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The Blind Man's Garden
The acclaimed author of The Wasted Vigil now gives us a searing, exquisitely written novel set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11: a story of war, of one family’s losses, and of the simplest, most enduring human impulses.
Jeo and Mikal are foster brothers from a small town in Pakistan. Though they were inseparable as children, their adult lives have diverged: Jeo is a dedicated medical student, married a year; Mikal has been a vagabond since he was fifteen, in love with a woman he can’t have. But when Jeo decides to sneak across the border into Afghanistan—not to fight with the Taliban against the Americans, rather to help care for wounded civilians—Mikal determines to go with him, to protect him.
Yet Jeo’s and Mikal’s good intentions cannot keep them out of harm’s way. As the narrative takes us from the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind—their blind father, haunted by the death of his wife and by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood; Mikal’s beloved brother and sister-in-law; Jeo’s wife, whose increasing resolve helps keep the household running, and her superstitious mother—we see all of these lives upended by the turmoil of war.
In language as lyrical as it is piercing, in scenes at once beautiful and harrowing, The Blind Man’s Garden unflinchingly describes a crucially contemporary yet timeless world in which the line between enemy and ally is indistinct, and where the desire to return home burns brightest of all.
Jeo and Mikal are foster brothers from a small town in Pakistan. Though they were inseparable as children, their adult lives have diverged: Jeo is a dedicated medical student, married a year; Mikal has been a vagabond since he was fifteen, in love with a woman he can’t have. But when Jeo decides to sneak across the border into Afghanistan—not to fight with the Taliban against the Americans, rather to help care for wounded civilians—Mikal determines to go with him, to protect him.
Yet Jeo’s and Mikal’s good intentions cannot keep them out of harm’s way. As the narrative takes us from the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind—their blind father, haunted by the death of his wife and by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood; Mikal’s beloved brother and sister-in-law; Jeo’s wife, whose increasing resolve helps keep the household running, and her superstitious mother—we see all of these lives upended by the turmoil of war.
In language as lyrical as it is piercing, in scenes at once beautiful and harrowing, The Blind Man’s Garden unflinchingly describes a crucially contemporary yet timeless world in which the line between enemy and ally is indistinct, and where the desire to return home burns brightest of all.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 2013
152 people are currently reading
3598 people want to read
About the author
Nadeem Aslam
15 books378 followersAslam was born in Pakistan in 1966 and moved to Britain at age 14. His family left Pakistan to escape President Zia's regime.
His novel Maps for Lost Lovers, winner of the Kuriyama Prize, took him more than a decade to complete. Aslam has stated that the first chapter alone took five years to complete, and that the following story in the book took seven months to complete before rejecting it. At the end, he kept only one sentence of the seventy pages written.
Aslam's latest novel, The Wasted Vigil, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in September, 2008. It is set in Afghanistan. He traveled to Afghanistan during the writing of the book; but had never visited the country before writing the first draft. On 11th February 2011, it was short-listed for the Warwick Prize For Writing.
His writings have been compared to those by Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Kiran Desai and received an Encore in 2005. He writes his drafts in longhand and prefers extreme isolation when working.
Aslam currently lives in north London.
His novel Maps for Lost Lovers, winner of the Kuriyama Prize, took him more than a decade to complete. Aslam has stated that the first chapter alone took five years to complete, and that the following story in the book took seven months to complete before rejecting it. At the end, he kept only one sentence of the seventy pages written.
Aslam's latest novel, The Wasted Vigil, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in September, 2008. It is set in Afghanistan. He traveled to Afghanistan during the writing of the book; but had never visited the country before writing the first draft. On 11th February 2011, it was short-listed for the Warwick Prize For Writing.
His writings have been compared to those by Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Kiran Desai and received an Encore in 2005. He writes his drafts in longhand and prefers extreme isolation when working.
Aslam currently lives in north London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 310 reviews
January 27, 2016
He spoke at the Lahore Literary Festival a few days back at the launch of this book. When narrating how he had to tape his eyes over for a few weeks to write about a character who was going blind, he said something along the lines of:
But you understand why I had to do it? I had no choice. I couldn't ask all those intimate questions of a blind person. I had to live it.
Very understandable but only a little way into the book, I could not shake off the feeling that something was amiss. Going over the volume another time I discovered it was the message inadvertently embedded in its textuality: the book is not written for me. It is written for a Western audience.
Exhibit A: "She looks out of the window, past the low rosewood bough from which a sheep is hung every year to be disembowelled and skinned just minutes from its last concious moments, to mark the Sacrifice of Abraham". It's called Bakra Eid and there is no reason to be so apologetic and over explanatory for it especially since it has no bearing on the plot.
Any appearance of vernacular language is meticulously translated and there aren't many to begin with. All characters speak with the same voice which has zero regional influence and some details are inaccurate (12 buttons in one rupee, seriously?). All of this would not have been a problem if the chief claim of the book wasn't that it helps in understanding this complicated country.
'I think first of the subject matter and then the characters and plot which would facilitate in addressing it', Nadeem Aslam claimed at the Lahore Literary Festival. And this is exactly where he faltered. Reading this book felt like I was eavesdropping on a conversation I wasn't a part of.
Living in Pakistan during those times is perhaps as complicated as the loss of sight. Although there is no rule preventing a writer from addressing what is not directly experienced but literature, despite and because of being self validating carries the burden of proof. Aslam could not address Pakistan even armed with piles of research. Perhaps, he had to live it.
August 30, 2014
This is a complex book, filled with complex emotions. "Nuanced" doesn't come close to describing its portrayal of fundamentalist Islamist fervour and the various forces and interpretations within Islam that in many ways define it, and also attempt to balance it [ultimately ineffectually? not sure], but in the end, must simply survive it.
The same nuance and complexity emerge with respect to the use of torture, the oppression of women, or just about any other issue raised in this novel of post-9/11 Pakistan / Afghanistan, seen through the eyes of a constellation of characters who must navigate, often blindly, (and both literally and figuratively), through the inherent conflicts of their own beliefs, relationships, and realities in the world around them.
A central conundrum - the prevailing dynamic - is the clash of religions and, more broadly, cultures which both cause the conflicts, and ultimately also provide the only tools to endure, if not resolve, them.
This book forced me to confront a lot of my own assumptions, emotions and attitudes - and I'm left holding these thoughts in each of my hands and different parts of my brain, irreconcilable. At the same time, as jo points out in her exceptional review, although there is much that is disquieting and even rage-inducing, there is also the intense beauty of the writing and imagery, and especially, the Mikal character's unswerving goodness and sense of justice.
This book is sometimes overwhelming, always challenging, and probably not for everyone. It is a test of tolerance and empathy, in many ways. The beauty of the writing, the power of the imagery, the essential force of goodness that drives (again, literally and figuratively) the action in the character of Mikal, is the reason I've given it five stars.
The same nuance and complexity emerge with respect to the use of torture, the oppression of women, or just about any other issue raised in this novel of post-9/11 Pakistan / Afghanistan, seen through the eyes of a constellation of characters who must navigate, often blindly, (and both literally and figuratively), through the inherent conflicts of their own beliefs, relationships, and realities in the world around them.
A central conundrum - the prevailing dynamic - is the clash of religions and, more broadly, cultures which both cause the conflicts, and ultimately also provide the only tools to endure, if not resolve, them.
This book forced me to confront a lot of my own assumptions, emotions and attitudes - and I'm left holding these thoughts in each of my hands and different parts of my brain, irreconcilable. At the same time, as jo points out in her exceptional review, although there is much that is disquieting and even rage-inducing, there is also the intense beauty of the writing and imagery, and especially, the Mikal character's unswerving goodness and sense of justice.
This book is sometimes overwhelming, always challenging, and probably not for everyone. It is a test of tolerance and empathy, in many ways. The beauty of the writing, the power of the imagery, the essential force of goodness that drives (again, literally and figuratively) the action in the character of Mikal, is the reason I've given it five stars.
