The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam (English) Paperback Book

Description: The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam From the author of "Maps for Lost Lovers" comes a new novel--at once lyrical and blistering--about war in modern times, told through the lives of five people who come together in post-9/11 Afghanistan. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description In The Wasted Vigil, Nadeem Aslam, the award-winning author of Maps for Lost Lovers, brilliantly knits together five seemingly unconnected lives to create a luminous story set in contemporary Afghanistan.Theres Marcus, an English expat who was married to an outspoken Afghani doctor; David, a former American spy; Lara, from St. Petersburg, looking for traces of her brother, a Russian soldier who disappeared years before; Casa, a young Afghani whose hatred of the Americans has plunged him into the blinding depths of zealotry; and James, an American Special Forces soldier. Aslamreveals the intertwining paths that these characters have traveled, constructing a timely and intimate portrait of the complex ties that bind us and the wars that continue to tear us apart. Author Biography Nadeem Aslam is the author of two previous novels, both of which were long-listed for the Man Booker Prize: Maps for Lost Lovers, winner of the Kiriyama Prize and a New York Times Notable Book, and Season of the Rainbirds. He is also the recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship. Born in Pakistan, he now lives in England. Review "Harrowing yet beautiful. . . . With astonishing lyricism and compassion, Aslam creates unforgettable characters. . . . As gripping as it is affecting."—Boston Globe"Extraordinary. . . . Aslams determination to gaze resolutely at the darkest side of our many cold and hot wars is what gives The Wasted Vigil its depth and power."—Pankaj Mishra, The New York Review of Books"Unflinching. . . . [Aslam] seeks to reveal the psyche not just of one rural village or one immigrant community but of Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and Afghanistan. The revelations throughout are artful."—New York Times Book Review"Heartbreaking. . . . Important. . . . This novel deserves as wide an audience as the recent bestseller The Kite Runner."—The Oregonian "The power of Aslams novel lives in the explosive adjacency of brutality and love, the poison of fanaticism diluted by the perfume of Persian lilacs."—O, The Oprah magazine"Unforgettable. . . . Tragic and beautifully written. Aslam is a major writer."—A. S. Byatt"Even more beautifully written than his much-acclaimed Maps for Lost Lovers."—Financial Times"Remarkable for being at once topical and timeless—a complex and layered vision of contemporary Afghanistan. . . . Like Michael Ondaatje before him, Aslam has a way of breathing life into larger historical and political backdrops with sensual details and lush interior lives. The Wasted Vigil shimmers with moments of poetic beauty and seems destined, like The English Patient, to become a classic of modern, globalized literature."—Time Out New York"A searing, multifaceted novel. . . . You might think that there is a particular specter haunting Afghanistan in these early years of the 21st century—the Taliban—but in Aslams penetrating view, there are multiple forces at work there."—San Francisco Chronicle"Both lyrical and sharp. . . . Its a bold task to attempt to point out the similarities between a Muslim fundamentalists zeal and an American CIA agents righteous view of his job, yet, amid a sweeping story about love, Aslam does exactly this with considerable poise."—The Christian Science Monitor"Stunning. . . . In this epic of a novel, Nadeem Aslams narrative takes in the explosive realities of Afghanistan. He navigates this minefield with sharp reflexes and a rare poise. . . . Beautiful and brutal."—Mohammed Hanif, Independent (UK)"Ambitious and luminous. . . . Reminds us that fiction can do things that mere reportage cant. . . . Aslam does not simply appropriate a few headlines for easy currency. He has immersed himself in a country and a culture and drawn upon art, mythology and history to provide an involving and morally complex tale of the ruthless betrayals and the queasy compromises that are made by nations and individuals alike."—The Sunday Times (London)"At its core, The Wasted Vigil is not a book about Afghanistan, but of love. . . . Aslams Afghanistan is both beautiful and fraught with danger, with stunning images and landscapes that bring his characters world to life, all of it rich with symbolism."—Charleston City Paper "What the reader finds, in Aslams exquisitely written, gripping narrative, is that although war destroys lives and shatters families, and people are capable of the greatest brutality, love and humanity still survive."—Daily Mail (London)"The softly gleaming beauty of Aslams prose is immediately reminiscent of Michael Ondaatje, and the moral clarity of his concerns heralds a brave new voice in the mold of Salman Rushdie."—St. Petersburg Times"Spellbinding—a beautifully drawn web of the fragile connections of trust, misunderstanding, memory, sacrifice, and, against the odds, love, that people who have lost everything else in the deadly stupidity of war must live and die by. Nadeem Aslam is a master of words and arresting images. . . . The sheer, astonishing loveliness of this novels language fills the reader with hope that the transformative power of beauty can, somehow, still save the day."—The Times (London)"Piercing. . . . There isnt enough beauty in the world, but isnt it true that a work of art can be too beautiful? Arent there depths of suffering and barbarity that demand that the writer rein in the verbal glory? Nadeem Aslam doesnt think so, as he proves with his astonishing new novel."