The Good Muslim

Nov 19, 2011 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, domestic-and-relationship-fiction, four-star-fiction, indian-subcontinent-and-surrounding, av

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 prosecu...more 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 prosecuted, and religious extremism is building.

Once inseparable, Sohail and his sister Maya were driven apart following the war. Sohail felt the need to atone for his part in the war by gradually falling into an extreme practice of Islam. Maya became a doctor and shunned religion. The two have had no contact since 1977, when Maya fled from Dhaka in anger at her brother's complete renunciation of all the worldly things he once treasured. She felt she had lost the brother she loved, her heart's companion.

Maya returns to Dhaka in 1984. She is distressed at her brother's continued religiosity, yet she is seduced by its promises when disease threatens her mother's life. She quickly forges a strong bond with her motherless nephew Zaid. Sohail has other plans for the boy, deepening the rift between brother and sister. Maya finds it impossible to connect with her brother. His religious devotion is so intense that he neglects his son's needs and turns his back on old friends. As in the old days, Maya can't help finding ways of getting herself in hot water. She's an intelligent, bold, outspoken woman in a country that favors female submission.

Tahmima Anam's strength lies in writing about the intricacies of familial love and loyalty. The political and religious climates aren't neglected by any means, but the real beauty here is in Maya's struggle to find a new way of loving her brother. Eventually she has to let go of her need to bring back the old Sohail, and love him from a distance for the good he has done.

The Good Muslim stands strongly on its own, but it will have a lot more depth if you've first read A Golden Age. It helps to know the Haque family history, and to know the characters as they were in 1971---so hopeful and militant and in love with the idea of freedom for Bangladesh. It's interesting to note that the character of Rehana is based on the author's grandmother. (less)

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Sep 23, 2012 Diana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: muslim, historical-fiction, awesome

I want to tread lightly with my review, mainly because I don't want to offend anyone who is Muslim. The Muslim culture has always been a mystery to me and I always wondered about the complexities of the culture, as well as the every day life things. I felt like this book gave me a tiny glimpse into the culture, and I mean tiny, but it was significant all the same. This book really blew my mind. I had no idea it was a sequel but it reads like a stand alone book. Maya is a character that I found v...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Bibliophile rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, india-south-asia, 2012

The Good Muslim is a sequel of sorts to Tahmima Anam's first novel, A Golden Age; the main characters of the second novel are the children of Rehana Haque, the protagonist of the first novel. Maya and Sohail Haque have both been damaged in different ways by their exposure to the horrors of Bangladesh's 1971 war for independence and they both react differently: Sohail becomes a devout Muslim, using his gifts for oratory to build a following for a fundamentalist Islam that is completely foreign to...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Mom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a difficult book to review. I had a hard time getting into the story and maintaining interest. But now, a few days later, I find myself thinking more about the characters and situation; perhaps the book bears rereading.

The Good Muslim is set in the context of the war of independence in Bangladesh. A bloody war, terrible things seen, terrible things done. What happens afterwards? How do people cope with the pain, the guilt, the memories?

In the novel, a brother and sister,both active in th...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Rula Bilbeisi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some events were unexplained, some links were missing, that is how this story felt like. After I finished reading this novel, I found out that it was a sequel to the author’s first novel: A Golden Age.

The novel drifts between two different periods, the seventies after the war of independence, when it was time to move on and build the new Bangladesh, and (I quote) “It was time, they were told, to forgive. Forgive and forget. Absolve and misremember. Erase and move on. No sorrys were exchanged”....more

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Apr 18, 2012 Tas rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had high expectations from Tahmima Anam when I very randomly came across her second book tucked away in the corners of a bookstore in the Bangladesh airport. I thoroughly enjoyed Golden Age and had recommended it to many non-Bangladeshi friends.
Imagine my surprise at finding out a quarter of the way through that this book is a sequel to Golden Age! I kept my frustrations at check about the glacial pace and the jumpy narrative and breezed through the pages. At the end, as much as it pains me,...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At the end of a brutal civil war, a man stumbles upon an abandoned building and finds a young woman whose story will haunt him for years. Almost a decade later his sister returns home to find her brother transformed. While she has stuck to her revolutionary ideals, he has shunned his old life to become a charismatic religious leader. And when he decides to send his son to madrasa the conflict between them comes to a devastating climax. Set in Bangladesh at a time when religious fundamentalism is...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Rosemarie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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, unexplained a...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Mark Staniforth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 Pakis...more 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 Pakistan that ended in 1971, the first decade-and-a-bit as a sovereign state were anything but liberal. War wounds festered, and a series of assassinations and attempted coups seemed designed to shatter hopes of stability. It is best described by Anam:

"Thirteen. Her broken wishbone of a country was thirteen years old. Didn't sound like very long, but in that time the nation had rolled and unrolled tanks from its streets. It had had leaders elected and ordained. It had murdered two presidents. In its infancy, it had started cannibalising itself, killing the tribals in the south, drowning villages for dams, razing the ancient trees of Modhupur Forest. A fast-acting country: quick to anger, quick to self-destruct."

Anam's narrative is split between the immediate aftermath of the war, and the mid-1980s, when religious radicalism is on the rise and the concept of liberation is beginning to mean very different things to different people.
Anam frames her story around a single family: primarily the headstrong Maya, returned from her war work as a nurse brimming with revolutionary principles, and harbouring disdain for those who pursue divisive agendas in the name of God; and Sohail, her beloved brother, whose harrowing wartime experiences have sent him down a fundamentalist path.
When Sohail effectively reinvents himself as a prophet, and sends his young son Zaid to a madrasa, Maya is determined to convince him to see the error of his ways by any means necessary, but the dark secrets she digs up threaten to destroy her dream of some kind of united future.
The narrow focus of Anam's novel is a clever one, turning the post-independence problems faced by nations both past and present into broadly personal ones, highlighting the raw emotions and paradoxes which prevail in every household; the difficulty of remaining true to one's principles when war wounds are yet to heal.
It does, however, come at a price: the reader is afforded only perfunctory glimpses of daily life in Bangladesh during this period of tumult. These precious glimpses of a nation striving for some kind of normality - moments when Maya and her ailing mother prepare to watch an episode of Dallas, or when they share chilli-hot phuchkas by the roadside while an anti-government demonstration is dispersed by tear-gas close by - are too few and far between.
At times, this lack of evocation can make Anam's writing seem strangely flat, and yet such drawbacks can be largely forgiven thanks to a blistering second half of the novel, in which Anam wrenches her characters towards a rousing, deeply emotional finale: Maya, in particular, evolves into a stunning paradox, her resistance to religion becoming more acute, yet still feeling its strange pull: wishing, in her darkest times, that she had "surrendered to its practicality".
'The Good Muslim' is a brave and important book, and if the pertinence of its message lingers longer than some of the characters themselves, then that is not necessarily a bad thing. Anam is clearly a writer for the future: someone with lots to say, and the ability, and time, to say it. That, too, ought to be something to celebrate. (less)

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Dec 03, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bangladesh, 21st-century

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 beset Maya i...more

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Oct 01, 2011 edj rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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. Her arrival coincides with the funeral of her sister-in-law.
Maya and her brother fought in Bangladesh’s brutal war of independence from Pakistan, both strong believers in their revolutionary cause and both returning with their idealism shattered. Maya became a doctor; her brother Sohail is unable to make peace with certain war events. He fall sin love with a young woman he rescues from sexual servitude in an army barracks. When she, unable to bear her own burdens, flees, Sohail flounders. His teenage crush from across the street, a rigidly devout Muslim, decides to marry him. Sohail moves further and further into a very extreme form of Islam, one that forbids books and even toothbrushes.
Maya’s return home is painful in many ways as she struggles with her memories and the lack of interest from her once-close brother. She is drawn to Zaid, her 5-year-old nephew, now cast adrift by the loss of his mother, but Sohail doesn’t allow her to truly mother him as she would like and he runs wild, a thieving and lying little charmer. When Zaid is sent to a madressa, where he is abused, Maya has to act to save him, but her actions will have ramifications far beyond what she imagines.
The Good Muslim is beautifully written, with layers and nuances that develop the characters. Although a typical American reader will spend most of the book very angry at Sohail and his cold, detached and even cruel religion, by the end the reader comes to understand at least in part what has motivated him. The story moves back and forth between the time immediately after the war and the “current” time of the early 80s.
It offers a thoughtful look at war and revolution and religion and Islamic fundamentalism in the lives of a few specific people, characters you’ll come to love. I highly recommend this book. (less)

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Sep 16, 2011 Amy Lignor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 go the route...more 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 go the route of becoming a Doctor, Maya pursues her dream and trains to be the best medical woman she possibly can be. Her bother, however, chooses an entirely different path.