May 31, 2014
nadeem aslam is a treasure to the world and everyone should read him. his writing is simply fantastic -- i think i liked the writing in The Wasted Vigil better, but probably one would like best the one one reads first. the writing's fullness and ornatedness -- the riches of adjectives, similes, metaphors, imagery, and occasionally magic -- has reminded better readers than i of urdu and of the ancient poetic tradition of islam. here's an eloquent passage from manjul bajaj's lovely review in Outlook India (the review is excerpted on goodreads, where i found it):
light is a dominant theme. the light of stars, of kerosene lamps; the light of the dappled sun and of sun- and moonlight reflected in water; the light of fireflies; often the lack of light, like when power is cut and generators don't work, or when someone goes blind and the light his eyes can still see is more a tease that an aid. this is present in Wasted Vigil too.
also: representation, especially the sly representation of pentimento painting, a tool of survival in a world where extremist islamism makes images forbidden.
then books, books everywhere, and nature: flowers, plants, smells, tastes; animals.
animals have a particular place in his extraordinary book, and here i'll say what makes it so extraordinary: as manjul bajaj so beautifully and accurately says, "the book is Aslam’s prayer for the whole world, his attempt to bathe it in light." but i think that aslam goes even farther than this. i think that in his book he makes peace. he creates it. he imagines it and makes it happen.
all of his characters (in this book, unlike in Wasted Vigil they are muslim except for one, the priest of the school where two of our protagonists teach) are peace-loving people who put humanity, decency, and compassion way ahead of their own safety, comfort, and lives.
the tremendous injury of the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks -- a whole country attacked for no reason at all, its people decimated, its cities and villages reduced to rubble, fundamentalism and rage stoked with the most powerful bellow of all -- is mourned deeply and shown clearly in the book, but there is no anger: only a huge sorrow. and the protagonists of the book, this motley host of sometimes weird and always beautiful characters put their bodies in the wound and heal it.
it's aslam's novel and he can do what he wants with it. so he heals this unhealable wound. he does it mainly through the unbelievably lovely character of mikal, whose love for animals and for peace, whose utter inability to be angry, whose putting peace ahead of desire and self, are poetry unto themselves.
to say more is to give away the book, but if you read this extraordinary work of art, pay attention to mikal all through the book and in particular in the second half. pay attention to his carefulness with life -- all life. to his tenderness. to his earnestness. to his incredible love.
aslam uses a quote from simone weil at a crucial point in the book: "Love is not consolation, it is light." i am not sure what weil meant when she wrote it; i'm not even sure what it means, in general. but in this book this quote could not be more appropriately placed.
and let me say, it is difficult to set a book in immediately-post-9/11 afghanistan and not make it drip with rage. i did occasionally feel rage. you will too. but aslam is SO NOT AFTER rage. he bathes the world with light.
Seeping out from beneath the grammar and syntax of his perfectly polished adopted tongue is the melancholy and ache of Urdu’s vivid images and startling metaphors... Moonlight, fireflies, flowering plants and trees, singing birds, the movement of the stars and the colour of the sky texture the narrative and act as subliminal triggers which create an emotional subtext connecting the reader to the beauty of Islam’s poetic and artistic traditions.
light is a dominant theme. the light of stars, of kerosene lamps; the light of the dappled sun and of sun- and moonlight reflected in water; the light of fireflies; often the lack of light, like when power is cut and generators don't work, or when someone goes blind and the light his eyes can still see is more a tease that an aid. this is present in Wasted Vigil too.
also: representation, especially the sly representation of pentimento painting, a tool of survival in a world where extremist islamism makes images forbidden.
then books, books everywhere, and nature: flowers, plants, smells, tastes; animals.
animals have a particular place in his extraordinary book, and here i'll say what makes it so extraordinary: as manjul bajaj so beautifully and accurately says, "the book is Aslam’s prayer for the whole world, his attempt to bathe it in light." but i think that aslam goes even farther than this. i think that in his book he makes peace. he creates it. he imagines it and makes it happen.
all of his characters (in this book, unlike in Wasted Vigil they are muslim except for one, the priest of the school where two of our protagonists teach) are peace-loving people who put humanity, decency, and compassion way ahead of their own safety, comfort, and lives.
the tremendous injury of the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks -- a whole country attacked for no reason at all, its people decimated, its cities and villages reduced to rubble, fundamentalism and rage stoked with the most powerful bellow of all -- is mourned deeply and shown clearly in the book, but there is no anger: only a huge sorrow. and the protagonists of the book, this motley host of sometimes weird and always beautiful characters put their bodies in the wound and heal it.
it's aslam's novel and he can do what he wants with it. so he heals this unhealable wound. he does it mainly through the unbelievably lovely character of mikal, whose love for animals and for peace, whose utter inability to be angry, whose putting peace ahead of desire and self, are poetry unto themselves.
to say more is to give away the book, but if you read this extraordinary work of art, pay attention to mikal all through the book and in particular in the second half. pay attention to his carefulness with life -- all life. to his tenderness. to his earnestness. to his incredible love.
aslam uses a quote from simone weil at a crucial point in the book: "Love is not consolation, it is light." i am not sure what weil meant when she wrote it; i'm not even sure what it means, in general. but in this book this quote could not be more appropriately placed.
and let me say, it is difficult to set a book in immediately-post-9/11 afghanistan and not make it drip with rage. i did occasionally feel rage. you will too. but aslam is SO NOT AFTER rage. he bathes the world with light.
March 31, 2024
Titulo: El jardin de un hombre ciego
Autor: Nadeem Aslam
Motivo de lectura: #MarzoAsiatico2024
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 4/5
Es la primera vez que leo a Nadeem Aslam y debo decir que su prosa tiene la belleza de poder capturar una infinidad de sentimientos. Por momentos elegante (casi poetica), dolorosa, esperanzadora, dramatica. Nadeem Aslam posee una enorme capacidad para entregar un abanico de emociones.
La historia transcurre entre Pakistan y Afganistan, luego de los eventos del 9 de Septiembre. Toda la atmosfera ruge entre el dolor, la ira, y la necesidad de averiguar los por que y otorgar una posible respuesta al despues de un evento de esa magnitud.
Los personajes son gente simple, cada uno con un historia personal que intentan sobrevivir en un ambiente que promete todo menos paz, es palpable la limitacion de lo posible por hacer, y se intenta resolver el dia a dia como es posible, y no como se desearia. El autor entrelaza la esencia humana en la pura maldad con personas de buen corazon que no se rinden en la busqueda de un balance donde eventualmente algo tan simple como tener un plato de comida parece una tarea titanica. A pesar de sus personajes con buenas intenciones, el autor presenta que ningun personaje es perfecto, y eso le aporta mucho realismo a toda la trama.
Una lectura por momentos incomoda, donde se abre una ventana sobre Asia central (si, Afganistan no es Medio Oriente, tampoco lo es Pakistan) contado por un autor de origen asiatico, por ende entrega un enorme conocmiento sobre la cultura de primera mano.
Autor: Nadeem Aslam
Motivo de lectura: #MarzoAsiatico2024
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 4/5
Es la primera vez que leo a Nadeem Aslam y debo decir que su prosa tiene la belleza de poder capturar una infinidad de sentimientos. Por momentos elegante (casi poetica), dolorosa, esperanzadora, dramatica. Nadeem Aslam posee una enorme capacidad para entregar un abanico de emociones.
La historia transcurre entre Pakistan y Afganistan, luego de los eventos del 9 de Septiembre. Toda la atmosfera ruge entre el dolor, la ira, y la necesidad de averiguar los por que y otorgar una posible respuesta al despues de un evento de esa magnitud.
Los personajes son gente simple, cada uno con un historia personal que intentan sobrevivir en un ambiente que promete todo menos paz, es palpable la limitacion de lo posible por hacer, y se intenta resolver el dia a dia como es posible, y no como se desearia. El autor entrelaza la esencia humana en la pura maldad con personas de buen corazon que no se rinden en la busqueda de un balance donde eventualmente algo tan simple como tener un plato de comida parece una tarea titanica. A pesar de sus personajes con buenas intenciones, el autor presenta que ningun personaje es perfecto, y eso le aporta mucho realismo a toda la trama.
Una lectura por momentos incomoda, donde se abre una ventana sobre Asia central (si, Afganistan no es Medio Oriente, tampoco lo es Pakistan) contado por un autor de origen asiatico, por ende entrega un enorme conocmiento sobre la cultura de primera mano.
