religious zeal, is not exposed until the end of the story. Maya, his sister, is tormented why her brother has turned into a "prophet" after the war took place between Pakistan and Bangladesh, and re
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Oct 05, 2011
Johanna
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This is a book that I wanted to reread immediately after finishing it, because I felt I had missed so much. There is a Big Reveal at the end of the book that changes the perspective you had of everything you have read previously. I am not sure this is the best use of the technique, but I was interested in putting the story back together and reading more closely a second time. Until those last 30-40 pages though, this book is pretty disjointed. I think the issue is that the protagonist, Maya, is
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Jul 09, 2011
Emma
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I thoroughly enjoyed A Golden Age, so I had high hopes for this book. Sadly, like many sequels, it just isn't as good as its predecessor.
The Good Muslim picks up in 1984, over a decade after the end of A Golden Age, which chronicled the experiences of a family during Bangladesh's war for independence. Now the country is ruled by the unnamed Dictator, religious extremism is on the rise, and the Haque family is divided by the son Sohail's adopting such an extreme version of Islam that More...
The Good Muslim picks up in 1984, over a decade after the end of A Golden Age, which chronicled the experiences of a family during Bangladesh's war for independence. Now the country is ruled by the unnamed Dictator, religious extremism is on the rise, and the Haque family is divided by the son Sohail's adopting such an extreme version of Islam that More...
Aug 19, 2011
Beth
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There are lots of books that tell of the harrowing consequences of civil wars, so the story of this book is not really surprising. What makes this one stand out is the deft way Anam lets us see the inner pain, conflict, and pride of the characters, especially Maya, the book's central character. She occasionally switches the point of view to other characters, but this is not a jarring thing; rather, it fills in gaps in Maya's knowledge or adds to something we've seen/heard from Maya's perspecti
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Aug 06, 2011
cheryl
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When I selected The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam as an advance read from my lovely Harper friends, I didn't realize that it was the second book in a series of three about a Bangladeshi family. It may have been a different read had I read the prior novel, but I didn't feel disadvantaged by that and TGM can stand fine on its own. I think I've steered clear of my love for 3.5 stars for a while, but this novel calls me back to it and I'm quite torn on rounding for the half-star phobic sites. I've
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Aug 03, 2011
Denae
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I have not read A Golden Age and I know nothing about the Bangadeshi war against Pakistan. Both of these facts most likely decreased my appreciation for The Good Muslim: A Novel. I enjoyed the first of three sections very much, but somewhere in the second what had seemed like an introductory style began to feel very much like a lack of coherency. The lack of exposition contributed to my confusion about the setting and Maya, the primary character, began to repeat her thoughts and observations in
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Feb 11, 2012
Munif
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The Good Muslim, the second book in a trilogy by Tahmima Anam, continues the chronicles of the Haque family. The story is mostly told through Maya's eyes. The narrative goes back and forth between the early seventies, just after the war; and the mid-eighties when a lot has changed.
Maya and Sohail, the siblings who were inseparable, both are changed by the war. The memories of the war drive Sohail toward religion and he becomes a stranger to Maya's eyes. Maya, angry at the way her brother dr More...
Maya and Sohail, the siblings who were inseparable, both are changed by the war. The memories of the war drive Sohail toward religion and he becomes a stranger to Maya's eyes. Maya, angry at the way her brother dr More...
Nov 02, 2011
Simi
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Román je zasadený do Bangladéša a odohráva sa sčasti v 70.-tych a sčasti začiatkom 80.-tych rokov. Sledujeme príbeh súrodencov Mayi a Sohaila, ktorých rozdelila vojna za nezávislosť. Zatiaľčo Sohail bojoval, Maya, kvalifikovaná doktorka, sa usadila v dedine ďaleko od Dhaky, kde pomáhala tým, čo ju najviac potrebovali.
Po dlhých rokoch odlúčenia sa Maya vracia domov, kde nachádza brata, zmeneného na nepoznanie. Zatiaľ čo ona ostala verná svojim revolucionárskym názorom, jej brat sa zm More...
Po dlhých rokoch odlúčenia sa Maya vracia domov, kde nachádza brata, zmeneného na nepoznanie. Zatiaľ čo ona ostala verná svojim revolucionárskym názorom, jej brat sa zm More...
Feb 04, 2012
Janice
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I did not know until I finished this book that it is part of a trilogy; now I will have to go back and read the first in this series. I also must admit that I am fairly ignorant about the country of Bangladesh, where this book is set, and so learned something of it's history.
This story switches between two time frames--the early 1970's, just after a revolutionary war has ended in Bangladesh, and the mid 1980's, when traumas from the war are being uncovered and still felt. The main char More...
This story switches between two time frames--the early 1970's, just after a revolutionary war has ended in Bangladesh, and the mid 1980's, when traumas from the war are being uncovered and still felt. The main char More...
