The golden legend by nadeem aslam in christian science. Now nadeem aslam s powerful and engrossing fifth novel, the golden legend, introduces us to a world that may at first seem to be a dire and distorted version of our own. Nargis island retreat, once a place of calm where a church and a hindu temple stood alongside a mosque, is riven by people seeking difference in the place of similarity, as she wonders, which god or gods had built that world. He is the author of four previous novels, including. Aslams writing is lyrical and expansive, luminescent, replete with stunningly. One, because it is beautifully written, as the characters intertwine just like the book mended with golden thread, present throughout the story, a book that recounts encounters of beauty and art across the world and across time.
Nadeem aslams the golden legend is a magical book, but also a pragmatic one, offering hope in the face of violence and tragedy, bigotry, and intolerance. The story revolves around nargis, whose husband massud is killed in a shootout by an american spy early in. The golden legend by nadeem aslam the doorbell rang at last. Yet author nadeem aslam shines hope into nightmare with the notion that love and books could, one day, conquer all.
Fleeing a fictional world of despots and drones the new. Nadeem aslam lays bare these shameful conditions in his latest novel the golden legend. If the golden legend documents agonizing political and sectarian realities, it is also masterful and compelling fiction, intricately layering symbols and parallels, unspooling its plot in dramatic twists until the very last sentence, and revealing the deep interconnections between the themes of power, principle, love, and loss that underlie those realities. Apr 18, 2017 aslam is a brilliant novelist, one of two or three truly great writers in the world today. Distinctly historical fiction or with a clear taste of history both past and present, the four shortlisted books for this years summer reading group were all of excellent calibre making it tough to settle on just one favourite. The golden legend is nadeem aslams fifth novel and a remarkable one. Apr 14, 2017 nadeem aslams the golden legend is a magical book, but also a pragmatic one, offering hope in the face of violence and tragedy, bigotry, and intolerance. The golden legend tells a magnificent story of terror and. May 19, 2017 the golden legend by nadeem aslam 319 pp. With his latest novel, the golden legend, nadeem aslam brings to life a world as complex as an eleventhcentury persian tapestry. A revelatory portrait of the human spirit, in the golden legend nadeem aslam gives us a novel of pakistans past and presenta story of corruption and resilience, of love and terror, and of the disguises that are sometimes necessary for survival. I have read all of nadeem aslams books and like all of them, i read the golden legend slowly, very slowly.
Nadeem aslam was born in pakistan and now lives in england. Aslam writes with great sensitivity and depth about the ways human beings behave under almost unimaginable pressure. The golden legend is a reflection of the beloved book in its storya work that dares to explore the entire world. As in real life, some prosper, some do not, and some simply are never heard from again. In aslams rendering, presentday pakistan just might be the worldhistorical capital of fatalism. Apr 24, 2017 this systematic persecution is the subject of the golden legend, by nadeem aslam, who was born in pakistan and moved to britain as a teenager. The golden legend is set in pakistan, where a sophisticated, worldly couple, nargis and massud, both architects, live a westernized life in a community riven by religious and cultural schisms, where christians are a persecuted minority. Aslam s writing is lyrical and expansive, luminescent, replete with stunningly.
The golden legend by nadeem aslam, 9780451493781, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. In the golden legend, nadeem aslam establishes a pattern of chaos followed by stillness, tragedy that leaves an. The golden legend, the opulent and dramatic fifth novel by the pakistanborn, londonbased writer nadeem aslam, begins on a morning when the couple are about to join in an informal celebration. His novel maps for lost lovers, winner of the kuriyama prize, took him more than a decade to complete. The golden legend is nadeem aslam s fifth novel, and a remarkable one. A revelatory portrait of the human spirit, in the golden legend, nadeem aslam gives us a novel of pakistans past and presenta story of corruption and resilience, of love and terror, and of the disguises that are sometimes necessary for survival. Ever since its independence in 1947, pakistan has been struggling to forge an islamic identity. Lahore, pakistan, is a place of almost unfathomable loveliness. He, like nargis, is trying to accept and restore damage. Aslam is a brilliant novelist, one of two or three truly great writers in the world today.
The golden legend book charlotte mecklenburg library. In the city aslam calls zamana, the rule of law is a distant memory and the social order has thoroughly deteriorated. Apr 17, 2017 interviews of aslam show him to be an intense writer who blends the political with the fictional with finesse. Horror and beauty are held in precarious balance in the golden legend. In his characteristically luminous prose, nadeem aslam has given us a lionhearted novel that reflects pakistans past and present in a single mirror, a story of corruption, resilience, and the disguises that are sometimes necessary for survivala revelatory portrait of the human spirit. Aslams story has all the gravity of a tragedy and one of many dimensions. Aslams writing is lyrical and expansive, luminescent, replete with stunningly beautiful passages. A loving and generous architect couple are torn apart when the husband, massud, is killed by a stray bullet in the driveby shootout. The golden legend 2017, a novel by nadeem aslam, tells the story of nargis, a muslim woman who loses her husband in an american terrorist attack. The golden legend is, first and foremost, a religious work, but students of medi eval history can see in it how scientific history, as distinguished from sacred or salvation history, was interpreted, misinterpreted, or simply ignored by jacobus and the authors he consulted, notably vincent ofbeauvais in his mirror of history. The golden legend, nadeem aslam penguin random house india, january 2017.