June 17, 2013
There are books that I can breeze through, not thinking much, just allowing myself to be entertained. This is probably the majority of books for me. Within 20 pages, I felt off-kilter. I soon realized The Blind Man's Garden was the OTHER kind of book, the book that demands your full attention and engages you fully. Read.every.word.no.skimming. The kind of book where you don't stop to feed yourself or answer the phone, where you just wander from bed, to couch, to chair...occasionally changing the locale of your reading. If I read a book like this every couple of years, I consider myself really lucky.
Blind Man's Garden is set in post 9/11 Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's the story of one family and their struggle to survive hardship and loss while maintaining their humanness. If you're a Muslim-hater, this book isn't for you, (unless you're willing to take a look through the eyes of a different culture, someone not like you). That being said, Blind Man's Garden isn't anti-American (or pro-Muslim). It portrays reality. It shows atrocities committed by both sides rooted in fear of the enemy, the challenges of women once used to relative freedom now trying to contend with wearing their jewelry hidden under black robes, husbands afraid for their wives to leave the home, lest they be stopped by the religious police, the fear of angering a neighbor who might tell lies about you to the authorities. I likened it to Nazi Germany with different trappings. It shows that caught up in all the politics, there are everyday people, laughing with their husbands, hugging their children, eating meals together...just people. It's not a political book, but a book about PEOPLE.
If you read Khaled Hosseini's "And the Mountains Echoed", and are feeling sad at the prospect of waiting 5 years for his next book, your wait is over. This book is AT LEAST as well written, the story more smooth in my opinion. It's beautifully written. If you don't like descriptive writing, steer clear. The author must be a gardener, because I smelled the orange blossoms, felt the bark of the henna trees, and saw the hedges of jasmine vine. The bad thing is it's a library book and I have to return it. The good thing is Nadeem Aslam has three other books for me to read. Blind Man's Garden is just superb. Really amazing. I can't recommend it enough. 10 stars.
Blind Man's Garden is set in post 9/11 Pakistan and Afghanistan. It's the story of one family and their struggle to survive hardship and loss while maintaining their humanness. If you're a Muslim-hater, this book isn't for you, (unless you're willing to take a look through the eyes of a different culture, someone not like you). That being said, Blind Man's Garden isn't anti-American (or pro-Muslim). It portrays reality. It shows atrocities committed by both sides rooted in fear of the enemy, the challenges of women once used to relative freedom now trying to contend with wearing their jewelry hidden under black robes, husbands afraid for their wives to leave the home, lest they be stopped by the religious police, the fear of angering a neighbor who might tell lies about you to the authorities. I likened it to Nazi Germany with different trappings. It shows that caught up in all the politics, there are everyday people, laughing with their husbands, hugging their children, eating meals together...just people. It's not a political book, but a book about PEOPLE.
If you read Khaled Hosseini's "And the Mountains Echoed", and are feeling sad at the prospect of waiting 5 years for his next book, your wait is over. This book is AT LEAST as well written, the story more smooth in my opinion. It's beautifully written. If you don't like descriptive writing, steer clear. The author must be a gardener, because I smelled the orange blossoms, felt the bark of the henna trees, and saw the hedges of jasmine vine. The bad thing is it's a library book and I have to return it. The good thing is Nadeem Aslam has three other books for me to read. Blind Man's Garden is just superb. Really amazing. I can't recommend it enough. 10 stars.
March 2, 2013
Having read each of Nadeem Aslam’s previous novels with great enjoyment, I bought this one in hardback almost as soon as it was released. His novel Maps for Lost Lovers – which took Aslam ten years to write – I’ve read twice and it remains one of my favourite modern novels. Aslam’s last novel The Wasted Vigil which is also set in Afghanistan – I enjoyed – but found the message ultimately hopeless, I wondered therefore what this one would be like. Having read Aslam before I knew I wasn’t in for a comfortable ride – it wasn’t, but it is definitely worth it.
Nadeem Aslam’s fourth novel is often brutal and sometimes angry, but totally unforgettable. Aslam’s often poetic writing is rich in imagery and deeply poignant. Weaving together the political and social realities of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the tragic story of a family deeply and irrevocably affected by the war which comes in the wake of 9/11, The Blind Man’s Garden is ultimately, a story of hope and resilience.
“If love was the result of having caught a glimpse of another's loneliness, then he had loved Mikal since they were ten years old.... This almost-brother. This blood-love in everything but name.”
Jeo and Mikal are foster brothers from a small Pakistani town; together they decide to go to Afghanistan, following the terrorist attacks in the USA, to care for wounded civilians. However there are malign forces at work against the pair, and their good intentions soon put them both into harm’s way. Left behind are Jeo’s wife Nadeem, secretly in love with Mikal, and Rohan, the father who brought them up, slowly going blind, and haunted by the memory of his dead wife.
“He walks out into the garden where the first few lines of moonlight are picking out leaves and bowers. He takes a lantern from an alcove. Standing under the silk-cotton tree he raises the lantern into the air, looking up into the great crown. The tallest trees in the garden are ten times the height of a man and even with his arm at full stretch Rohan cannot extend the light beyond the nearest layer of foliage. He is unable to see any of the bird snares – the network of thin steel wires hidden deep inside the canopies, knots that will come alive and tighten just enough to hold a wing or neck in delicate, harmless captivity.
Or so the stranger had claimed. The man had appeared at the house late in the morning today and asked to put up the snares. A large rectangular cage was attached to the back of his rusting bicycle. He explained that he rode through town with the cage full of birds and people paid him to release one or more of them, the act of compassion gaining the customer forgiveness for some of his sins.”
Also left behind are Basie, Mikal’s elder brother and Yasmin his wife, Rohan’s daughter. They teach at a local Christian school run by Father Mede – which some Islamic zealots wanting to make a name for themselves, have their eye on. At another local school – Ardent Spirit – the sinister Major Kyra and his saluki hound stalk the rooftop watching the town and mourning the loss of his own brother in Afghanistan.
Set against the backdrop of the superstitions and strictures of a small town in Pakistan, and among the wilds of Afghanistan, The Blind Man’s Garden takes the reader on a terrible journey. The war is seen from many perspectives, those left behind, those caught up in a war they don’t believe in, the war lords and the American soldiers, and the women for whom the world is uneven and narrow.
Nadeem Aslam tells a story that sometimes makes the reader want to look away; it is a story of terrible events coming out of misunderstanding and suspicion. There are faults on each side, Aslam unflinchingly portrays the Islamic zealot, the war lord, the American soldier and the misguided follower realistically – beliefs fuelled by hysteria and propaganda leading to savage acts of war.
Nadeem Aslam’s fourth novel is often brutal and sometimes angry, but totally unforgettable. Aslam’s often poetic writing is rich in imagery and deeply poignant. Weaving together the political and social realities of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the tragic story of a family deeply and irrevocably affected by the war which comes in the wake of 9/11, The Blind Man’s Garden is ultimately, a story of hope and resilience.
“If love was the result of having caught a glimpse of another's loneliness, then he had loved Mikal since they were ten years old.... This almost-brother. This blood-love in everything but name.”
Jeo and Mikal are foster brothers from a small Pakistani town; together they decide to go to Afghanistan, following the terrorist attacks in the USA, to care for wounded civilians. However there are malign forces at work against the pair, and their good intentions soon put them both into harm’s way. Left behind are Jeo’s wife Nadeem, secretly in love with Mikal, and Rohan, the father who brought them up, slowly going blind, and haunted by the memory of his dead wife.
“He walks out into the garden where the first few lines of moonlight are picking out leaves and bowers. He takes a lantern from an alcove. Standing under the silk-cotton tree he raises the lantern into the air, looking up into the great crown. The tallest trees in the garden are ten times the height of a man and even with his arm at full stretch Rohan cannot extend the light beyond the nearest layer of foliage. He is unable to see any of the bird snares – the network of thin steel wires hidden deep inside the canopies, knots that will come alive and tighten just enough to hold a wing or neck in delicate, harmless captivity.
