Jugnu and his lover, Chanda, have disappeared.
Though unmarried, they had been living together, embracing the contemporary mores of the English... read full description
Though unmarried, they had been living together, embracing the contemporary mores of the English... read full description
reviews
Apr 06, 2009
Maria
rated it: 
Bereft of their homeland, its customs and beauty, Pakistani immigrants in England navigate their new situation while trying desperately to hold on to what was once theirs. Kaukab and Shamas are polar opposites, she very devout and literally ignorant of the modern world. Her traditions and prejudices cause her to be hurt and to hurt her children and her husband, and unwittingly her brother-in-law. Shamas, her husband is so constrained by his poetic vision of the world that he cannot save himsel
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Jun 01, 2011
Natalia Pì
rated it: 
Romanzo ricco, ricco di suggestioni, conflitti, malinconie, mi è piaciuto più di quanto mi aspettassi.
Ottima delineazione dei personaggi, in particolare di Shamas e Kaukab, che vengono dallo stesso paese, sono sposati da decenni, eppure vivono in universi mentali diametralmente opposti.
Ho apprezzato particolarmente le pagine su Kaukab: per come l'autore mostra le circonvoluzioni mentali di una madre che deve superare l'autonomia dei figli in una società che percepisce come straniera e a lei os More...
Ottima delineazione dei personaggi, in particolare di Shamas e Kaukab, che vengono dallo stesso paese, sono sposati da decenni, eppure vivono in universi mentali diametralmente opposti.
Ho apprezzato particolarmente le pagine su Kaukab: per come l'autore mostra le circonvoluzioni mentali di una madre che deve superare l'autonomia dei figli in una società che percepisce come straniera e a lei os More...
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Dec 04, 2011
To be concise - something Nadeem Aslam has never tried in his life - this novel is too
FLOWERY!
Mr Aslam's prose is more flowery than two trips to Kew Gardens (which consist of 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England, and is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and an internationally important botanical research and education institution More...
FLOWERY!
Mr Aslam's prose is more flowery than two trips to Kew Gardens (which consist of 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England, and is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and an internationally important botanical research and education institution More...
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May 22, 2010
Denise
rated it: 
I'm enjoying this book a lot so far...I'm completely absorbed in it.
I read somewhere that it took Aslam 11 years to write this book. He writes in longhand, writing out sentences and scratching them out for pages until they are perfect. He even took the necessary time to write 100 page biographies of each of the characters so that he could understand all his characters fully. This definitely comes through in his writing--the characters are so real that I can spend days thinking More...
I read somewhere that it took Aslam 11 years to write this book. He writes in longhand, writing out sentences and scratching them out for pages until they are perfect. He even took the necessary time to write 100 page biographies of each of the characters so that he could understand all his characters fully. This definitely comes through in his writing--the characters are so real that I can spend days thinking More...
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Jan 18, 2008
Phil
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I've got to find some crappy books that I hated or even OK books that I struggled through. I'm giving everything five stars, but believe me, this beautiful and chilling book deserves it. I was listening to Hugh Hewitt interview Christopher Hitchens on the radio when he recommended this book in glowing terms. I went to Amazon and ordered.
The novel takes place in the Midlands of England among the Pakistani community of a small city. the novel is told from the point of view of Shamas, a middl More...
The novel takes place in the Midlands of England among the Pakistani community of a small city. the novel is told from the point of view of Shamas, a middl More...
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Mar 20, 2009
Kim
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This is the kind of book that is best digested by biting off small bits and letting them melt in your mouth. The language is beautiful and the story is compelling. I would characterize it as something along the lines of Rohinton Mistry meets Zadie Smith meets Jane Austen. I can't wait to read more from this author.
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Nov 20, 2011
Ali
rated it:
re-read Nov 2011 for book group
I liked this novel just as much as I did the first time, although you can never recapture that first impact a wonderful novel has for you as a reader. Although the opening sequence of the novel - Shamas standing in the doorway in the snow had stayed powerfully with me. This is a beautifully written novel, evocative and bravely honest. Some of the characters strain against their religious and cultural ties, others find strength in those traditional ways and bel More...
I liked this novel just as much as I did the first time, although you can never recapture that first impact a wonderful novel has for you as a reader. Although the opening sequence of the novel - Shamas standing in the doorway in the snow had stayed powerfully with me. This is a beautifully written novel, evocative and bravely honest. Some of the characters strain against their religious and cultural ties, others find strength in those traditional ways and bel More...
Dec 11, 2010
Shaila
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 20, 2009
Julie
rated it:
Set among a Pakistani community in the Midlands ;), this is a tragic, poignant story of a culture clashing violently with itself. A young couple elope and are murdered, supposedly by members of their own close-knit community, possibly by their own families. The story reveals the inner thoughts, the alienation and struggles of Pakistani characters who are either trying to merge traditions with Western influences or prevent the acculturation of their community altogether. Beautifully written.