Sohail is a young man who is literally locked in the fog of the war. The nightmares that came from pain and bloodshed have made it almost completely impossible for him to be at peace and begin a new life. What he chooses to do is embrace the life of a devout Muslim which drives a wedge between he and his sister.

Not being able to deal with her brother’s transformation, Maya leaves her childhood home. When she returns, Maya tries desperately to reconcile with the family she absolutely adores, and finds herself inside the world that her brother has created. While she’s a part of Sohail’s life of faith, Maya meets and grows to love Sohail’s son, Zaid. But when her brother sends his own son elsewhere - opening up even more family difficulties and pain - Maya finds herself trying to deal with the fact that if she chooses sides she may lose her brother forever.

This year is the 40th anniversary of Bangladesh’s war of Independence which was a revolution that was never spoken about in novels. What Ms. Anam began with her debut novel, A Golden Age, she continues with this next book - offering readers an in-depth look into the aftermath and strife that comes with the birth of a nation. As well as the inner-workings of a family, and their desperate attempt to hold fast to their faith. Startling and heartfelt, this author has put together yet another unforgettable story.

(less)

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Sep 08, 2011 Violet Crush rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own

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 t...more 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 to their mother. Soheil’s wife’s funeral is being held and he also has a son called Zaid who is 4 years old.

Soheil has begun to give religious sermons and has left his sons upbringing to a woman who works with him. She is as strict and religious as Soheil and Zaid is left without any education and anyone to look after him. Maya struggles to settle back in Dhaka and tries to comprehend the changes Soheil has gone through. She takes Zaid under her wing and tries to make his life better.
On the other hand, she also struggles to understand how people can forget how they struggled for Independence only a few years back and have moved on. She doesn’t want to move on. She wants to remember, not only all that happened but also how Soheil was before and during the war. She wants to understand what Soheil has gone through to affect him so much that he has to turn to religion. When Soheil decides to send Zaid to a Madrasa, Maya thinks she has to do something for Zaid.

In The Good Muslim we don’t get to know what’s going on in Rehana’s mind which was weird considering how tuned I was to her feelings in the first book. It felt uncomfortable not knowing what was going on in her mind. Nevertheless, Maya is an interesting character as well. The author has shown all her confusion, anger and frustration very well.

I loved this book equally if not more than A Golden Age. I thought without the war as a backdrop, the book would be boring but it wasn’t. Her writing is very beautiful yet very easy to read and get lost into. She takes you to the remote villages in Bangladesh as well as to the rapidly changing Dhaka with equal ease. Most of all it reminded me of home, of eating puchkas and drinking chai from a street vendor while looking at an ever changing landscape.

Tahmima Aman takes you into the heart of the country and into the heart of the people who reside there. For that reason alone, this book is worth reading.(less)

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Aug 31, 2011 Felice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 is...more 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 is a compelling reading experience.

The Good Muslim picks up the story of the Haques in 1984. The war is long over but the recovery has been slow. Rehana seems to have spent all her energies saving her children during the war and is now too tired even to referee their constant conflict with one another. Sohail has gone from being a revolution created freedom fighter to devout Muslim, widower and single parent. Maya abandoned her surgical studies and has been working as a village doctor in rural Bangladesh. The unconditional love and loyalties that once bound the family have been destroyed.

Maya’s antagonism and bitterness is the driving force of this novel. Immediately following the war she dedicated herself to providing abortions for women raped by enemy soldiers and to delivering babies to make up for the lives she took during the war. Practicing medicine in the countryside has done nothing to bring her hope for the future or assuage her guilt. Constantly butting her head up against the patriarchal traditions of Bangladesh and appalling medical conditions Maya finally gives up and returns home.

Sohail’s grief over his dead wife as well as his actions during the war have left him seeking solace in religion. He spends his days spreading the message while his young son is allowed to run wild. Sohail’s spiritual awakening seems like cowardice to Maya. She cannot accept that he may have found a way to move forward. She longs to be Sohail’s confessor. She is convinced that he has not admitted to himself what he did during the war and therefore cannot be healed. Maya takes extreme action when Sohail, ignoring her pleas, sends his son to an Islamic seminary school.