Or so the stranger had claimed. The man had appeared at the house late in the morning today and asked to put up the snares. A large rectangular cage was attached to the back of his rusting bicycle. He explained that he rode through town with the cage full of birds and people paid him to release one or more of them, the act of compassion gaining the customer forgiveness for some of his sins.”
Also left behind are Basie, Mikal’s elder brother and Yasmin his wife, Rohan’s daughter. They teach at a local Christian school run by Father Mede – which some Islamic zealots wanting to make a name for themselves, have their eye on. At another local school – Ardent Spirit – the sinister Major Kyra and his saluki hound stalk the rooftop watching the town and mourning the loss of his own brother in Afghanistan.
Set against the backdrop of the superstitions and strictures of a small town in Pakistan, and among the wilds of Afghanistan, The Blind Man’s Garden takes the reader on a terrible journey. The war is seen from many perspectives, those left behind, those caught up in a war they don’t believe in, the war lords and the American soldiers, and the women for whom the world is uneven and narrow.
Nadeem Aslam tells a story that sometimes makes the reader want to look away; it is a story of terrible events coming out of misunderstanding and suspicion. There are faults on each side, Aslam unflinchingly portrays the Islamic zealot, the war lord, the American soldier and the misguided follower realistically – beliefs fuelled by hysteria and propaganda leading to savage acts of war.
April 12, 2022
Kısa süre önce gözden geçirmekte olduğu kitaptan, bu cümle geldi aklına. Giderek daha fazla sözcük hatırlarken, gözleri ayın kocaman bir soğuk halka halinde yer aldığı gökyüzünde dolaşıyordu. Sadece tek bir şeyin önemi var, tek bir sözcüğün. Eğer konuşursak bu, o şeyi bulamadığımız ve bulamayacağımız içindir.
//
Yazarın insanın ruhuna hassasiyetle dokunan güçlü bir kalemi var. Haliyle şahane bir girişe sahip olan bu kitap finale kadar o dokunuşun etkisini kaybediyor bence. Duyguların stabil kalabilmesini sağlasaymış ‘n’olur herkes okusun’ diye gezer dururmuşum, şimdi ise ‘okumasanız olurmuş’.
Haksızlık etmeyeyim o kadar değil ama yazarla tanışmak için ideal bir kitap mı ben de emin değilim.
//
Yazarın insanın ruhuna hassasiyetle dokunan güçlü bir kalemi var. Haliyle şahane bir girişe sahip olan bu kitap finale kadar o dokunuşun etkisini kaybediyor bence. Duyguların stabil kalabilmesini sağlasaymış ‘n’olur herkes okusun’ diye gezer dururmuşum, şimdi ise ‘okumasanız olurmuş’.
Haksızlık etmeyeyim o kadar değil ama yazarla tanışmak için ideal bir kitap mı ben de emin değilim.
September 20, 2013
I read this book because I'll be on a panel at Singapore Writer's Festival with this prize-winning author.
It's another of those fraught narratives about Afghanistan. I don't think I would have finished the book if not for feeling duty bound to do so because of the panel.
Like Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, Aslam offers us a very well-drawn view of a society and mind-set that many of us wouldn't otherwise get to experience. My problem was that the writing was too good and made me feel too intensely the constraints of those living in that society. My head literally felt blinkered by the Blind Man's religious philosophy. As for the constraints the women had to live with, well... No more said.
This book highlights what a gulf there is between those of us accustomed to having a liberal Western mindset and those of other persuasions. A particularly telling vignette is the shock and horror experienced by Afghan villagers confronted with a stray American soldier who has the words "Infidel" defiantly tattoed on himself.
For me, this was the tiny piece of glass that magnified the reality of our current politics. How some countries send their sons into harms way with no knowledge of the causes they're fighting for and the people they're fighting against, to lose their wars in conflicts no one can win.
I was depressed and tired when I finished the book.
I guess that's a mark of great writing, that we're made to identify with the characters and their fates remain in our heads and hearts long after we're done with the page.
It's another of those fraught narratives about Afghanistan. I don't think I would have finished the book if not for feeling duty bound to do so because of the panel.
Like Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, Aslam offers us a very well-drawn view of a society and mind-set that many of us wouldn't otherwise get to experience. My problem was that the writing was too good and made me feel too intensely the constraints of those living in that society. My head literally felt blinkered by the Blind Man's religious philosophy. As for the constraints the women had to live with, well... No more said.
This book highlights what a gulf there is between those of us accustomed to having a liberal Western mindset and those of other persuasions. A particularly telling vignette is the shock and horror experienced by Afghan villagers confronted with a stray American soldier who has the words "Infidel" defiantly tattoed on himself.
For me, this was the tiny piece of glass that magnified the reality of our current politics. How some countries send their sons into harms way with no knowledge of the causes they're fighting for and the people they're fighting against, to lose their wars in conflicts no one can win.
I was depressed and tired when I finished the book.
I guess that's a mark of great writing, that we're made to identify with the characters and their fates remain in our heads and hearts long after we're done with the page.
July 4, 2017
The Blind Man's Garden is a multi-layered book of great complexity which deals with issues of culture, family and religion in a manner to help the reader understand the delicate nature and intricacy of the web these themes create in our world. I am thrilled to discover Nadeem Aslam, the second Pakistani author whom I have fallen in love with this year. Like Exit West's author Mohsin Hamid Aslam write wonderful prose which must be savored.
Aslam begins the book:
History is the third parent.
As Rohan makes his way through the garden, not long after nightfall, a memory comes to him from his son Jeo’s childhood, a memory that slows him and eventually brings him to a standstill. Ahead of him candles are burning in various places at the house because there is no electricity. Wounds are said to emit light under certain conditions—touch them and the brightness will stay on the hands—and as the candles burn Rohan thinks of each flame as an injury somewhere in his house.
And that is where I was hooked. As if in a garden Aslim sprinkles the book with images of butterflies, flowers and birds. Do not be fooled by the beautiful prose, this book packs a powerful punch and contains suspense which will have you on the edge of your seat.
The story is set shortly after 9/11 at the beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan. It is told through shifting perspective of a number of complex characters and moves back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rohan is the blind man of the book, he is a retired Pakistani teacher who still mourns the death of his wife Sophia many years before. Other characters include his daughter in law, Naheed and foster son Mikal, among others.
Jeo, Rohan's son, a doctor in training and Mikal travel to Afghanistan to treat the wounded in the new war:
The door has opened and both of them have entered the future. Jeo sits in the back of the van with Mikal as they are driven through the shadowland of hill and plateau, the use of headlights kept to a minimum so that at times there is no knowing what lies a mere five seconds into the darkness. Later in the night lightning appears overhead and illuminates not only the earth and the clouds but also the place in the mind where the line of fear crosses the thoughts, and the ground glows blue for a few seconds with a crystal immediacy, vistas opening up as in a vision, with black shapes looming in them, shadows perhaps, perhaps creatures who can be fought only with the weapons forged by the spirit, not the flesh, and then as the night deepens the stars come out and wheel overhead, smearing the sky with ancient phosphorescence.
From that early moment in the book everything becomes suspenseful and I found that I couldn't put the book down. It's impact is powerful and I debated between a 4 and 5 star, but I'm sure it will make my top ten of 2017, so it seems it needs to be a 5 and I couldn't put my finger on what might bring it down.
Aslam begins the book:
History is the third parent.
As Rohan makes his way through the garden, not long after nightfall, a memory comes to him from his son Jeo’s childhood, a memory that slows him and eventually brings him to a standstill. Ahead of him candles are burning in various places at the house because there is no electricity. Wounds are said to emit light under certain conditions—touch them and the brightness will stay on the hands—and as the candles burn Rohan thinks of each flame as an injury somewhere in his house.
And that is where I was hooked. As if in a garden Aslim sprinkles the book with images of butterflies, flowers and birds. Do not be fooled by the beautiful prose, this book packs a powerful punch and contains suspense which will have you on the edge of your seat.
The story is set shortly after 9/11 at the beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan. It is told through shifting perspective of a number of complex characters and moves back and forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rohan is the blind man of the book, he is a retired Pakistani teacher who still mourns the death of his wife Sophia many years before. Other characters include his daughter in law, Naheed and foster son Mikal, among others.