—The Observer (London)"Enthralling. . . . The Wasted Vigil is a delicate work of art, a tapestry, which connects people in a mesmerizing story of loss, memory and pain, but where humanity and love and its fragility emerge out of the debris."—New Statesman (London) Review Quote "Harrowing yet beautiful....With astonishing lyricismand compassion Aslamcreates unforgettable characters." -The Boston Globe "Extraordinary.... Aslams determination to gaze resolutely at the darkest side of our many cold and hot wars is what givesThe Wasted Vigil its depth and power." -PankajMishra,The New York Review of Books "The power of Aslams novel lives in the explosive adjacency of brutality and love, the poison of fanaticism diluted by the perfume of Persian lilacs." -O, OprahMagazine "A searing, multifaceted novel . . . Its polyglot characters inhabit a seething cauldron of human drama . . . You might think that there is a particular specter haunting Afghanistan in these early years of the 21st centurythe Talibanbut in Aslams penetrating view, there are multiple forces at work there." San Francisco Chronicle "Unafraid of political complexity, Aslam is also unflinching in his examination of depravity. Yet his writing also encompasses tenderness. His characters are intricately wounded and geographically diverse . . . This novel seeks to reveal the psyche not just of one rural village or one immigrant community but of Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and Afghanistan. The revelations throughout are artful." New York Times Book Review "The Wasted Vigilis remarkable for being at once topical and timelessa complex and layered vision of contemporary Afghanistan . . . Like Michael Ondaatje before him, Aslam has a way of breathing life into larger historical and political backdrops with sensual details and lush interior lives.The Wasted Vigilshimmers with moments of poetic beauty and seems destined, likeThe English Patientto become a classic of modern, globalized literature." Time Out New York "Nadeem Aslam offers readers surprising gems in his new book . . . The fabric of these characters lives are interwoven with rich, carefully researched detail about Afghanistan and the intricacies of life in a country still grappling with the lasting influences of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Its a bold task to attempt to point out the similarities between a Muslim fundamentalists zeal and an American CIA agents righteous view of his job, yet, amid a sweeping story about love, Aslam does exactly this with considerable poise . . . A book that is both lyrical and sharp." Christian Science Monitor "Arguably the best novel available on the current situation in the Middle East. The jihadists, the warlords, the crusading Americansall are given voice in calm, relentless, shatteringly beautiful prose that reveals the essential wrongness of the current conflict from every angle. Theres no whitewash or caricature here, just authentic writing that delivers the worldand a range of extraordinary characters. Highly recommended." Library Journal(starred) "An intense, empathetic, magisterial interpretation of clashing beliefs and entwined fates, in a harsh and ruined, yet lovely place . . . Complexity, beauty, violence and tragedy mark the pages of Aslams affecting story . . . [The novel has] insight and somber impact." Kirkus Reviews(starred) "Kiriyama-winner Aslam takes an ambitious and moving look at the human cost of Afghanistans war-torn reality . . . An unflinchingly clear picture of a country whose history of strife is still being written." Publishers Weekly(starred) Reviews fro Description for Reading Group Guide "Harrowing yet beautiful. . . . With astonishing lyricism and compassion, Aslam creates unforgettable characters." -- The Boston Globe The introduction, questions, and suggestions for further reading that follow are designed to enliven your groups discussion of Nadeem Aslams novel, The Wasted Vigil . Discussion Question for Reading Group Guide 1. Nadeem Aslam has been widely praised for his richly poetic prose style. What passages in the book seem especially beautifully written? What makes these passages so powerful? 2. Early in the novel, readers learn that Marcus has lost his hand. Why does Aslam withhold the story of precisely how he lost that hand until much later in the book? 3. When David confronts James about torturing Casa, telling him that its illegal, James replies: "Illegal? This is war, David. Youve been looking into the wrong law books. These are battlefield decisions" [p. 305]. How else does James justify torture? Why is David so fiercely opposed to it? How do their arguments relate to the current controversy about the United States use of torture in the "war on terror"? 4. James says of Casa and fundamentalists like him: "They are children of the devil. They have no choice but to spread destruction in the world." David counters: "He is the child of a human, which means he has a choice and he can change" [p. 306]. Discuss these differing points of view. 5. How does The Wasted Vigil deepen our understanding of both the Soviet and American conflicts in Afghanistan? What does the novel suggest about the motives and methods of American and Soviet involvement in the region? 6. How is the Taliban depicted in the novel? Why are they so violently repressive of women and so fiercely opposed to education? 7. What aspects of his personal and family history draw Casa to become a jihadi? How does Aslam manage to make him a sympathetic a character? 8. What does The Wasted Vigil say about how war damages human relationships--between parents and children, wives and husbands, lovers and friends? 9. What does Marcus mean when he thinks of himself: "He is alive but has been buried in many graves"? [p. 317]. 10. Why is the overturned giant stone head of the Buddha that rests in what was once Marcuss perfume factory given such a prominent place in the novel? What is the symbolic value of this statute? 