Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam

8/10

I read this book a handful of years ago in an English class at University. Most of the books we read that semester were quite lame, but I liked this one way more than the others despite the title (yes, I was very embarrassed to ask the cashier at a used book store if she happened to know if they had a copy of a book called "Maps for Lost Lovers").

The author, Nadeem Aslam, who I have never heard of was very good. I really liked his writing style. He was the master of the simile in this book (almost everything he describes is likened to something, and it's awesome).

The book begins with the disappearance of this middle-aged brother and his younger girlfriend. It is presumed that the brothers of the girlfriend did something criminal because the middle-aged brother and the girlfriend were living together romantically without being married and the brothers felt that this was a shame to their family and they must avenge this wrong in the name of honor to their family (that seemed like an incoherent sentence and probably hard to follow, but oh well). Also, I should mention that the families are Muslim and are immigrants living in a largely Muslim community in England, if I remember correctly. The book centers on traditional Muslim beliefs and how damaging it can be to continue to live life in such a way, i.e. honor killings in the name of God, child abuse for those "possessed by devils", etc. The book explores complex relationships between those who are devoutly faithful to the Muslim religion and those that are not but are kind enough to allow such belief and those who are against it entirely. These dynamics are displayed within the main family in the book: the Mom is hardcore Muslim, the Dad is not but lets the Mom do her thing, and most of the kids are quite against it to varying degrees of vocal opposition.

The book was very well done, I thought. The writing was near flawless and there is sympathy to be had for all characters: the immigrant Pakistani Muslims who are often discriminated against by local Brits and for those whose lives are harmed by others who are acting in the name of religion (I think Aslam had an ax to grind in this area and it seemed to be the main theme of the book, at least to me). Plus, it was written in 2003 and qualifies as one of the few books written in this century that I have enjoyed (or probably even read for that matter).

Quotes: (I should have found a sweet example of his simile style in action, but I didn't)

"A lie does not become truth just because ten people are telling it."

"The neighbourhood is a place of...intrigue and emotional espionage, where when two people stop to talk on the street their tongues are like the two halves of a scissor coming together, cutting reputations and good names to shreds." I guess this quote is an example of his simile display.

"She tells herself that she must bear up patiently, that a person is like a tealeaf: drop it into boiling water if you want to see its true colour." Oh, simile again.

"There is nothing that torments Satan more than the sight of a faithful in prayer."