In The Golden Age, Anam showed us an innocent family desperate to understand and survive a civil war. The Good Muslim takes these now damaged people from that point of lost innocence to the fight to survive the peace. Anam does what too often historical novelists fail to do. She makes the events of the time believably affect her characters. They do not just react to the political and cultural actions happening around them they interact within those actions and as a result they change.

This sophomore effort by Tahmima Anam fulfills the promise she showed in The Golden Age. Life in the aftermath of war is handled with authority, compassion and imagination. She clearly understands the experiences and culture she is writing about and is willing to allow her characters to be less than perfect, always likeable people. This is not a novel about traditional heroes but with Anam’s commanding and colorful writing it is a novel about real people whose lives are lived in the kind of extremes that most of us know nothing about but thanks to Anam’s skill we can understand and appreciate this world.

Do you need to read The Golden Age to enjoy The Good Muslim? No. Will reading The Golden Age give you a deeper appreciation of The Good Muslim? Definitely. (less)

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Aug 29, 2011 Joanne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

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 and v...more

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Nov 20, 2012 DubaiReader rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, vine, ew-pm-bk-grp

The second book in the Bangladesh trilogy.

I have just come back from a book group where we discussed this book, and the overall impression was that the shifting time frames had caused quite a bit of confusion. Added to this was the fact that, within the more recent time frame, there were also flash-backs to the earlier time. Kindle readers, in particular, found this problematic.
However, I did learn a lot about Bangladesh, a country that rarely appears in fiction, and for this reason I gave the b...more The second book in the Bangladesh trilogy.

I have just come back from a book group where we discussed this book, and the overall impression was that the shifting time frames had caused quite a bit of confusion. Added to this was the fact that, within the more recent time frame, there were also flash-backs to the earlier time. Kindle readers, in particular, found this problematic.
However, I did learn a lot about Bangladesh, a country that rarely appears in fiction, and for this reason I gave the book four stars.

Although I had read the first book of the trilogy, A Golden Age, it was four years ago and I struggled to remember the details. Many of our book group members had not read the first book and felt that a short precis at the beginning would have helped. In addition, a brief history of the time would also have clarified certain points.

Rehana Haque was a central character in A Golden Age, where her children, Sohail and Maya, were young. Here we meet them in 1971, as the war for independence is ending and the soldiers and casualties of war make their way home. The second time frame is thirteen years later, when the long term effects of the war have stamped themselves on all the survivors.
Sohail has become devoutly Muslim, while Maya rejects all the trappings of religion. The relationship between these siblings is the central issue of the book and incorporates all the after-effects of war.
One of my favourite characters was Zaid, the mischievous, but lonely son of Sohail. Maya takes Zaid under her wing, but is unable to overrule Sohail when he decides that his son will be educated in a madrassa.

Although the war lasted only nine months, there were a million dead, ten million exiled and thousands of abused women left behind. It is a truly tragic piece of history, given a human slant by Tahmina Anam.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as A Golden Age but I will certainly be on the lookout for the third episode of the trilogy.

Also read:
A Golden Age by Tahmina Anam - 4 stars
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Jan 31, 2012 Tariqul Ponir rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

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 historical settin...more 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 historical setting the book mainly focuses on the paradoxes that gulp Maya. The Book One mainly focuses on Maya's hatred (or whining) on the religion, the people who are not really thinking about current situation of the country for her own country is cannibalizing itself.

In Book Two we are suddenly informed that Rehana has cancer. Fearing she will loose her mother she suddenly falls for religion. May be, if doctors can't save her, praying will do! She thinks. But at the end her mother comes round from a worst case scenario. What have made it possible, miracle! No it can't be miracles. Suddenly she feels she has betrayed her own feelings and the hatred rises again.

Book Three is the most enjoyable part of the book. Where all the curtain are pulled up and we get a satisfying ending.