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Feb 07, 2012
The CB
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I ran into this book on the shelf in local library. I never expected this would be such a good book especially according to the title. I thought it was a kind of love story about forbidden love blah blah and took it because I was bored. I can't believe how lucky I was because after only few sentences I realised I had an extraordinary book in my hands. It is the story about forbidden love but it is much more. It is a story about inner struggle every human being has in itself, moral values, tradit
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Nov 06, 2011
Jayne
rated it:
Hearts crack and break in this powerful novel, and the reader's heart aches along with them. Lovers are separated or lose each other. One couple, Tugnu and Chanda have disappeared and are presumed murdered by Chanda's brothers - a honour killing.
This book about a Pakistani community in a northern England town is beautifully written, its imagery sumptuous: courgette flowers become amber scarves in green rucksacks, an artist's pastel-sticks recall a surgeon's green gown or the chalky More...
This book about a Pakistani community in a northern England town is beautifully written, its imagery sumptuous: courgette flowers become amber scarves in green rucksacks, an artist's pastel-sticks recall a surgeon's green gown or the chalky More...
Mar 09, 2009
Lois
rated it:
As I was reading this book, I would have said (and did) that it moved too slowly and took too long to develop the plot. The result, though, was to immerse me in the world of the book's characters in a way that a quick read would not have done. I find myself thinking about the characters, and explaining to myself (and arguing with myself about) their opinions, beliefs and actions, for days after I have finished the book. I want to know more about each of them.
It is easy for me as a More...
It is easy for me as a More...
Nov 25, 2009
Saleem
rated it:
Maybe long but not daunting, well written, actually too well written I hate him because he is the writer that makes the dream of writing difficult to achieve but makes you appreciative of him because he respected you so much, he obviously proofread it so many times and took long, long, long tome to write it. It emphasize the difference thought process of people on different side of a story even when they belonged to the same time. A village with immigrants and a sweet sorrowful love story that e
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Jan 26, 2010
Mohammed
rated it:
Well, it took me a while to get into it, but once on the inside, I was hooked. Aslam's characters are so well-constructed and have a depth that is remarkable. The only (minor) criticism I have of the style of writing is that it was, sometimes, overly florid, the metaphors and similes were, sometimes, a bit laboured.
This book comes from my world; immigrant parents trapped in a simulacrum of the life and culture they left in Pakistan in the 1960's. They are scared to bring down the walls the More...
This book comes from my world; immigrant parents trapped in a simulacrum of the life and culture they left in Pakistan in the 1960's. They are scared to bring down the walls the More...
Nov 13, 2007
Nazia
rated it:
The story was good, but the author had a negative tone throughout the whole book about his cultural background and continuously blamed everything on being Pakistani. It was frustrating reading this book especially when I didn't agree with the author's point of view at times.
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Mar 03, 2010
Sumiya
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Although the story is interesting and it is beautifully written, there are several mistakes about Islam. As in the Wasted Vigil, Aslam seems to make the statement that the practices (in the name of Islam) by uneducated Indians, Pakistanis and Afghans epitomize what Islam teaches, rather than inaccurate and cultural interpretations of misguided and self-serving 'clerics'. This is unfortunate, as I found the storyline and characters in this novel and the Wasted Vigil to be soulful and nuanced. I a
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Jun 07, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
I first read a short piece by Nadeem Aslam in the NYT Magazine's Lives section called The Homesick Restaurant. The story was packed with coincidence, nostalgia, connection and bittersweet reunion. I wish this book would have shared more of those themes. I found it hard to connect with the characters and their intense sorrows were so deeply felt that it was hard to reconcile their lives with the book's florid descriptions. I almost want to go back and reread Brick Lane to see how the two books wo
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Jun 28, 2011
Hannah
rated it:
I read 'A Wasted Vigil' and loved it so I sought this one out... I'm torn. On one hand it's a brilliant portrayal of the pakistani community at a very specific time in the UK (it seems to me, not being a pakistani living in Britain in 1980 I guess I can't really say that with confidence) and there's some breathtaking writing, but on the other hand the book is laden with similes and metaphors - so many it's a little ridiculous at times. NOTHING just 'is', EVERYTHING is compared to something else,
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Oct 06, 2011
Leigh
rated it:
It took me quite a few pages to adjust to Aslam's - to me - overexuberant figurative language. But the story was amazing - above all, I think, a brutal condemnation of Islam and the way it treats anyone who is not a Muslim male. The character of the mother: selfish, fearful, turning everything into a condemnation of English/western society, willing to defend Islam beyond all reason. Her children were interesting, having broken away from her to make their own way, one as an artist. I can unde
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Nov 17, 2011
Naveed
rated it:
I wished I had time to write a review. This book made me speechless. Really, go ahead and buy it. It is a treasure.