Jeo, Rohan's son, a doctor in training and Mikal travel to Afghanistan to treat the wounded in the new war:
The door has opened and both of them have entered the future. Jeo sits in the back of the van with Mikal as they are driven through the shadowland of hill and plateau, the use of headlights kept to a minimum so that at times there is no knowing what lies a mere five seconds into the darkness. Later in the night lightning appears overhead and illuminates not only the earth and the clouds but also the place in the mind where the line of fear crosses the thoughts, and the ground glows blue for a few seconds with a crystal immediacy, vistas opening up as in a vision, with black shapes looming in them, shadows perhaps, perhaps creatures who can be fought only with the weapons forged by the spirit, not the flesh, and then as the night deepens the stars come out and wheel overhead, smearing the sky with ancient phosphorescence.
From that early moment in the book everything becomes suspenseful and I found that I couldn't put the book down. It's impact is powerful and I debated between a 4 and 5 star, but I'm sure it will make my top ten of 2017, so it seems it needs to be a 5 and I couldn't put my finger on what might bring it down.
July 8, 2014
When I finished reading Nadeem Aslam's MAPS FOR LOST LOVERS I felt as if I'd lost a friend, so I downloaded THE BLIND MAN'S GARDEN. The prose is gorgeous in both books, but less dense here and I prefer that. THE BLIND MAN'S GARDEN is the story of the war in Afghanistan as viewed by a cultured, middle-class family in Pakistan. We meet all sides, the medical student son who just wants to take care of the wounded. The young wife he leaves behind, his father, a good, decent man whose religion means everything to him. Jihadists who use their religion as an excuse to torture and kill. War lords who sell innocent boys to the Americans as jihadists for $500. The Americans who take care of their prisoners even as they torture them. I was gripped by what was happening to these poor people until in the last 50 pages Mikal, the clever character, does something so irredeemably stupid and travels around the countryside without a plan. I understood the structural reason for it, but didn't believe that clever character would do that. If anyone reading this has read the book, please let me know what you think.
May 23, 2013
I already knew that Aslam is a remarkable storyteller but I was unprepared for the ranges of emotions his elegant lyrical prose will evoke within me from page one until the very last page. Story takes place in Pakistan and Afghanistan right after 9/11, when emotions, outrage, rumors, the need for answers were high. The Blind Man’s Garden deftly handles the themes of ordinary people surviving in a world where power and control are continually shifting yet life has to one with grace and intelligence. Juxtaposing the beauty of nature against the pain of human actions is beautifully written. But, it is the characters that make this story soar and will haunt you after the last page is turned. The range of characters each with their own story as they struggle with balancing their inward beliefs with the outward world is riveting and heartbreaking.
February 13, 2020
You do not expect dramatic twists and weird coincidences at frequent intervals in literary fiction unless it is magical realism you are dealing with. The Blind Man's Garden, on the contrary, abounds with bizarre happenings and mind-blowing coincidences. It is as if you are watching an ordinary Hollywood/Bollywood/Lollywood movie. Also, at times, the author sounds quite orientalistic, as there is a lot of stereotyping and presumption involved in it. In addition to a few main characters, most of the secondary or random ones seem to be motivated by their obsession with jihad or the destruction of America. I am giving it two stars, instead of one, because of writer's lyrical prose and powerful imagery. Nadeem Aslam, definitely, writes beautifully.
February 8, 2018
A haunting tale of the impact of the American reaction to 9/11 told through the stories of two young Pakistani men who go to Afghanistan with the naive idea of working in a medical centre. They are handed over to the Taliban who plan to use them as new fighters. Their stories are alternated with their families back in their small home town and in the nearby city of Peshawa.
To be in this region is dangerously ambiguous with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, warlords, American special forces, Pakistani Secret Service and the innocent. Enemies could be anyone and anywhere with many changing sides depending on who has the money. Nothing is simple and no one is safe.
It is a fascinating read, there is a love story, some poetic language and imagery mixed with brutality and humanity.
To be in this region is dangerously ambiguous with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, warlords, American special forces, Pakistani Secret Service and the innocent. Enemies could be anyone and anywhere with many changing sides depending on who has the money. Nothing is simple and no one is safe.
It is a fascinating read, there is a love story, some poetic language and imagery mixed with brutality and humanity.
September 27, 2014
Honestly, I kept abandoning this book in favour of others on my Kobo because it was quite difficult to get into. I believe that it was the narrative style in the writing or quite possibly the cookie cutter characters that threw me. I felt that I had to really push myself to see this book through til the end.
I would have to say that if the author had taken part 3 of the book and built a storyline about a Pakistani man who is a wanted Taliban fugitive and an injured American Special Forces officer depending on each other as they travel across Pakistan- I would have bought into the story.
I really wish that this book would have swept me away as it did for others.
I would have to say that if the author had taken part 3 of the book and built a storyline about a Pakistani man who is a wanted Taliban fugitive and an injured American Special Forces officer depending on each other as they travel across Pakistan- I would have bought into the story.
I really wish that this book would have swept me away as it did for others.
May 29, 2020
11 Eylül sonrası Pakistan, Taliban, El Kaide, savaşla değişen hayatlar, aşklar, dostluklar. Çok etkileyici, yer yer ürpertici bir roman, çok beğendim.
March 10, 2022
I have recently been struck by a most dangerous affliction: that of not wanting to read.
This is a rare and confusing position for me to be in, and quite frankly I am completely baffled as to how to tackle this change in myself. It makes no sense, from what I can tell, and seems to have no trigger for why it has happened in this very particular moment in time, but here we are.
And even fan fiction, that one true love of my heart, whom I have managed to cling to like a barnacle through this confusing and terrifying phase, suddenly felt repetitive and boring to me this morning, this very morning, which is leading to the wild flailing that you are now currently reading in the weakly disguised form of a book review.
I read this book a while ago, and my first indication of my decreasing interest should have been my lack of desire to actually sit down and write this review. That is not to say that procrastination has not struck before. It has, multiple times, but usually it’s been beaten into submission by self-imposed deadlines, the fear that I’ll forget everything completely, or even just me wrangling my laziness under control.
This time, I read the book, which wasn’t a great book but also not a bad one, and placed it back on my bookshelf. And there it’s been, not judging me the way Pakistani books have judged me in the past decade every time I have read them and left them without commentary for too long. A stray passing thought sometimes urged me to sit down and at least find the dialogues I wanted to quote, but even seemed too boring a task.
But none of my disinterest makes any sense! By all accounts, things are going great. By some convoluted turn of coincidences, I was a facilitator recently at a literature festival where the author of the first review I had ever written was present. “I know you!” he said, when I met him. “You have that review blog! I quite like it. Really good stuff!”
Most of the times I prefer that the authors whose books I review never encounter me in real life, mostly because I can sometimes be a tad bit unforgiving with my criticism. I think of the world in which I write my reviews as a parallel dimension from where these authors will never hear of me, or of anything I might have said about their book. The things I write are meant for the readers, and my willful ignorance of the author’s existence on the same plane (or in the same internet universe) is what allows me to continue writing what I write.
In this case as well, I had pointed out flaws and inconsistencies, but also talked about the good stuff in this particular author’s book, and it was both alarming and slightly amusing to know that not only had he read what he had, he had liked it! A more visible form of encouragement I could not have encountered to come back home, sit down with my copy of The Blind Man’s Garden, and start typing. Alas, I did not.
And have continued to not do, as you are probably now realizing, if you stuck with me through the copious amount of word vomit given above, in what is the most non-review review I have probably ever written. Honestly, I don’t even remember much about this book, which is a shame because I have previously found lots to discuss in Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil or his short story entry in Granta. The same could have been said for this book, probably, if I hadn’t felt the way that I currently feel.
Honestly, in this mood, it’s a disservice to any book published ever if I read it right now and try to review it, because I’m just not interested. This was a good book, and at the end of the day, could have done with a much better reader. Read it if you want. Or not. Who even cares anymore.
This is a rare and confusing position for me to be in, and quite frankly I am completely baffled as to how to tackle this change in myself. It makes no sense, from what I can tell, and seems to have no trigger for why it has happened in this very particular moment in time, but here we are.