The premise of the book said, "Rise of Islamic Radicalism" in Bangladesh. But it was not shown clearly until the last chapter of the book. I don't know if that premise was made just to make the book attractive to the audience it intended for. Most of the parts of the book focuses on the view on religion of individual character. How Maya sees it and how Sohail sees it. Not on the Islamic radicalism to be specific. And madrasa were in this country even before the war. Some of those also helped Pakistani Army in the war. Ironically none of them were brought to charge. There are some factual error also. Like in 1984 December chapter, there was a notation of raining. But there is no rain in December in Bangladesh. Well this is not true for the last two years. But before that I have never seen rain in December.

The most touching part of the book is the story of zaid. How he remind me of Setsuko from Grave of the Fireflies! WHY MUST FIREFLIES DIE SO YOUNG! The father wanted the boy not to be like him. The aunt wanted the boy to be enlightened. And the boy just wanted to be free. Not to return to this wretched place again. So he jumped to be free... And he certainly got his freedom.

And the finishing was satisfying, clearing everyone has their own reason to what they are or have become.(less)

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Sep 03, 2011 Marcy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 remains silent. Maya cannot underst...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Johanna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-stars, amazon-vine-reviews, bangladesh, historical-fiction

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 even toothb...more 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 even toothbrushes are forbidden.

Anam is a good storyteller, and I still found the characters interesting here. Again, I learned something about Bangladeshi history. And the sense of place is stronger in The Good Muslim than A Golden Age. The novel's biggest weakness is that the pacing doesn't match the story. At under 300 pages, this is a very quick read, and made more so by the short scenes, jumping back and forth between past and present and among point-of-view characters. The problem is that this is ultimately a story about family relationships, and it doesn't benefit from so much jumping around; in A Golden Age, Anam let scenes and relationships develop more slowly, and it worked better. Other reviewers have criticized the more dramatic scenes here for being melodramatic, and I can see where they're coming from; everything happens so fast that there's little buildup.

And then there's Anam's treatment of Maya, the main character here. In A Golden Age, there's a certain ambivalence toward Maya, which I put down to seeing her through Rehana's eyes, where Rehana is ambivalent about her daughter. Here, though, even from Maya's own point-of-view, there seemed to be a certain authorial discomfort with her determined, nonreligious, childfree, single-professional-woman ways, and she's rather heavily criticized for "causing" a couple of terrible events by meddling--where while that didn't help any, Sohail's conscious (and in my view, very poor) decisions are the direct causes of those events. Maybe Anam was just trying to be balanced or something, but even there, I could do without another book where a woman not previously interested in these things suddenly decides she needs a husband and babies to be happy after all--and the romance was weak and uninteresting, although fortunately it doesn't take up much time.

Despite the criticism, though, this isn't a bad book; Anam does write well. And she has some interesting things to say about why people turn to extremism. But if you're only going to read one, go with A Golden Age instead. (less)

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Aug 18, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

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 perspective...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Good Muslim is a sequel to A Golden Age which was a book about the Bangladesh civil war. This novel switches back and forth between 1972 and 1984. In 1972. the war has just ended and people are going home. Some were guerilla soldiers in the war against Pakistan, some have been refugees in India, others are coming out of the prisons where they were held as political prisoners. The brother, Sohail Haque marries a woman who has been a political prisoner and now comforts herself in devout Islam....more

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Aug 17, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Good Muslim is the sequel to Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age, and the second book in what will eventually be a trilogy about Anam’s home country of Bangladesh. With this novel Anam continues the story of the Haque family, this time from Maya’s perspective.

In The Good Muslim, it has been about a decade since the war ended and Bangladesh gained its independence. A lot has happened in the time between December of 1971 and February of 1984, and Bangladesh is now being ruled by a dictator. Sohail has...more

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Aug 06, 2011 cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 dec...more 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 decided to go up to 4 stars, but it is with a bit of hesitation.

There are two time periods addressed in TGW, the mid/late-70s immediately following the revolution that gave Bangladesh its independence and the mid-80s when it is ruled by an unnamed Dictator whom many feel went back on the principles for which they'd fought. I'll admit to very little knowledge of this history. The protagonist is a female doctor who was part of the revolutionary fight and, in the latter time frame, is returning home after having spent a number of years as a rural ob/gyn. She had left in large part due to differences that arose when her brother made a very strong turn towards religion that alienated her and she returns upon his wife's death. The family also includes their mother and the brother's son, a child who has received very little attention and with whom the doctor quickly bonds.

