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Maps for Lost Lovers (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: shalwar kameez, Mah Jabin, Sohni Dharti, Scandal Point (more...)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this poignant, lushly written novel, Aslam (Season of the Rainbirds) explores the interwoven lives of Pakistani immigrants in an English town they have rechristened Dasht-e-Tanhaii, "the Wilderness of Solitude" or "the Desert of Loneliness." The disappearance of Jugnu and Chanda, lovers who broke Islamic law to live in sin, throws the small community into upheaval. The police arrest Chanda's brothers, whom they believe murdered the couple to avenge their family's shame. Meanwhile, Jugnu's brother, Shamas, contemplates the loss, occasionally clashing with his wife, Kaukab, a devout Muslim who overtly disapproved of the relationship. Aslam depicts an insular ex-pat Pakistani community fighting to preserve its cultural heritage and losing the battle to its Western-born children—often quite violently. At the heart of the turmoil is sexual freedom, and Aslam illustrates the many ways women's lives are restricted and romantic love is denied in the name of religion. At times, Aslam's critique grows didactic, as when he saddles his characters with long stretches of wooden, philosophical dialogue. But in Kaukab, the lonely, sympathetic believer who inadvertently alienated her own children, Aslam personifies the conflicts of acculturation, crafting a truthful story that resists easy conclusions. (May 8)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–A Pakistani enclave in contemporary London is beset by uncertainty when an unmarried Muslim couple–an impossibility for many with loyal Pakistani and religious ties to imagine, let alone condone–are found murdered. Kaukab, the deeply religious middle-aged woman who is both a neighbor and the man's sister-in-law, grapples with the fact that the pair lay dead for many days before being discovered. Kaukab is also struggling with her aging body, her younger son's alienation, and her husband's inattentiveness to Muslim law. Readers see most clearly into Kaukab's world, but her viewpoint is not the only one represented: her husband reveals his inner life and, in the end, the last morning the murdered couple lived is recounted, as are the actions and thoughts of their killers. In spite of the adult concerns of this novel, high school students, especially those with knowledge of Pakistani émigrés, will find this tale spellbinding. Aslam writes beautifully and evokes each character's emotion with elegance.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (May 9, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400076978
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400076970
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #260,628 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #35 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Indian

More About the Author

Nadeem Aslam
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Flag of a Deeper Colour, May 18, 2005
By Eric Anderson (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Maps for Lost Lovers (Hardcover)
Maps for Lost Lovers takes place in 1997 and is set over the course of a year in an unnamed community in England with a large Muslim population. It's primary focus is a married couple, Shamas, a non-believer and Kaukab, his pious wife. There are many mysteries threaded throughout this beautifully written novel, but the central one focuses on the disappearance of Shamas' brother Jugnu and the woman he was living with, Chanda. The two were not married and therefore were perceived to be living in a state of sin according to Muslim belief. Chanda's two brothers have been accused of murdering the couple. Over the course of the year, the trial over their suspected murder unfolds and many hidden secrets of the community are brought to light. It's a story of great suspense, giving precious insight into a very closed community that is struggling to maintain the beliefs of the country they left and the religion which is in many ways antithetical to modern English life.

It took Aslam over ten years to write this novel, working largely in solitude and subsisting on a very humble income. The beautifully wrought passages attest to the concentrated labour used to create them and the vast amount of time he spent with these characters shows in the penetrating insight he gives to their individual minds and hearts. The lyrical style of the novel which uses metaphor upon metaphor might at first be a distraction to the reader. However, this persistent way of likening one thing to another reflects the attitudes of people in this community who persistently compare things in England to their home country. It's a device by the author to show how they are in some ways unable to see things in England as they really are. One of the most remarkable things about this novel is the shocking, extremely violent reactions by the Muslim community used to condemn some of the characters' actions. Aslam based all these events on real reported incidents. He also depicts the extremely intolerant and racist attitudes of non-Muslims to this community of immigrants. However, at the same time the author shows how deeply compassionate members of the community are to each other and the difficult struggle they experience trying to maintain their beliefs in opposition to the more extreme Muslim behaviour some of them disapprove of. Aslam has spoken about how moderate Muslim's need to speak up in today's world and dispel the popular Western view that all people of this religion are dangerous extremists. This rich, entertaining and poignant novel is a testament to that struggle.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, timely, insightful, intense, August 6, 2005
This review is from: Maps for Lost Lovers (Hardcover)
The poetry of this book required that I read it slowly. The metaphor-rich first chapter introduces us to Shamas, a Pakistani immigrant, in his soul a poet, living in England. We meet his wife Kaukab, a devout Muslim, with more direct language, with the smells of food preparation and the beauty of fabrics immersing the reader in her everyday life.

