Name: The Blind Man's Garden
ISBN: 9780307961716

Nadeem Aslam

The author of "The Wasted Vigil" presents 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.

The Blind Man's Garden

Love is not consolation, it is light.'From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers comes 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, foster-brothers from a small Pakistani city, secretly enter Afghanistan: not to fight with the Taliban, but to help and care for wounded civilians. But it soon becomes apparent that good intentions can't keep them out of harm's way...From the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind - their blind father haunted for years by the death of his wife, by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood, Jeo's steadfast wife and her superstitious mother - Aslam's prose takes us on an extraordinary journey, through war, tragedy, love and brotherhood.

Francine Corry

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.

The Blind Man's Garden

Reviews

Highlights