There are a thematic number of threads running through here. There is the question of the revolution's success given the turn from initially liked leader to a dictator. There is the issue of religion and fanaticism, including the impact it has when it is put ahead of family and other matters. There is also a strong element of gender dynamics as the woman doctor relates stories of her patients, the suffering of women during and after the war as a result of rape being used as a weapon, and the doctor's own uncertainty about marriage and her career. The author does a solid job pulling all this off, although it does feel pretty slanted and pointed.

The prose is pleasant and deep without being overpowering. My hesitancy is in large part due to the fact that it feels overtly partisan. Ironically, I don't necessarily disagree with the positions advanced but I do prefer authors who lead you to your own answers rather than pretty much wave them in front of you. It is a good read, 3.5 stars is a solid rating in my world and is positive (I'm tough...when I was part of judging for admission to a journal in law school, they apparently noted that and would round an entry up if it was borderline and I was part of the panel). I'd read the other books if they appeared on my table and maybe if I saw a stellar deal on them, but I also can't see myself seeking them out. (less)

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Mar 24, 2013 Erika rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

I did not realize this was book 2 in a series when I bought it but decided to read it anyway.it stands alone quite well and I didn't feel I missed anything by not having read book one. Nor do I really feel the need to read book three. I enjoyed the story. It was well written and it gave me a little glimpse into a piece of history and life that I know nothing about.

This is the story of a family after the war that creates an independent Bangladesh. The sister pushes herself as far from religion as...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Denae rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: random-discovery, read-in-2011, challenge-1010-by-2020

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...more

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Nov 15, 2011 !Tæmbuŝu marked it as to-read

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, bangladesh, ebook-available

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Reviewed by The Guardian, The Independent

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Nov 02, 2011 Simi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: world, war, postcolonial

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 zmenil na nepo...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Pooja T rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading The Golden Age by the same author and was really looking forward to read her second book. I am sad to say this book suffers from the sophomore syndrome. While there isn't something terribly wrong with this book, it just isn't as great as the first one. I was curious to find out what happened with the Haque family but this version of the characters was a little odd. They didn't seem like the same people anymore. I guess war does that go you, but these characters seemed t...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Eric Wright rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, own, pakistan

In the Good Muslim, Tahmima Anam takes us into the tragic after-effects of the Bangladesh war for independence from Pakistan. Through the eyes of a brother, Sohail, and his sister, Maya, we venture into the soul-destroying or transforming after-effects of violent war.

I picked this up because of our family's 16 stay in Pakistan. We lived through the events that haunt this brother and sister--but from 1000 miles away in what was then West Pakistan. As foreigners we little understood the civil war...more In the Good Muslim, Tahmima Anam takes us into the tragic after-effects of the Bangladesh war for independence from Pakistan. Through the eyes of a brother, Sohail, and his sister, Maya, we venture into the soul-destroying or transforming after-effects of violent war.

I picked this up because of our family's 16 stay in Pakistan. We lived through the events that haunt this brother and sister--but from 1000 miles away in what was then West Pakistan. As foreigners we little understood the civil war taking place in the Eastern half of the country. Of course we did not learn of the atrocities committed by the Pakistani troops on Bengali women and on the country. The eastern half at that time was ruled largely by western Pakistanis, Panjabis and others who we learned later raped the country leaving it destitute. When India came to the aid of their eastern Bengali compatriots, we suffered under their attacks on West Pakistan.

Maya and Sohail, however through terrible flashbacks bring to life the horrific cost the Bangladeshis paid for independence. The story is told through their seared eyes. Sohail is forever changed by the young raped woman he finds in an abandoned building. Maya is changed by the six years she spent away from home in a rural clinic.

When they get back together, they find that their lifestyles are incompatible. Sohail for whatever reason (guilt?) has been driven to become a cold, hard, legalitic Muslim preacher. Maya has retained her revolutionary ideals. When she sees Sohail's son being almost abandoned and then sent to a strict Muslim madrasa, she cannot help but try to intervene with what may be tragic consequences.

Anam tells a necessary story, a story that helped to correct many of my misconceptions about the relationship between Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, I found the story difficult to follow. Anam switches characters and voice and switches time periods. Add to that the use of a variety of names and new characters and the book becomes a little challenging to follow. I wish she had written such an important story in a more traditional story-telling way. (less)

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