Scan barcode
tareka's review against another edition
4.0
The Blind's Man's Garden is a beautifully written tale about war. terrorism, friendship, brotherhood, love, clash of civilizations, religion and philosophy. All woven together in emotional twists. Nadeem Aslam detailed descriptions of scenery, people, culture, food and the weather in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the war zone were so vivid it helped bring his charterers to life.
The most gripping moment for me came at the end, in the scene where Mikal can't communicate with the US solider as he doesn't understand English.
Some favorite quotes:
"‘No one from here can know what the Westerners know,’ the man says. ‘The Westerners are unknowable to us. The divide is too great, too final. It’s like asking what the dead or the unborn know."
"He goes up to the roof and finds comfort in the brightening sky, receiving his share of the earth through the five senses, the dawn glow of ochre and cinnabar, the light calling things into existence, the thin voices of birds."
The most gripping moment for me came at the end, in the scene where Mikal can't communicate with the US solider as he doesn't understand English.
Some favorite quotes:
"‘No one from here can know what the Westerners know,’ the man says. ‘The Westerners are unknowable to us. The divide is too great, too final. It’s like asking what the dead or the unborn know."
"He goes up to the roof and finds comfort in the brightening sky, receiving his share of the earth through the five senses, the dawn glow of ochre and cinnabar, the light calling things into existence, the thin voices of birds."
mjanemartin's review against another edition
5.0
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.
isabella_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Worum geht’s?
Pakistan kurz nach den Anschlägen des 11. September 2001: Jeo ist seit kurzem mit Naheed verheiratet, ohne zu wissen, dass sie die Geliebte seines besten Freundes Mikal ist. Als er hört, dass Männer gesucht werden, um den Verwundeten in Afghanistan zu helfen, meldet Jeo sich freiwillig, genau wie Mikal. Doch im Hintergrund zieht jemand anders die Fäden und sorgt dafür, dass die beiden mitten ins Gefecht geraten. Der Plan geht auf - Jeo stirbt und Mikal wird gefangen genommen. Für ihn ist es der Beginn einer blutigen Odyssee, die ihn quer durch Pakistan und Afghanistan führt. Auch im Leben von Jeos Familie macht sich der Krieg bemerkbar. Sein Vater Rohan, ein frommer Muslim, hat die Leitung der von ihm gegründeten Schule widerwillig abgegeben, lebt jedoch immer noch auf dem Schulgelände. Hilflos muss er zusehen, wie die Schüler von "Ardent Spirit" unter dem neuen Leiter zu Dschihadisten, Selbstmordattentätern, ausgebildet werden. Derweil kämpft Naheed darum, sich nach Jeos Tod nicht wieder verheiraten zu müssen. Sie glaubt fest daran, dass Mikal zurückkehren wird, und ist entschlossen, auf ihn zu warten.
Meine Meinung
An "Der Garten des Blinden" hat mich im Grunde die Thematik mehr als die Geschichte an sich gereizt. Internationaler Terrorismus ist ein hochaktuelles Thema, das uns alle betrifft, heute noch mehr als 2001. Sehr geschickt verknüpft Nadeem Aslam in seinem Roman Fakten und Fiktion und lässt sich dabei nicht zu Schwarz-Weiß-Denken hinreißen. Der Autor prangert äußerst eindrücklich Gewalt, Ignoranz und Heuchelei aller Kriegsteilnehmer an und zeigt, dass es in diesem Kampf nur Opfer, keine Gewinner gibt. Seine differenzierte Darstellung erlaubt keine simple Einteilung in "gut" und "böse", sondern fordert den Leser dazu heraus, die eigenen Meinungen und Vorurteile zu hinterfragen.
Gleichzeitig fängt der Autor mit eindrucksvollen sprachlichen Bildern die Schönheit Pakistans ein, der selbst die schlimmsten Kriegswirren nichts anhaben können. Aslam hat einen wunderbar bildhaften, poetischen Schreibstil, arbeitet viel mit Metaphern und Vergleichen. Man könnte meinen, dass der Gegensatz zwischen der wunderschönen Sprache und den grauenhaften Ereignissen verstörend wirkt, aber irgendwie trifft der Autor in jeder Szene den richtigen Ton. Außerdem fand ich es sehr passend, dass der Roman im Präsens geschrieben ist, denn die Figuren leben in einer Welt, in der sich im Bruchteil einer Sekunde alles ändern kann.
Ich muss allerdings gestehen, dass ich mich trotz des spannenden Themas und der eigentlich sehr ereignisreichen Geschichte manchmal mit dem Roman gequält habe. Aslam erzählt auf so ruhige, unaufgeregte Art, dass der Erzählfluss selbst dann gemächlich bleibt, wenn sich für die Figuren die Ereignisse überschlagen. "Der Garten des Blinden" ist definitiv ein Roman, der Konzentration und ein bisschen Ausdauer erfordert. Im Grunde finde ich es aber gut, dass der Autor nicht auf seichte Actionroman-Art über sehr reale Kriegsschrecken schreibt. Stattdessen lässt er die Ereignisse für sich wirken, was mir sehr viel lieber ist als falsches Pathos.
