Great writing - heavy but very good ( )

A beautiful book, but a little over the top - paring it down would have strengthened it. I wonder whether the floweriness of the writing is partly due to the influence of Urdu...Aslam arrived in the UK at the age of 14. I believe that the story is largely based on true life events.
Its beauty is in the loving: mostly painful love - one feels with characters.
This book is also important because of what it teaches about the separate world of Islam. I had no idea of what it does to women, still today, in a modern Western state: one may see a woman in a burka and fail to understand the implications.
The impact this book had on me is similar to that of the movie Osama, about the Taleban in Afghanistan, focussing on women's lives.
Nadeem Aslam spoke here recently (in Wellington, New Zealand). His kindness and intelligence were impressive. He also gave out an aura of virtue, however strange that may sound. He was promoting a subsequent book, The Wasted Vigil (more magical, I liked it less, but it is still a good book - about life and events in Aghanistan.) ( )

very negative portrait of Pakastan Muslim community in England. Lots of horror against women.
Author loves similies! ( )

Maps for Lost Lovers centers around the death of two murdered lovers, Chanda and Jugnu, killed for living in sin. The story mostly follows Jugnu’s brother Shamas, and Shamas’ wife Kaukab who is strict, religious, and the exact opposite of Shamas. It also occasionally follows the beautiful Suraya who’s husband divorced her in a drunken fit, and a few other characters who narrate a chapter or two. Together, these characters tell the story of an immigrant community - a country within a country - full of lies, gossip, love, pain, hypocrisy and misogyny, where everyone’s lives are connected and intertwined.

I picked up Maps for Lost Lovers because of a positive book review I saw somewhere, praising the author’s prose. I didn’t find his prose or style of writing to be as amazing as the review had said, but I enjoyed the story. It took me awhile to get into it, but once I was interested it was hard to put down. However, I think a lot of people might not be able to get into it. Some people might find that the author really overdoes it on the similes.

I think the best part of this story is the character development. Throughout the book you get to know most major characters very intimately, and there is no absolute good or evil. Even most of the horrible characters have a little bit of a human side to them.

The death of Chanda and Jugnu was a gateway into all the ills of this community and all the other stories that seemed to be separate but were really all connected. I found the little side stories really intriguing, even though some were really horrific and sickening. It was an upsetting read because, even though it’s fictional, most of the horrific crimes that happen in the book really do happen in real life. ( )

This book describes the year following the disappearance of a Pakistani couple in England. They are presumed murdered, the victims of an honour killing perpetrated by the woman's two brothers. The story doesn't focus specifically on the murders, but more on the impact the couple had on the members of their community, and especially their family members. Problems with racism and immigration are an undertone, but central to the tale are the difficulties inherent in reconciling religious teachings (in this case, Islam) with changing morals and different lifestyles.

It is beautifully written, although a bit heavy on the descriptions from time to time. The subject matter is so difficult, so sad, and (coming from an atheist's point of view) so hard to understand, but it is a great book. Still, have something happy to read on hand next, as this is definitely not an uplifting story that ends with a lot of hope. ( )