The Golden Legend: A novel (Vintage International) Paperback – April 24, 2018

I can't help but compare this novel--favorably--to Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, a much awaited book that I found, in the end, disappointing. Both touch on the hot button issue of Kashmir, and both revolve around the cruel effects of religious fanaticism, especially when combined with the government in power. But in this beautifully written novel, Aslam succeeds in giving us characters that are both more believable and more conflicted.Nargis and Massud are middle-aged architects living in the fictional Pakistani city of Zamara. They have taken Helen, the bright daughter of a Christian servant, Lilly, under their wing. Helen's mother, Grace, was murdered by a man who is about to be released from prison. While they are engaged in moving books from a library, they witness an assassination attempt on an American diplomat (or is he a CIA agent?), and, tragically, Massud is struck and killed by a stray bullet. He dies in Nargis's arms, clutching a book written by his uncle--a book that will figure symbolically as the novel progresses. The government is pressuring Nargis and the other victims' survivors to forgive the American who killed them in exchange of a large cash payment. Under Sharia law, if they make statements of forgiveness, the shooter will be released from prison--and the government can exact rewards and favors from the US in return. Nargis refuses, kicking off a chain of increasingly brutal events.In a country that we tend to think of as so absolutely Muslim, more complicated relationships exist. Although Nargis married and has lived as a Muslim, we learn that she was born a Christian and that her name was Margaret. She never converted, just accepted a mistake in her name made at school because it made life easier; not even Massud knew the truth. As the story progresses, we learn more about the uncle and sister that she left behind. And Nargis is not the only one with secrets: Lilly, a Christian, is engaged in an affair with the widowed daughter of the local imam. Her husband's brother and his cohorts, radical Islamists who have taken control of the mosque, insist that Aysha, considered a martyr's wife, must never remarry, and they have begun broadcasting citizens' secrets from the minaret, stirring up hatred and violence in the community that lead to further tragedies.Enter a young man named Imran, a Kashmiri who has fled from an ISIS training camp. By chance, he befriends Nargis and Helen, and after the crowd turns on the women, the three of them help each other to survive. Their story, and other small acts of kindness, bring occasional rays of hope into the novel--hope that fear, hatred, and fanaticism can be overcome, that people can see what they share beyond their superficial differences and learn to respect, like, and even love one another. In the midst of so much anger and horror--both in the book and in our current world--we would do well to remember this. But this is no happily-ever-after fantasy: Aslam brings the ugly truth to his pages. As in real life, some prosper, some do not, and some simply are never heard from again.The Golden Legend is an important novel that hopefully more Americans will want to read. It is beautiful. It is horrifying. It is hopeful. It reminds us that, despite everything, we must persist.

A worthy read. Very interesting take on Christian Muslim relations in Pakistan. Can be disturbing for sure.

A beautiful story of some of the people affected by the transformation of Pakistan's majority religion from a sleepy mysticism to a black and white cruel hardliner's philosophy. This philosophy has no tolerance for anything and is backed by oil money. It naturally attracts the cruel and the greedy and gives a shiny clean veneer of piety and righteousness to every injustice they do. I have always loved Nadeem Aslam...his Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil are both brilliant. I believe this book will also prove to be the same.

On page 283, Nadeem Aslam writes: “Bishop Solomon realized he no longer believed in the existence of evil. To him “evil” was now just another word for stupidity, for not knowing what really mattered in life –in your own and in the lives of others.”I have read all of Nadeem Aslam’s books and like all of them, I read "The Golden Legend” slowly, very slowly. 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. And two, because the characters move along the dusty and violent setting of Pakistan, and my heart could not take so much grief and pain for too long. And like all his other books, I highly recommend this one. It is not for the faint at heart, and yet its beauty will move you.

Wonderfully wrought tale about intolerance and Arabization's toxic influence on Islam and Pakistan. Explores the consequences of deception, betrayal, adultery and blasphemy, derailing the search for redemption and reconciliation. Includes the horrors visited on Kashmir by India and Pakistan in their dance of death that leaves locals hostage to power politics and state sponsored terror. This is a powerful and mournful book about loss and a spellbinding read

This is a rich and very thought provoking novel about life in land which does not cherish diversity or originality. As I read, I kept thinking of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The wealth of detail makes this fantasy very realistic.

Modern day Pakistan is portrayed in beauty and pain. The book starts with Nargis, a prominent architect, who witnesses her architect husband, Massud's accidental death, while both are transporting precious books to a new library they've both designed. Nargis thus becomes the surrogate guardian of Helen, the daughter of their Christian servants, whom they've brought up as their own child. Helen's mother had been killed a few year's earlier leaving her father, Lily, a rickshaw puller, distraught and seeking revenge. Nargis faces a difficult situations as she is threatened by a government military intelligence officer who demands that she pardon the American who has been arrested for killing her husband. All the while, people's secrets have been broadcasting from the minaret of the local mosque striking fear for both Muslims and Christians and Nargis has a secret that she's afraid will condemn her. At the same time, Helen falls in love with Imran, a young terrorist-in-training from Kashmir and Lily enters into a relationship with a Muslim neighbor, a martyr's widow, As secrets become public, a mosque on an island becomes refuge from the violence.I never felt engaged by the characters in this book but did find that the description of Pakistan and its government realistic.

Thoughtful and powerful writing. I hated to say goodbye to the characters. Very insightful novel.

Great novel

This is a novel, a work of fiction. However, the religious fanaticism, the indiscriminate violence, the retrograde understanding of the world, the widespread corruption, and the devaluation of human life that characterise contemporary Pakistan (and sadly, many other countries) are all too real. This is more than the story’s background, it is a harsh reality that permeates every action, every thought, dream and aspiration of each character, shaping their destinies and narrowing their choices. And yet, life shines through, with glimpses of hope and beauty, and love enabling them to survive.

the book is in very average condition: cover damaged; the book has most probably faced humidity; some pages are folded

This is a book on love and hate on hope and dispair on life and death and it is very difficult to find one like this

According to me,Nadeem Aslam is a poet in disguise. He writes the most eloquent and mesmerizing lines whilst narrating the violence and religious fundamentalism taking place in India and Pakistan. I found thematic similarities to Arundhati Roy's The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness. Both the authors write about volatile situations without bias or bigotry. I was held captive with the description of what the river , Vela reflects, the fish hung on the branches of a tall tree and most importantly, the book, That They Might Know Each Other, repaired by golden thread. A brutal narrative enhanced by soothing, tender words.