And even fan fiction, that one true love of my heart, whom I have managed to cling to like a barnacle through this confusing and terrifying phase, suddenly felt repetitive and boring to me this morning, this very morning, which is leading to the wild flailing that you are now currently reading in the weakly disguised form of a book review.
I read this book a while ago, and my first indication of my decreasing interest should have been my lack of desire to actually sit down and write this review. That is not to say that procrastination has not struck before. It has, multiple times, but usually it’s been beaten into submission by self-imposed deadlines, the fear that I’ll forget everything completely, or even just me wrangling my laziness under control.
This time, I read the book, which wasn’t a great book but also not a bad one, and placed it back on my bookshelf. And there it’s been, not judging me the way Pakistani books have judged me in the past decade every time I have read them and left them without commentary for too long. A stray passing thought sometimes urged me to sit down and at least find the dialogues I wanted to quote, but even seemed too boring a task.
But none of my disinterest makes any sense! By all accounts, things are going great. By some convoluted turn of coincidences, I was a facilitator recently at a literature festival where the author of the first review I had ever written was present. “I know you!” he said, when I met him. “You have that review blog! I quite like it. Really good stuff!”
Most of the times I prefer that the authors whose books I review never encounter me in real life, mostly because I can sometimes be a tad bit unforgiving with my criticism. I think of the world in which I write my reviews as a parallel dimension from where these authors will never hear of me, or of anything I might have said about their book. The things I write are meant for the readers, and my willful ignorance of the author’s existence on the same plane (or in the same internet universe) is what allows me to continue writing what I write.
In this case as well, I had pointed out flaws and inconsistencies, but also talked about the good stuff in this particular author’s book, and it was both alarming and slightly amusing to know that not only had he read what he had, he had liked it! A more visible form of encouragement I could not have encountered to come back home, sit down with my copy of The Blind Man’s Garden, and start typing. Alas, I did not.
And have continued to not do, as you are probably now realizing, if you stuck with me through the copious amount of word vomit given above, in what is the most non-review review I have probably ever written. Honestly, I don’t even remember much about this book, which is a shame because I have previously found lots to discuss in Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil or his short story entry in Granta. The same could have been said for this book, probably, if I hadn’t felt the way that I currently feel.
Honestly, in this mood, it’s a disservice to any book published ever if I read it right now and try to review it, because I’m just not interested. This was a good book, and at the end of the day, could have done with a much better reader. Read it if you want. Or not. Who even cares anymore.
January 8, 2013
The Blind Man’s Garden is a novel which rewards attentive reading and one in which the reader savours every word. It is the story of a Pakistani family torn apart in the aftermath of 9/11. Foster-brothers Jeo and Mikal hope to make a difference to the plight of Afghan civilians by helping those wounded in the ongoing conflict but their altruistic ambitions are thwarted when they fall into the hands of an Afghan War Lord. Meanwhile, at home in Pakistan, their father Rohan has to deal with Taliban sympathizers keen to join the Jihad whilst the women of the family have ever-dwindling rights in a male-dominated world.
Aslam uses elegant, lyrical prose to describe a world which is often brutal and grotesque. His characters are vivid, complex and flawed – there are no saints on either side. Rohan’s garden provides an oasis of calm, respite from the turbulence of the outside world but he also faces an inner struggle. In a society dominated by religious extremism it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile family and faith and this inevitably creates tension between generations.
It seems a nigh impossible task to unite East and West but, in this compelling novel, Aslam succeeds in highlighting what we have in common – humanity, loyalty, love and family ties – the building blocks upon which a more peaceful future might be based. Despite the tragedies which haunt this family, this is fundamentally a story of hope.
Aslam uses elegant, lyrical prose to describe a world which is often brutal and grotesque. His characters are vivid, complex and flawed – there are no saints on either side. Rohan’s garden provides an oasis of calm, respite from the turbulence of the outside world but he also faces an inner struggle. In a society dominated by religious extremism it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile family and faith and this inevitably creates tension between generations.
It seems a nigh impossible task to unite East and West but, in this compelling novel, Aslam succeeds in highlighting what we have in common – humanity, loyalty, love and family ties – the building blocks upon which a more peaceful future might be based. Despite the tragedies which haunt this family, this is fundamentally a story of hope.
March 8, 2013
Nadeem Aslam’s prose creates an effect very similar to that described as pentimento in painting, where images or elements that have been completely painted over by the artist become visible, revealing an earlier design trapped under the layers of the present work. There is a translucence to the author’s English which reveals an under layer of Urdu. Seeping out from beneath the grammar and syntax of his perfectly polished adopted tongue is the melancholy and ache of Urdu’s vivid images and startling metaphors: blood, pomegranates and rubies combine to capture the many inflections of pain, hurt, grief and regret. Moonlight, fireflies, flowering plants and trees, singing birds, the movement of the stars and the color of the sky texture the narrative and act as subliminal triggers which create an emotional subtext connecting the reader to the beauty of Islam’s poetic and artistic traditions.
Like grass that grows out of abandoned ruins asserts the triumph of life over death, this is a life-affirming tale of love and redemption emerging from the stark landscape of loss. Love is not consolation, it is light. The book is Aslam’s prayer for the whole world, his attempt to bathe it in light.
Read the full review here http://www.outlookindia.com/article.a...
Like grass that grows out of abandoned ruins asserts the triumph of life over death, this is a life-affirming tale of love and redemption emerging from the stark landscape of loss. Love is not consolation, it is light. The book is Aslam’s prayer for the whole world, his attempt to bathe it in light.
Read the full review here http://www.outlookindia.com/article.a...
August 24, 2023
Das Buch muss man gelesen haben.
Die Geschichte handelt um zwei Männer, die in Afghanistan zu den Anschlägen und dem Einmarsch der Amerika bzgl. des 9/11 Anschlags. Der Autor Nadeem Aslam bringt mit seinen so unglaublich guten und aber auch einfachen Wortschatz die Handlung so realistisch da, man meine, man erlebe die Person wortwörtlich in den Situationen mit den Gefühlen und Emotionen mit. Die Geschichte ist zu Beginn etwas schwierig um rein zu kommen, da ab und zu mal unklar ist, wer sich wo befindet aber dieses klärt sich relativ schnell. Die Spannung in dem Buch war durchgehend da gewesen, was nicht jedes Buch hinbekommt. Die gesellschaftliche Perspektive auf Minderheiten wie Schiiten, Christen und Ahmadis wurden relativ wenig angesprochen aber ich war überrascht gewesen, dass diese angesprochen wurden. Ich fand die Erzählperspektive von den Einheimischen gegenüber den einmarschierten Amerikanern und der Taliban ziemlich interessant, auch wie brutal und kaltblütig diese oft vorgingen. Der Schreibstil ist sehr flüssig und die einzelnen Kapitel mit relativ großen aber guten Abstand haben oft für kleine Nachdenkenpausen angeregt.
Wenn man einen Roman zu Pakistan und der Verbindung zu Afghanistan lesen und Einheimischen bezüglich der ganzen Besatzung verstehen will, ist dieses Buch perfekt. Denn es geht bei Pakistan und Afghanistan nie um nur die Besatzung, sondern auch um die Leben und die Situation der Einheimischen.
Die Geschichte handelt um zwei Männer, die in Afghanistan zu den Anschlägen und dem Einmarsch der Amerika bzgl. des 9/11 Anschlags. Der Autor Nadeem Aslam bringt mit seinen so unglaublich guten und aber auch einfachen Wortschatz die Handlung so realistisch da, man meine, man erlebe die Person wortwörtlich in den Situationen mit den Gefühlen und Emotionen mit. Die Geschichte ist zu Beginn etwas schwierig um rein zu kommen, da ab und zu mal unklar ist, wer sich wo befindet aber dieses klärt sich relativ schnell. Die Spannung in dem Buch war durchgehend da gewesen, was nicht jedes Buch hinbekommt. Die gesellschaftliche Perspektive auf Minderheiten wie Schiiten, Christen und Ahmadis wurden relativ wenig angesprochen aber ich war überrascht gewesen, dass diese angesprochen wurden. Ich fand die Erzählperspektive von den Einheimischen gegenüber den einmarschierten Amerikanern und der Taliban ziemlich interessant, auch wie brutal und kaltblütig diese oft vorgingen. Der Schreibstil ist sehr flüssig und die einzelnen Kapitel mit relativ großen aber guten Abstand haben oft für kleine Nachdenkenpausen angeregt.
