A Walk With Me, Her, and Him in Nadeem Aslam’s The Blind Man’s Garden

    I would like to start with the reason for writing this blog post, which is to answer the question “Why should you read this book?” Well, because it’s great. Ok, too vague, but Nadeem Aslam offers you a chance to do something people only talk about doing, which is to walk a mile in another person’s shoes. Now I know you think you can say that about any book, but you really can’t, and this is an important approach for migration narration literature. Take Monique Truong’s The Book of Salt, for example, that begins in medias res. You are already in the middle or end of the main character’s journey and then looking back on what it took to get there. In The Blind Man’s Garden, however, right at the beginning, the reader is preparing for a journey with the characters in the story and explores all the emotions and preparations that go into preparing for the journey- considering family, lovers, what to pack, and everything else everyone considers when preparing for a journey, and that's the point- it’s the same process for everyone. The preparation of the journey is universal and humanizing. 

What is also striking about the beginning of the book is how calm is it despite being about a set of family and friends in Afghanistan during the American War on Terrorism against Afghanistan. If I gave you a two sentence plot summary of the book, the first sentence is sure to mention the war, and you can’t help but imagine the opening of the book resembling something like the opening of Saving Private Ryan, but it’s not that at all. The reader is thinking about old lovers with the characters, rekindling old friendships with the characters, and mourning the loss of loved ones with the characters. This seems like a concerted effort on the part of the author to humanize the characters, but why? Because it works. Take the Harry Potter series for example. The reader begins the journey with Harry, allowing readers to learn and grow with the character, which allows for a deeper understanding and connection between the experiences of the character to the experiences of the reader. Aslam’s choice to approach The Blind Man’s Garden in this way allows American readers to connect with the people in the book on a human level instead of just that country (as a collective) we fought for a decade. If the story began in the middle of a missile attack or war scene, then the whole tone of the story changes to something resembling American Sniper, or another scenario, where the reader might be tempted or forced to choose a side. The characters are living through the war just as American citizens are (ok, not exactly the same way), but the point is made when the author chooses to mention the birds in cages in the trees. Although symbolic, of course, it also feels like a menial thing to worry about in comparison to a major war. Although a war is going on, there are other things still happening, other prayers that seem just as important, other tasks to complete, and other things to think about, despite the war, but also, because of the war. 

 

In an interview with author Nadeem Aslam, he says that the wars began due to an “incomplete understanding of the West and an incomplete understanding of the East.” The book aids in bridging that gap in understanding through a very universal storyline- a love triangle. The love triangle, whether or not this was the intention of the author, creates the opportunity to love two people because neither is all good or all bad, and also to love, or see value, in two countries- America and Afghanistan- because neither is all good and neither is all bad.