This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the golden legend by nadeem aslam. When shots ring out on the grand trunk road, nargiss life begin. As nargis tries to protect herself and her christian friends from the radical muslim community, her own secret heritage is revealed. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The novel opens in pakistan in a fictitious city called zamana. The golden legend tells a magnificent story of terror and dignity pakistaniborn author nadeem aslam s mesmerizing fifth novel may be his best. Apr 08, 2017 in the golden legend, aslam opposes the vituperative pakistani laws of blasphemy with his call for the freedom of language, both written and spoken, especially when uttering words of love. A brave, timely, searingly beautiful novel from the acclaimed author of the blind mans garden. The golden legend, by nadeem aslam, follows an imperiled.
His work has been longlisted for the man booker prize, shortlisted for the impac prize and the dsc prize for south asian literature, and won the kiriyama prize, the encore award, the windhamcampbell literature prize, and a lannan literary fellowship. Sep 09, 2017 the golden legend is set in pakistan, where a sophisticated, worldly couple, nargis and massud, both architects, live a westernized life in a community riven by religious and cultural schisms, where christians are a persecuted minority. The golden legend tells a magnificent story of terror. A revelatory portrait of the human spirit, in the golden legend, nadeem aslam gives us a novel of pakistans past and presenta story of corruption and. In the pakistan of nadeem aslams novel the golden legend the rule of law is a distant memory. The story revolves around nargis, whose husband massud is killed in a shootout by an american spy early in the novel. He taps into a vein of something like magic realism to add a. Aslam has quietly built up a body of work quite unlike that of any other novelist, detailing the worst that humans can do in prose that suggests the redemptive possibilities of art.
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. The golden legend wellington city libraries overdrive. Nadeem aslam s the golden legend is a magical book, but also a pragmatic one, offering hope in the face of violence and tragedy, bigotry, and intolerance. It highlights how we are defined by arbitrary boundaries, especially when their. There is a similar bombing of a sufi shrine in the golden legend. It begins on what should be a triumphant day for nargis and massud. Apr 18, 2017 if the golden legend documents agonizing political and sectarian realities, it is also masterful and compelling fiction, intricately layering symbols and parallels, unspooling its plot in dramatic twists until the very last sentence, and revealing the deep interconnections between the themes of power, principle, love, and loss that underlie those realities. Tishani doshi interviews author nadeem aslam the hindu. His family left pakistan to escape president zias regime. Aslam takes readers to a small portion of grand trunk road, asias ancient thruway that links bangladesh to afghanistan, to the fictional town of zamana in contemporary pakistan. Nadeem aslam s powerful and engrossing fifth novel. Set in modern pakistan, beginning with a violent episode that throws the protagonist, nargis, onto a path of escape and discovery, the novel develops slowly into a riveting and tense study on what it means to be strong even when the world demands your weakness. Aslam s writing is lyrical and expansive, luminescent, replete with stunningly beautiful passages.
In his characteristically luminous prose, nadeem aslam has given us a lionhearted novel that reflects pakistans past and present in a single mirror, a story of corruption, resilience, and the disguises that are sometimes necessary for survival a revelatory portrait of the human spirit. Realism and fable combine in nadeem aslams tale of terrorism, tragedy and romance across religious divides. His critically acclaimed second novel maps for lost lovers won encore award and kiriyama prize. Nadeem aslam s powerful and engrossing fifth novel, the golden legend, introduces us to a world that may at first seem to be a dire and distorted version of our own.
But this struggle has taken a massive toll on the countrys religious minorities, which have declined from 23 percent of the population in 1947 to only 3 percent today. In the golden legend, aslam opposes the vituperative pakistani laws of blasphemy with his call for the freedom of language, both written and spoken, especially when uttering words of love. It is, says the british novelist nadeem aslam, who was born in a neighboring town 50 years ago, a beautiful city with scars going through it, a beautiful garden surrounded by barbed wire. I know its only still may, but im already willing to predict that the golden legend could be the best book you read this year. Nadeem aslam frsl is a prizewinning british pakistani novelist. His debut novel, season of the rainbirds, won the betty trask and the authors club first novel award. When she answered it she found a boy of about eleven or twelve standing in the lane, with several bags of food and a. Nadeem aslam has given us a lionhearted novel that reflects pakistans past and present in a single mirror, a story of corruption. Its depiction of religious intolerance is quite the oppositeall too depressingly real. Shortlisted for the jhalak prize 2018when shots ring out on the grand trunk road, nargiss life begins to crumble around her. The golden legend is an important novel that hopefully more americans will want to read. The golden legend boldly takes on the issue of muslimchristian relations in the backdrop of pakistans harsh blasphemy laws. Nargis and massud are married architects in their fifties. I wrote about it because i know about the politics of pakistan.
Violence, religion and magic collide in nadeem aslams the golden legend. The golden legend, by nadeem aslam, follows an imperiled widow in pakistan. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide. The golden legend 2017, a novel by nadeem aslam, tells the. The golden legend presents us with such a character, one who becomes. Despite the misery and cruelty it depicts, the golden legend is a heartening book, largely because of aslams faith in the integrity and courage of his main characters and, one supposes, of real people like them. Nadeem aslam was born in pakistan in 1966 and moved to britain at age 14. Now nadeem aslams powerful and engrossing fifth novel, the golden legend, introduces us to a world that may at first seem to be a dire and distorted version of our own. Despite the misery and cruelty it depicts, the golden legend is a heartening book, largely because of aslam s faith in the integrity and courage of his main characters and, one supposes, of real people like them. Fortunately, the golden legend is far more than the sum of the horrors it contains.