Wenn man einen Roman zu Pakistan und der Verbindung zu Afghanistan lesen und Einheimischen bezüglich der ganzen Besatzung verstehen will, ist dieses Buch perfekt. Denn es geht bei Pakistan und Afghanistan nie um nur die Besatzung, sondern auch um die Leben und die Situation der Einheimischen.
December 31, 2016
Il giardino del cieco
Fosse stato uno dei soliti romanzi di guerra post-11 settembre, il ruolo di protagonista sarebbe stato assegnato a David Town, l’ufficiale del governo Usa che conduce l’interrogatorio dei sospetti, oppure all’altro americano, l’ostaggio di cui non sapremo mai il nome.
Invece il protagonista non è Town che ben presto esce di scena, bensì proprio il giovane pakistano lacero, mutilato e reticente che l’ufficiale si trova di fronte in catene, perché questo è un romanzo particolare che sfugge ai dettami del genere, così come è particolare il suo autore, 51enne anglo-pakistano trasferitosi dal natìo Pakistan a 14 anni, studioso di biochimica e autore di soli quattro romanzi, tre dei quali tradotti in italiano, il bellissimo “Mappe per amanti smarriti”, il meno riuscito “La veglia inutile” e questo.
“Il giardino del cieco” (che è il titolo originale, non quello incongruo e pretenzioso che l’edizione italiana ha attribuito…) è un’opera molto affascinante che, proseguendo l’analisi della sua essenza ibrida e, per ciò stesso, molto originale, mescola in un contesto pakistano, “terra straziata e dolente”, elementi di azione che sembrano quasi tratti dal western: il fuggiasco, il prigioniero, l’assedio, il tradimento, il ritorno, il sogno di un futuro pacifico e familiare, simboleggiato dai fiori del giardino richiamato nel titolo, quasi un’utopia nell’inferno in cui ognuno si trova a vivere, anzi a sopravvivere.
Ma il ritmo e lo stile della narrazione sono prettamente orientali con lunghe fasi contemplative e la presenza costante del sentimento religioso in tutti i personaggi, anche i giovani cresciuti con un’educazione “comunista”. Su tutto ciò incombe il conflitto talebani/americani reso più complesso (e più verosimile) dalla presenza dei “Signori della guerra” e dei governi locali, di dubbia affidabilità e schierati ora con l’una ora con l’altra parte, secondo la convenienza.
Si esce dalla lettura di questo notevole romanzo con la percezione di un caos dominante, sul quale Aslam evita di prendere una netta posizione (non è un romanzo “militante”) attribuendone l’univoca responsabilità all’intervento americano o alla pressione dell’integralismo islamico: tutti sono vittime e carnefici, in definitiva marionette di una scena che è stato e resta uno dei principali incubi della nostra epoca. Che speranza possono mai avere con queste premesse, l’amore di Mikal e Naheed, la presenza di una scuola cristiana fra le moschee, l’amicizia fra Jeo e Mikal? Forse la risposta è in quei due bambini che nel finale giocano “riempiendo di grida l’aria limpida rinfrescata dalla pioggia”.
Ma quei bambini sono già orfani.
Fosse stato uno dei soliti romanzi di guerra post-11 settembre, il ruolo di protagonista sarebbe stato assegnato a David Town, l’ufficiale del governo Usa che conduce l’interrogatorio dei sospetti, oppure all’altro americano, l’ostaggio di cui non sapremo mai il nome.
Invece il protagonista non è Town che ben presto esce di scena, bensì proprio il giovane pakistano lacero, mutilato e reticente che l’ufficiale si trova di fronte in catene, perché questo è un romanzo particolare che sfugge ai dettami del genere, così come è particolare il suo autore, 51enne anglo-pakistano trasferitosi dal natìo Pakistan a 14 anni, studioso di biochimica e autore di soli quattro romanzi, tre dei quali tradotti in italiano, il bellissimo “Mappe per amanti smarriti”, il meno riuscito “La veglia inutile” e questo.
“Il giardino del cieco” (che è il titolo originale, non quello incongruo e pretenzioso che l’edizione italiana ha attribuito…) è un’opera molto affascinante che, proseguendo l’analisi della sua essenza ibrida e, per ciò stesso, molto originale, mescola in un contesto pakistano, “terra straziata e dolente”, elementi di azione che sembrano quasi tratti dal western: il fuggiasco, il prigioniero, l’assedio, il tradimento, il ritorno, il sogno di un futuro pacifico e familiare, simboleggiato dai fiori del giardino richiamato nel titolo, quasi un’utopia nell’inferno in cui ognuno si trova a vivere, anzi a sopravvivere.
Ma il ritmo e lo stile della narrazione sono prettamente orientali con lunghe fasi contemplative e la presenza costante del sentimento religioso in tutti i personaggi, anche i giovani cresciuti con un’educazione “comunista”. Su tutto ciò incombe il conflitto talebani/americani reso più complesso (e più verosimile) dalla presenza dei “Signori della guerra” e dei governi locali, di dubbia affidabilità e schierati ora con l’una ora con l’altra parte, secondo la convenienza.
Si esce dalla lettura di questo notevole romanzo con la percezione di un caos dominante, sul quale Aslam evita di prendere una netta posizione (non è un romanzo “militante”) attribuendone l’univoca responsabilità all’intervento americano o alla pressione dell’integralismo islamico: tutti sono vittime e carnefici, in definitiva marionette di una scena che è stato e resta uno dei principali incubi della nostra epoca. Che speranza possono mai avere con queste premesse, l’amore di Mikal e Naheed, la presenza di una scuola cristiana fra le moschee, l’amicizia fra Jeo e Mikal? Forse la risposta è in quei due bambini che nel finale giocano “riempiendo di grida l’aria limpida rinfrescata dalla pioggia”.
Ma quei bambini sono già orfani.
March 4, 2016
You know those lazy Sunday afternoons when you're slumped in front of your television wondering if you should take a quick nap or wash the car, and boom...a bomb has just gone off in Pakistan, injuring and killing a lot of Muslims, innocent bystanders, women and children included.
Yet you feel nothing, probably because you've seen this before, again and again, and you've also seen enough footage of what seems like crazed Muslims, Pakistani men, women and children, burning American and British flags, stomping on them while chanting "Allahu Akbar".
The western media has told one side of the story.
Nadeem Aslam now tells the other, through The Blind Man's Garden.
If you flipped the channel without a second thought, read this book.
To many Asians like me, this book does not change my perception of Muslims just because a few bad apples decided to give Islam a bad name. I have enough Muslim friends, family members and business associates from all over the world (Pakistan included) to know they are (surprise, surprise) exactly like me - moderate, liberal, educated and here's the thing - they don't hate America or Israel, Jews or whites. They are...well, how shall I put it....human beings, with families, girlfriends, bank accounts and 2 pairs of jeans.
Nadeem Aslam's book is a must read. There's no better way to tell the story of the ordinary Pakistani and Afghan who are as much a victim of the terror the so-called jihadists continue to wage in the region, as anyone else.
The protagonist, Mikal, brings the story full circle when he, quite by 'accident', meets the man who has a bullet with his name on it.
Without tearing into a conclusion, Nadeem creates in the reader a sense of anticipation, of hope that one day Mikal will walk right back into Naheed's life, like a dream, through the blind man's garden.
Yet you feel nothing, probably because you've seen this before, again and again, and you've also seen enough footage of what seems like crazed Muslims, Pakistani men, women and children, burning American and British flags, stomping on them while chanting "Allahu Akbar".
The western media has told one side of the story.
Nadeem Aslam now tells the other, through The Blind Man's Garden.
If you flipped the channel without a second thought, read this book.
To many Asians like me, this book does not change my perception of Muslims just because a few bad apples decided to give Islam a bad name. I have enough Muslim friends, family members and business associates from all over the world (Pakistan included) to know they are (surprise, surprise) exactly like me - moderate, liberal, educated and here's the thing - they don't hate America or Israel, Jews or whites. They are...well, how shall I put it....human beings, with families, girlfriends, bank accounts and 2 pairs of jeans.