Nov 14, 2011
Beth
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A story of opposite paths followed by a brother & sister in Bangladesh seen more by what the sister, Maya does. May left home, became a doctor and worked (presumably happily) in a village to help villagers by delivering babies and doing what a GP does. She is dismissed by supersitious people when a medical problem happens which is not her fault. She comes home, after 7 years, her Mother is happy to see her, but her brother shows no attention to her, nor to his son. After participating in war
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Dec 05, 2011
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Sep 01, 2011
Linnéa
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Oh my gosh, just finished this book on a super long subway ride and boy was that a good time to do it- this is such a page-turner, I couldn't stand it! Anam's writing is so engaging and thoughtful, like she's reaching through the pages and pulling you in so you're watching events unfold as if you're right there. The story was so beautiful as well, sweet and terribly emotional. It was fascinating insight for me to read through the historical and religious references, seeing as my boyfriend is fro
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Aug 21, 2011
Bruce
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Even in the best of times families can have difficulties understanding each other. Amd memories of extreme events can turn a gully into a vast chasm that is nigh impossible to bridge when one wants to either avoid those memories altogether or cannot find the words to express themselves fully.
This is a tale of siblings where one cannot fathom how the other has changed so much because of individual experience and keeps trying to bring the other back to a "normal" state of th More...
This is a tale of siblings where one cannot fathom how the other has changed so much because of individual experience and keeps trying to bring the other back to a "normal" state of th More...
Aug 30, 2011
Karen
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This is a wonderful book about the effects of war on a brother and sister and their close relationship. Maya was a doctor and left to work in a small village many miles from her home. The atrocities she saw especially the women raped, beaten and pregnant with the enemies child changed her whole life. The fact that these women were not accepted back home when is happened was especially hard. Her bother Sohail joined the Bangladesh army and the killing and fighting also took their toll on him.
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Jul 25, 2011
Jennie
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This is a story of love, responsibility and duty. Maya is torn between remaining in her home village to live with her mother or spread her wings back into a remote village medical clinic. Combined with this internal pressure she is forced to face the man her brother has become, and she isn't sure she likes the end result.
Along the way she just might fall in love, lose herself, try to find comfort in religion and fight internal battles over the environment that has become her home. Wh More...
Along the way she just might fall in love, lose herself, try to find comfort in religion and fight internal battles over the environment that has become her home. Wh More...
Jul 19, 2011
Map
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I enjoyed her first novel very much and looked forward to this. This isn't a book you rip through; it is a novel that forces you to slow down, to pay attention to the characters and the events that have altered their lives. It raises difficult questions about faith and forgiveness and the cost of war, even one that is just. The ending packs an emotional wallop. But there is hope...I'm definitely curious to see this story through to it's end. And it's wonderful to read about a time, place, and ev
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Oct 22, 2011
Amanda
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I've read many novels set in Asia written by expatriates, usually women, that deal with cultures about which westerners have little insight. I hadn't read any set in Bangladesh, and was eager to learn more about that country's past. The book is largely set in the 1980s, looking back to the war for independence from Pakistan in the early 70s. The main character is a woman doctor/writer who holds to the ideals of the revolt she fought for, while her beloved brother, traumatized by his experiences
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Nov 19, 2011
Dolly
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This is a poignant story about life in Bangladesh in the 1970s and 1980s, during and following the Bangladesh Liberation War. The nucleus of the story is about a family: a mother (Rehana) and her two children (Maya and Sohail.) It explores concepts about the rape of women in war, PTSD, religious education, conversion and extremism (specifically within the Islamic faith), the plight of the people of Bangladesh during and after war, the treatment and often mistreatment of women in general, and t
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Aug 21, 2011
Beverly
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Heading: Peace Is Harder Than War
The Good Muslim by Tahmina Anam is the story of two siblings, sister Maya Haque and brother Sohail Haque. Both have survived the 1971 Bangladesh War for Independence, yet are haunted by the things they did and saw. Before the war, Maya and Sohail were inseparable, but chose different roles during the war, Sohail was a guerilla fighter and Maya worked in a refugee camp. Now that the revolution was successful, brother and sister struggle on how to cope More...
The Good Muslim by Tahmina Anam is the story of two siblings, sister Maya Haque and brother Sohail Haque. Both have survived the 1971 Bangladesh War for Independence, yet are haunted by the things they did and saw. Before the war, Maya and Sohail were inseparable, but chose different roles during the war, Sohail was a guerilla fighter and Maya worked in a refugee camp. Now that the revolution was successful, brother and sister struggle on how to cope More...
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Nov 28, 2011
Trudi
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About a family in modern-day Bangladesh. and how participation in the revolution affected a brother (Sohail) and sister (Maya) and their relationship. Sohail has turned to religion, and his sister (a doctor) does not understand his choice. Some of their actions have tragic consequences. It made me realize how little I know about Bangladesh. I wish there had been a glossary as many Bangla words are used. I could usually make out the meaning through context, but a glossary would have been hel
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