B.S.I. October selection

Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam is a dream -- and a nightmare -- of a novel. Set in the fictional northern England town of Dasht-e-Tanhaii (Desert of Loneliness), it centers around the disappearance, and its aftermath, of two Pakistani lovers, Jugnu and Chanda. The two lovers do not make an appearance in the novel, except in the hearsay and remembrances of family members and neighbors.

Aslam immerses the reader in the vivacity of life; food, clothing, and sensuality all follow the cycles and rhythms of the seasons. Maps covers a broad spectrum of topics: racism, lepidoptery, honor killings, poetry, Pakistani culture, the travails of legal and illegal immigration and the religious tensions between Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Christian. Yet, somehow in Maps, Aslam never lets the reader forget the beauty of the natural world and the redemption of love:

“Islam said that in order not to be unworthy of being, only one thing was required: love. And, said the True Faith, it did not even begin with humans and animals: even the trees were in love.”

However, Aslam does not gloss over the evil of life. He makes his characters human, yet reveals the brutality that such humanity is capable of. He deals with subjects like religious fundamentalism and honor killings head-on to give the reader a small glimpse of how these things affect not only that specific community but the global community. He shows how honor killings  and the threat of such a thing are not just something that happens in foreign countries.

Near the end of Maps, Aslam states the novel’s worldview:

“Nothing is an accident: it’s always someone’s fault; perhaps—but no one teaches us how to live with our mistakes. Everyone is isolated, alone with his or her anguish and guilt, and too penetrating a question can mean people are not able to face one another the next day.” Although tragedy abounds in this novel, the characters, and we the readers, are not left comfortless.

Maps serves a literary Book of Fates--“the book into which, once a year, the angels write down the destiny of every human being for the next twelve months: who’ll live, who’ll die, who’ll lose happiness, who’ll find love”--for his characters.

Aslam has written two other books: Season of the Rainbirds (1993) and The Wasted Vigil (2008).  Maps for Lost Lovers has won the Encore Award 2005 and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize 2005.

For a critical view of Aslam’s work, read Dr. James Procter’s analysis of his work and career at the British Council Contemporary Authors website. A reading guide for Maps for Lost Lovers can be found here.

Other related reads:

Kamila Shamsie's Salt and Saffron and Kartography cover similar territory--Pakistani culture and the religious/cultural antagonism between India and Pakistan.