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Jul 07, 2011
Carwil
rated it:
Warning: this book is full of extremely sad moments and more surprisingly, but essentially, sad-to-read perspectives on those moments.
Maps for Lost Lovers is an amazing read, and deserves the patience to get oneself acquainted with its narrative and its characters. It tackles the restrictions and limitations placed on people by religious strictures and social pressure without giving up on anyone's humanity. And it does so around one of the most contentious, scandalous, and depressing a More...
Maps for Lost Lovers is an amazing read, and deserves the patience to get oneself acquainted with its narrative and its characters. It tackles the restrictions and limitations placed on people by religious strictures and social pressure without giving up on anyone's humanity. And it does so around one of the most contentious, scandalous, and depressing a More...
Oct 10, 2010
Raingirl
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 21, 2008
Dirk
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I’ve read several novels in recent years that depict the wrenching and demoralizing conflicts within characters and families who are torn between liberal western values and fundamentalist Islamic values. It is a heart-rending state of being. One is Women of Sand and Myrrh by Hanan Al-Shayk and another The Yacoubian Building by Alaa el-Aswany.
I want to make clear that I believe only a minority of Muslims hold this sort of beliefs just as only a minority of Americans are fundamentalist Chri More...
I want to make clear that I believe only a minority of Muslims hold this sort of beliefs just as only a minority of Americans are fundamentalist Chri More...
Apr 07, 2010
Bibliophile
rated it:
I first read Nadeem Aslam's Maps for Lost Lovers almost four years ago, and it stuck in my mind as a beautiful and deeply troubling book. The "lost lovers" of the title are Jugnu and Chanda who have disappeared from their home in a nameless British city that its Pakistani immigrants have renamed the "Dasht-e-Tanhaii" (the desert of solitude). Although certain characters deny this possibility almost till the end of the novel, it seems obvious almost from the beginning that J
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Sep 08, 2011
Kirsti
rated it:
This book is cerebral, haunting, compelling. It addresses the plight of Muslims in foreign countries and the plight of women within the religion. I'm excited to discuss it at book club tomorrow night!
The book also explores how religion makes you who you are and how religion and your relationship to God affects your relationships with other people.
Aslam artfully covers the politics, racism and fundamentalism without making either the apostate or the religious seem fool More...
The book also explores how religion makes you who you are and how religion and your relationship to God affects your relationships with other people.
Aslam artfully covers the politics, racism and fundamentalism without making either the apostate or the religious seem fool More...
Dec 06, 2009
Andrew
rated it:
This sad novel portrays a very dark side of very powerful religious and cultural forces in an expatriate Pakistani community in England. The characters find themselves in violent and cruel behavior as their human frailties come in conflict with sharia, Hindu, western culture, and secularism.
One of the most interesting parts of the book is its look into the thoughts and logic behind each character's behavior. Much to think about as we live in a world with more and more intertwining of More...
One of the most interesting parts of the book is its look into the thoughts and logic behind each character's behavior. Much to think about as we live in a world with more and more intertwining of More...
Apr 20, 2009
Jan
rated it:
This was an amazing book. Very poetic and sad. The writing is beautiful and the story tragic. I learned about a culture that is completely foreign and strange to me but aslam makes it understandable and sympathetic even when it is horrifying. This is a great book for lovers of language and great stories. Aslam shows us how communities carry on tribal traditions in the midst of western contemporary culture, and beautifully illustrates the clash of the muslim and christian worlds.
Dec 06, 2009
Gisela
rated it:
A beautifully written, but very grim portrait of the immigrant Pakistani community in England. The character development was great and there were times when I was really engaged, but in the end I found it too depressing and the lack of a plot made the ending completely unsatisfying. Life is plenty grim enough without reading this kind of depressing literature. I'll take kid fantasy any day over this. I'm on to the Lightening Thief as recommended to me by a 9 year old...
Jul 29, 2011
Took a while to adjust to the pace and gentle tone of this book, but as it unfolded it gripped me more and more with its ambitious exploration of religious bigotry and cultural tension played out in the personal breakdown of a single immigrant family. Somehow managed to capture the sense of cultural loss at the same time as condemning the unacceptable impacts of that culture on women's rights.
Jul 29, 2011
Catherine
rated it:
This is a very sad, violent story that strikes at the anti-female aspects of Islam in Pakistan on multiple levels in a seamless fashion. Something that is so common that the VP candidate's daughter could publically have done and Christian conservatives wouldn't bat an eye is cause for murder in this novel. Well written and not a difficult read, even though it is a tale richly told.