11. The narrator writes: "This is among the few things that can be said about love with any confidence. It is small enough to be contained within the heart but, pulled thin, it would drape the entire world" [p. 307]. In what ways is The Wasted Vigil as much about love as it is about violence, hatred, and war? 12. What is it that brings Lara, David, Marcus, Casa, and James to Marcuss house? In what ways is the house itself symbolic? 13. What are some of the most tense and shocking moments in the book? Why does Aslam include such graphic depictions of violence in the novel? What effects do these depictions have on the reader? 14. Near the end of the novel, Marcus reflects: "Both sides in Homers war, when they arrive to collect their dead from the battlefield, weep freely in complete sight of each other. Sick at heart. This is what Marcus wants, the tears of one side fully visible to the other" [p. 314]. Why does Marcus want this? What good might come of each side witnessing the grief of the other? Excerpt from Book The Great BuddhaHer mind is a haunted house.The woman named Lara looks up at an imagined noise. Folding away the letter she has been rereading, she moves towards the window with its high view of the garden. Out there the dawn sky is filling up with light though a few of last nights stars are still visible.She turns after a while and crosses over to the circular mirror leaning against the far wall. Bringing it to the centre of the room she places it face up on the floor, gently, soundlessly, a kindness towards her host who is asleep in an adjoining room. In the mirror she ignores her own image, examining the reflection of the ceiling instead, lit by the pale early light.The mirror is large--if it was water she could dive and disappear into it without touching the sides. On the wide ceiling are hundreds of books, each held in place by an iron nail hammered through it. A spike driven through the pages of history, a spike through the pages of love, a spike through the sacred. Kneeling on the dusty floor at the mirrors edge she tries to read the titles. The words are reversed but that is easier than looking up for entire minutes would be.There is no sound except her own slow breathing and, from outside, the breeze trailing its rippling robes through the overgrown garden.She slides the mirror along the floor as though visiting another section of a library.The books are all up there, the large ones as well as those that are no thicker than the walls of the human heart. Occasionally one of them falls by itself in an interior because its hold has weakened, or it may be brought down when desired with the judicious tapping of a bamboo pole.A native of the faraway St. Petersburg, what a long journey she has made to be here, this land that Alexander the Great had passed through on his unicorn, an area of fabled orchards and thick mulberry forests, of pomegranates that appear in the border decorations of Persian manuscripts written one thousand years ago.Her hosts name is Marcus Caldwell, an Englishman who has spent most of his life here in Afghanistan, having married an Afghan woman. He is seventy years old and his white beard and deliberate movements recall a prophet, a prophet in wreckage. She hasnt been here for many days so there is hesitancy in her still regarding Marcuss missing left hand. The skin cup he could make with the palms of his hands is broken in half. She had asked late one evening, delicately, but he seemed unwilling to be drawn on the subject. In any case no explanations are needed in this country. It would be no surprise if the trees and vines of Afghanistan suspended their growth one day, fearful that if their roots were to lengthen they might come into contact with a landmine buried near by.She lifts her hand to her face and inhales the scent of sandalwood deposited onto the fingers by the mirrors frame. The wood of a living sandal tree has no fragrance, Marcus said the other day, the perfume materialising only after the cutting down.Like the soul vacating the body after death, she thinks.*Marcus is aware of her presence regardless of where she is in the house. She fell ill almost immediately upon arrival four days ago, succumbing to the various exhaustions of her journey towards him, and he has cared for her since then, having been utterly alone before that for many months. From the descriptions she had been given of him, she said out of her fever the first afternoon, she had expected an ascetic dressed in bark and leaf and accompanied by a deer of the wilderness.She said that a quarter of a century ago her brother had entered Afghanistan as a soldier with the Soviet Army, and that he was one of the ones who never returned home. She has visited Afghanistan twice before in the intervening decades but there has neither been proof of life nor of death, until perhaps now. She is here this time because she has learnt that Marcuss daughter might have known the young Soviet man.He told her his daughter, Zameen, was no longer alive."Did she ever mention anything?" she asked."She was taken from this house in 1980, when she was seventeen years old. I never saw her again.""Did anyone else?""She died in 1986, I believe. She had become a mother by then--a little boy who disappeared around the time she died. She and an American man were in love, and I know all this from him."This was on the first day. She then drifted into a long sleep.From the various plants in the garden he derived an ointment for the deeply bruised base of her neck, the skin there almost black above the right shoulder, as though some of the worlds darkness had attempted to enter her there. He wished pomegranates were in season as their liquid is a great antiseptic. When the bus broke down during the journey, she said, all