Fazit
„Der Garten des Blinden“ ist kein Roman, den man mal schnell nebenbei lesen kann, die Mühe lohnt aber definitiv. Der Roman besticht nicht nur durch einen wunderschönen Schreibstil und eine bewegende Geschichte, sondern regt darüber hinaus zum Nachdenken über die eigenen Vorurteile an.
Pakistan kurz nach den Anschlägen des 11. September 2001: Jeo ist seit kurzem mit Naheed verheiratet, ohne zu wissen, dass sie die Geliebte seines besten Freundes Mikal ist. Als er hört, dass Männer gesucht werden, um den Verwundeten in Afghanistan zu helfen, meldet Jeo sich freiwillig, genau wie Mikal. Doch im Hintergrund zieht jemand anders die Fäden und sorgt dafür, dass die beiden mitten ins Gefecht geraten. Der Plan geht auf - Jeo stirbt und Mikal wird gefangen genommen. Für ihn ist es der Beginn einer blutigen Odyssee, die ihn quer durch Pakistan und Afghanistan führt. Auch im Leben von Jeos Familie macht sich der Krieg bemerkbar. Sein Vater Rohan, ein frommer Muslim, hat die Leitung der von ihm gegründeten Schule widerwillig abgegeben, lebt jedoch immer noch auf dem Schulgelände. Hilflos muss er zusehen, wie die Schüler von "Ardent Spirit" unter dem neuen Leiter zu Dschihadisten, Selbstmordattentätern, ausgebildet werden. Derweil kämpft Naheed darum, sich nach Jeos Tod nicht wieder verheiraten zu müssen. Sie glaubt fest daran, dass Mikal zurückkehren wird, und ist entschlossen, auf ihn zu warten.
Meine Meinung
An "Der Garten des Blinden" hat mich im Grunde die Thematik mehr als die Geschichte an sich gereizt. Internationaler Terrorismus ist ein hochaktuelles Thema, das uns alle betrifft, heute noch mehr als 2001. Sehr geschickt verknüpft Nadeem Aslam in seinem Roman Fakten und Fiktion und lässt sich dabei nicht zu Schwarz-Weiß-Denken hinreißen. Der Autor prangert äußerst eindrücklich Gewalt, Ignoranz und Heuchelei aller Kriegsteilnehmer an und zeigt, dass es in diesem Kampf nur Opfer, keine Gewinner gibt. Seine differenzierte Darstellung erlaubt keine simple Einteilung in "gut" und "böse", sondern fordert den Leser dazu heraus, die eigenen Meinungen und Vorurteile zu hinterfragen.
Gleichzeitig fängt der Autor mit eindrucksvollen sprachlichen Bildern die Schönheit Pakistans ein, der selbst die schlimmsten Kriegswirren nichts anhaben können. Aslam hat einen wunderbar bildhaften, poetischen Schreibstil, arbeitet viel mit Metaphern und Vergleichen. Man könnte meinen, dass der Gegensatz zwischen der wunderschönen Sprache und den grauenhaften Ereignissen verstörend wirkt, aber irgendwie trifft der Autor in jeder Szene den richtigen Ton. Außerdem fand ich es sehr passend, dass der Roman im Präsens geschrieben ist, denn die Figuren leben in einer Welt, in der sich im Bruchteil einer Sekunde alles ändern kann.
Ich muss allerdings gestehen, dass ich mich trotz des spannenden Themas und der eigentlich sehr ereignisreichen Geschichte manchmal mit dem Roman gequält habe. Aslam erzählt auf so ruhige, unaufgeregte Art, dass der Erzählfluss selbst dann gemächlich bleibt, wenn sich für die Figuren die Ereignisse überschlagen. "Der Garten des Blinden" ist definitiv ein Roman, der Konzentration und ein bisschen Ausdauer erfordert. Im Grunde finde ich es aber gut, dass der Autor nicht auf seichte Actionroman-Art über sehr reale Kriegsschrecken schreibt. Stattdessen lässt er die Ereignisse für sich wirken, was mir sehr viel lieber ist als falsches Pathos.
Fazit
„Der Garten des Blinden“ ist kein Roman, den man mal schnell nebenbei lesen kann, die Mühe lohnt aber definitiv. Der Roman besticht nicht nur durch einen wunderschönen Schreibstil und eine bewegende Geschichte, sondern regt darüber hinaus zum Nachdenken über die eigenen Vorurteile an.
marc's review
3.0
Interesting, but slow. Perspective on the war in Afghanistan from a non-militant Pakistani perspective. A Muslim family is affected by the war and local jihadists when Rohan's two sons -- one of whom is adopted, and one who is a married medical student -- journey to Afghanistan to help with the wounded and are captured by militants.
gerhard's review
5.0
Any novel dealing with the human tragedy of Afghanistan is, by default, not going to be a joyous reading experience. At one point, after poor Mikal, captured and tortured by an Afghanistan warlord, is thereafter captured and tortured by the Americans, I simply put the book down, unable to read any further.