Nadeem Aslam's book is a must read. There's no better way to tell the story of the ordinary Pakistani and Afghan who are as much a victim of the terror the so-called jihadists continue to wage in the region, as anyone else.
The protagonist, Mikal, brings the story full circle when he, quite by 'accident', meets the man who has a bullet with his name on it.
Without tearing into a conclusion, Nadeem creates in the reader a sense of anticipation, of hope that one day Mikal will walk right back into Naheed's life, like a dream, through the blind man's garden.
April 27, 2013
This is an atmospheric and heart wrenching view of what the aftermath of 9/11 was for the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It focuses on one family, but the story it tells explains a part of the world that we know so little about at the day top day family level. Everything is in there--the poverty, the richness of life, family, war, peace, religion, traditions, education, Taliban, pride, guilt, life, death and, above all, survival. The prose is very lyrical, boarding on poetic, but that does not soften the blow of the violence these characters are subjected to (or subject others to). It isn't an easy read, but it is one that I highly recommend. It opened my eyes about many things, made me cry a time or two, and, most of all, it made me think about 9/11 in a very, very, very different way.
April 27, 2017
Alternately lyrical and brutal, this is a powerful and visceral story of life in modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The central love story is contrasted with accounts of the reality of war and of life inside extremist organisations. This does not always make for pleasant reading, but it is poetic in places and very moving in others.
August 18, 2015
A very poignant book that travels through the war-torn lands. The book left me wondering about the futility of war- families torn apart by war and strife. The story unfolds through the travels of Mikal-the despair and hope of a man who wants to do no harm. Overall, a very good read- a bit slow at times, but beautifully written.
March 26, 2023
ah men det är så svårt att sätta betyg för den är absolut mer än 3 men ändå inte upp på fyra poängsnivån riktigt. fast kanske ändå att den får fyra? nästan?
tyckte verkligen verkligen om den, men den tappade mig rätt mkt på slutet. det var bara kaos då och en massa misär, nästan på ett litet frossigt vis? jag kan till viss del förstå poängen i det, men det blev samtidigt lite kaka på kaka. som att någon missade att säga till författaren att man faktiskt kan rensa bort lite av sina idéer.
men!! den var också jättejättebra. jag älskade språket! blev verkligen bara så omfamnad av det. gillade också att boken inte tydligt pekade ut vem som var god och vem som var ond, utan lät allting vara komplext och problematiskt. för mig som vit och med ganska dålig koll på det som följde 9/11 var det en bok som fick mig att tänka till, och checka mina fördomar.
det var lite svårt ibland att hålla koll på alla karaktärer (men det kan ha varit on me och det faktum att jag tog rätt långa läspauser ibland) och den tappade mig lite mot slutet som sagt, men annars - oerhört läsvärd bok! vill varmt rekommendera
tyckte verkligen verkligen om den, men den tappade mig rätt mkt på slutet. det var bara kaos då och en massa misär, nästan på ett litet frossigt vis? jag kan till viss del förstå poängen i det, men det blev samtidigt lite kaka på kaka. som att någon missade att säga till författaren att man faktiskt kan rensa bort lite av sina idéer.
men!! den var också jättejättebra. jag älskade språket! blev verkligen bara så omfamnad av det. gillade också att boken inte tydligt pekade ut vem som var god och vem som var ond, utan lät allting vara komplext och problematiskt. för mig som vit och med ganska dålig koll på det som följde 9/11 var det en bok som fick mig att tänka till, och checka mina fördomar.
det var lite svårt ibland att hålla koll på alla karaktärer (men det kan ha varit on me och det faktum att jag tog rätt långa läspauser ibland) och den tappade mig lite mot slutet som sagt, men annars - oerhört läsvärd bok! vill varmt rekommendera
March 4, 2018
I have been on hold for this author's more recent work, got tired of waiting and tried this one to get a taste of the writing reviewers seems to admire. It is partly lyrical with mystical elements but is also halted in some sequences. It could be that I was trying to turn a blind eye to the more difficult passages exhibiting suffering in Afghanistan, a possible cause of my reaction to some phrasings at times. I know I should keep his more recent book on my Hold list, but I may have to change my mind with a limit of 5 books. There is a reverence within this book juxtaposed with brutality. Some very real global situations can be hard to read from the comfort of one's armchair.
A big smile did appear on my face when I read of chapatis -- I had a sister (now dead) who lived in Pakistan and raised her four children there so I know a thing or two about chapatis. Wanted to cheer, Shabash!
A big smile did appear on my face when I read of chapatis -- I had a sister (now dead) who lived in Pakistan and raised her four children there so I know a thing or two about chapatis. Wanted to cheer, Shabash!
October 31, 2020
This book was HIGHLY recommended from a very good work buddy of mine. This story was difficult to grasp steadily at first due to its complexity, and the author's "flowery" prose on top of that. However, once I've succeeded, I got a vivid insight on not only the haunting aspects of war but also how religion can both help and hinder people with the most compassionate hearts, and even those with immense greed or constant fear, so aka, a lot of different people. I'm definitely satisfied after finishing this book! 😍
February 26, 2023
I want to acknowledge that I am the audience for this book; it is certainly written for a Western audience outside of Islamic culture, with descriptions that contextualize the cultural importance of small and large details. That being said, the prose is breathtaking, even with these little expositive "footnotes" to guide the reader. I absolutely recommend this book if you liked The Kite Runner and wanted another perspective on the events of 2001, the Taliban, and how extremism looks from those who are not complicit but not able to escape.
February 5, 2016
To my relief, in 'The Blind Man's Garden', Aslam has succeeded in toning down his vivid imagination and focusing more on the story he plans to tell. (unlike what he did with the 'Maps for Lost Lovers'). In this novel set in the immediate days after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Mikal accompanies his foster brother Jeo to Afghanistan from Pakistan on a humanitarian mission. Things immediately go awry with Jeo ending up murdered and Mikal being captured. After a series of exchanges between warlords, Mikal ends up in the interrogation chamber of the Americans only to be eventually freed. This freeing of an innocent suspect also ends up with a twist - Mikal ends up inadvertently murdering a couple of US soldiers and ends up a fugitive - this time with little chance for escape.
Back home, the novel dwells on the lives of Mikal's foster father, Jeo's widowed wife Naheed (who also turns out to be Mikal's original love interest), Mikal's brother Basie, Basie's wife and others.
In my opinion, when one has to willingly suspend disbelief towards appreciating a piece of work, then the author has not achieved his intent to communicate effortlessly. In this novel, this is exactly what happens - the climax with Mikal coming across a wounded Special Ops soldier, his relationship with the deceased Americans and Mikal's eventual role in his rescue made the work a bit hard for me to digest. But irrespective of the flaws, 'The Blind Man's Garden' is an important addition to the literature on the brutal US war and its effects on ordinary lives of whom we know little about.
November 24, 2016
this is actually the fourth Nadeem Aslam novel that i have read and i liked it.
it is about two foster brothers who belong to a small remote town in pakistan and this is based after 9/11.
they are Joe and Mikal.
they they decide to go to Afghanistan not to support the Taliban or any thing else but to just help and take care of the people who are injured and have to suffer a lot due to the war,destruction and all the bad things that happen in war.
the details given about Afghanistan are just lovely.
they than come across American army.
it is a long read though.
the title of this book is "the blind mans garden"
but after reading this book i have come to know that the novel is not all about the blind man at all but instead the blind man known as Rohan is just mentioned in the last pages!.
it is about two foster brothers who belong to a small remote town in pakistan and this is based after 9/11.
they are Joe and Mikal.
they they decide to go to Afghanistan not to support the Taliban or any thing else but to just help and take care of the people who are injured and have to suffer a lot due to the war,destruction and all the bad things that happen in war.
the details given about Afghanistan are just lovely.
they than come across American army.
it is a long read though.
the title of this book is "the blind mans garden"
but after reading this book i have come to know that the novel is not all about the blind man at all but instead the blind man known as Rohan is just mentioned in the last pages!.
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