The compelling murder mystery that drives the story provides a context for the central motif: how traditional religion both serves and disserves its community, how literal interpretation of religious texts competes with reason, how love and marriage which so often defy control are strictly governed, leading to much unhappiness for both men and women, with women suffering most harshly.

The novel presents assimilation as a tremendous threat to this immigrant community, the systematic discrimination and daily indignities reinforcing its isolation, and also as the only avenue, at least some measure of assimilation, to a less constrained, less superstitious, less oppressive and potentially less oppressed life.

The story takes place pre-9/11 and of course, pre the London bombings this year. Having come this far with Shamas, Kaukab and their children, I am saddened to think about how their burdens have increased, and I thank the novel for allowing me to make this connection.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a masterpiece of imagery and emotion!, June 24, 2006
I have never read a more exquisitely written and detailed novel in my life and am reluctant to finish it! It is a story that can be read over and over and I know that I will because THIS is top-notch writing! Though the descriptions CAN be lengthy, they don't interrupt the flow of the story but rather add to them because you are being painted a picture and can take a second to imagine and have your senses thrilled. It's quite erotic!

I'm not going into the details of the story because that's what the jacket copy is for and other reviewers have already done for me, but what I loved best was the unflinching portrayal of the Muslim community - and the way he wrote his characters; so vivid, flawed and HUMAN that if they were appear right next to you, you wouldn't bat an eye.

I also recommend Bodies in Motion by Mary Anne Mohanraj and That Summer In Paris (but especially Babyji) by Abha Dawesar for more delicious and provocative tales of South Asians.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars A 270-page catalog of metaphors
I loved Nadeem Aslam's wonderful book, A Wasted Vigil, and was eager to read Maps for Lost Lovers. (Read my review of A Wasted Vigil--and then read that book! Read more
Published 2 months ago by David Klausmeyer

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull, unimaginative
I found the book engaging in the beginning, but as the painfully constructed story line started to unravel, i was left wondering if i had gotten hold of a torture device used in... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Estee

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't see the forest for the trees
I thought Maps for Lost Lovers was beautifully written and gave a glimpse into a community I knew very little about. Read more
Published 23 months ago by T. Pagan

5.0 out of 5 stars UNBELIEVABLY FABULOUSLY BEAUTIFUL BOOK
Can't say much more than that. The writing is gorgeous beyond anything I have read in a long long time. Read more
Published on January 6, 2007 by Lauren Jacoby

2.0 out of 5 stars Such beautiful writing...such little beauty to the story
There is no question that Aslam is a talented writer; "She goes to the window to look at the falling snow, the mirrors (on her traditional dress) on her [... Read more
Published on April 18, 2006 by Soraya Joonas

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many issues
The story tells us the conflicts of an immigrant family. The older generation sticking to its own beliefs. Read more
Published on March 28, 2006 by Faiza Haroon

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story. Badly written.
Aslam's core story is fascinating - a culture clash that leads to the deaths of three people, and the collapse of a family. Read more
Published on January 15, 2006 by Richard Cosgrove

5.0 out of 5 stars Clash of cultures as seen through second generation Anglo-Asian eyes
As Asian literature, Aslam Nadeem's "Maps For Lost Lovers" is a vastly superior piece of fiction and far more engaging and enjoyable than Monica Ali's overpraised "Brick Lane"... Read more
Published on November 3, 2005 by Reader from Singapore

1.0 out of 5 stars Painful, painful, painful
I am really disappointed and appalled that people are so fond of this book. It is one of the most oppressive, melodramatic books I have ever read, with little to offer in the way... Read more
Published on October 2, 2005 by Nisa

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read, but beware stereotypes
I enjoyed this a great deal--especially the scenes of how the young daughter dealt with her traditionalist mother--because it treats a lot of themes central to the question of... Read more
Published on May 14, 2005 by Melanchthon

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