(Interestingly, Nina Martyris points out in the LA Review of Books that CIA interrogator David Town also appears in Aslam’s previous novel, The Wasted Vigil, set a few years further into the glorious War on Terror).
The reason I started reading again was, yes, I had to find out what happens to Mikal: his torture begins a slow spiral of destruction and death, including such excruciating set pieces as Taliban radicals taking over a school and using the children as human shields when the Pakistani army storms the building ... of course everyone dies horribly. What are a few more dead children in the greater Afghanistan tragedy?
It is precisely this view, this benumbing by statistics and horror, that Aslam tries to counter here. The writing is extraordinarily evocative and lyrical, with a lot of emphasis on nature and landscape, sight, touch and smell.
This might seem incongruous given the general depravity of some of the events described, but Aslam treads a delicate line in not overwhelming the reader with the tragedy of his tale of two foster brothers, Jeo and Mikal, from a small Pakistani city, who tell their father they are going to Afghanistan to help care for wounded civilians, but instead become ensnared with the Taliban.
Martyris notes: “In a recent Guernica interview Aslam emphasised that his writing is deeply political but he is on nobody’s side.” I think a lot of Americans, in particular, will consider this to be disingenuous, especially with such scenes where Tara agrees to stitch a giant American flag to be burnt at a protest rally in the bazaar, as she needs the money to buy medicine to treat Naheed’s fever (she refused when approached initially).
Are the white and red stripes rivers of milk and wine, flowing under a sky bursting with the splendour of stars?
Or are they paths soaked with blood, alternating with paths strewn with bleached white bones, leading out of a sea full of explosions?
And then towards the end:
...[I]t is no longer a case of American happiness, American freedom, American interests, the American way of life. Now it is about the survival of America itself.
Survival is at the heart of Aslam’s novel, which focuses on simple families and communities caught up in the vortex of inexorable events (the opening line is “History is the third parent”). Aslam does not shy away from the impact of fundamentalism on this way of life, and depicts the cruelty and intolerance of the Taliban with the same impassioned vigour as he writes about the impact of the War on Terror on these simple families and communities.
Given the current tenor of public and political debate in the US, where the Phil Robertson contretemps seems to have struck such a nerve, it will be interesting to see what effect, if any, a writer like Aslam will have.
“Is there anything you’d like us to pray for at the shrine?”
Mikal shakes his head. “Just pray for the world.”
(Interestingly, Nina Martyris points out in the LA Review of Books that CIA interrogator David Town also appears in Aslam’s previous novel, The Wasted Vigil, set a few years further into the glorious War on Terror).
The reason I started reading again was, yes, I had to find out what happens to Mikal: his torture begins a slow spiral of destruction and death, including such excruciating set pieces as Taliban radicals taking over a school and using the children as human shields when the Pakistani army storms the building ... of course everyone dies horribly. What are a few more dead children in the greater Afghanistan tragedy?
It is precisely this view, this benumbing by statistics and horror, that Aslam tries to counter here. The writing is extraordinarily evocative and lyrical, with a lot of emphasis on nature and landscape, sight, touch and smell.
This might seem incongruous given the general depravity of some of the events described, but Aslam treads a delicate line in not overwhelming the reader with the tragedy of his tale of two foster brothers, Jeo and Mikal, from a small Pakistani city, who tell their father they are going to Afghanistan to help care for wounded civilians, but instead become ensnared with the Taliban.
Martyris notes: “In a recent Guernica interview Aslam emphasised that his writing is deeply political but he is on nobody’s side.” I think a lot of Americans, in particular, will consider this to be disingenuous, especially with such scenes where Tara agrees to stitch a giant American flag to be burnt at a protest rally in the bazaar, as she needs the money to buy medicine to treat Naheed’s fever (she refused when approached initially).
Are the white and red stripes rivers of milk and wine, flowing under a sky bursting with the splendour of stars?
Or are they paths soaked with blood, alternating with paths strewn with bleached white bones, leading out of a sea full of explosions?
And then towards the end:
...[I]t is no longer a case of American happiness, American freedom, American interests, the American way of life. Now it is about the survival of America itself.
Survival is at the heart of Aslam’s novel, which focuses on simple families and communities caught up in the vortex of inexorable events (the opening line is “History is the third parent”). Aslam does not shy away from the impact of fundamentalism on this way of life, and depicts the cruelty and intolerance of the Taliban with the same impassioned vigour as he writes about the impact of the War on Terror on these simple families and communities.
Given the current tenor of public and political debate in the US, where the Phil Robertson contretemps seems to have struck such a nerve, it will be interesting to see what effect, if any, a writer like Aslam will have.
“Is there anything you’d like us to pray for at the shrine?”
Mikal shakes his head. “Just pray for the world.”
penny_literaryhoarders's review
4.0
Yes, towards the end it becomes too long, but otherwise an important read to understand and realize.
More...