passengers had disembarked and she had found herself falling asleep on a verge. There then came three blows to her body with a tyre iron in quick succession, the disbelief and pain making her cry out. She was lying down with her feet pointed towards the west, towards the adored city of Mecca a thousand miles away, a disrespect she was unaware of, and one of the passengers had taken it upon himself to correct and punish her.Her real mistake was to have chosen to travel swaddled up like the women from this country, thinking it would be safer. Perhaps if her face had been somewhat exposed, the colour of her hair visible, she would have been forgiven as a foreigner. Everyone, on the other hand, had the right to make an example of an unwise Afghan woman, even a boy young enough to be her son.Marcus opens a book. The early morning light is entering at a low angle from the window. The fibres of the page throw their elongated shadows across the words, so much so that they make the text difficult to read. He tilts the page to make it catch the light evenly, the texture of the paper disappearing.Within the pages he finds a small pressed leaf, perfect but for a flake missing at the centre as though chewed off by a silkworm. The hole runs all the way through the pages also, where he had pulled out the iron nail to gain access to the words.He has given her only the purest water when she has been thirsty. This country has always been a hub of things moving from one point of the compass to another, religion and myth, works of art, caravans of bundled Chinese silk flowing past camels loaded with glass from ancient Rome or pearls from the Gulf. The ogre whose activities created one of Afghanistans deserts was slain by Aristotle. And now Comanche helicopters bring sizeable crates of bottled water for Americas Special Forces teams that are operating in the region, the hunt for terrorists continuing out there. Caches of this water are unloaded at various agreed locations in the hills and deserts, but two winters ago a consignment must have broken its netting--it fell from the sky and came apart in an explosion close to Marcuss house, a blast at whose core lay water not fire, the noise bringing him to the window to find the side of the house dripping wet and hundreds of the gleaming transparent bottles floating on the lake in front of the house. A moment later another roped bundle landed on the lake and sank out of sight. Perhaps it broke up and released the bottles, or did it catch on something down there and is still being held? Water buried inside water. He skimmed many of the bottles from the surface before they could disperse and found others over the coming days and weeks, split or whole, scattered in the long grasses of his neglected orchard.He lowers his pale blue eyes to the book.It is a poets diwan, the most noble of matters, dealt with in the most noble of words. As always the first two pages of verse are enclosed within illuminated borders, an intricate embroidery in ink. Last night she had clipped his fingernails, which he normally just files off on any available abrasive surface. When she leaves she should take a volume from the impaled library. Perhaps everyone who comes here should be given one so that no matter where they are in the world they can recognise each other. Kin. A fellowship of wounds. They are intensely solitary here. The house stands on the edge of a small lake; and though damaged in the wars, it still conveys the impression of being finely carved, the impression of being weightless. At the back is the half-circle formed by the overgrown garden and orchard. Shifting zones of birdsong, of scent. A path lined with Persian lilac trees curves away out of sight, the branches still hung with last years berries, avoided by birds as they are toxic.The ground begins to rise back there gradually until it reaches the sky. The broad chalk line of permanent snow up there, thirteen thousand feet high, is the mighty range of mountains containing the cave labyrinths of Tora Bora.At the front of the house, a mile along the edge of the lake, is the village that takes its name from the lake. Usha. Teardrop. Thirty miles farther is the city of Jalalabad. Because Lara is Russian, Marcuss immediate fear regarding her illness was that she had been fed a poison during the hours she had spent waiting for him in Usha, her country having precipitated much of present-day Afghanistans destruction by invading in 1979.*In the darkness soon after four a.m. one night, Lara had got out of bed. Accompanied by candlelight she went into the various rooms of the house, moving under that sheath of books, needing movement after the countless hours of being still. She avoided the room where Marcus was but entered others, looking, enclosed within the sphere of yellow light from the flame in her hand. Somewhere very far away a muezzin had begun the call to the prayers of dawn, defined by Islam as the moment when a black thread can just be distinguished from a white one without artificial light.When enough light began to enter the house, she placed mirrors on the floor to look at the books overhead, though not all of them had be Details ISBN0307388743 Author Nadeem Aslam Short Title WASTED VIGIL Language English ISBN-10 0307388743 ISBN-13 9780307388742 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2009 Illustrations Yes Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2009-09-08 NZ Release Date 2009-09-08 US Release Date 2009-09-08 UK Release Date 2009-09-08 Pages 336 Publisher Random House USA Inc Series Vintage International Publication Date 2009-09-08 Imprint Random House Inc Audience General DEWEY 823/.914 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:23130152;

Price: 56.13 AUD

Location: Melbourne

End Time: 2025-01-01T21:09:35.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 AUD