My first debt is to Candia McWilliam, from whose perfect novel Debatable Land I have taken the words ‘Ardent Spirit’. The italicised lines in chapter 3 (see here) are from The Temptation to Exist by E. M. Cioran (The University of Chicago Press, 1968). The italicised passage in chapter 15 (see here) is from Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh (Jonathan Cape, 1996). The letter quoted in chapter 17 (see here) is by Walt Whitman, from Walt Whitman’s Civil War, edited by Walter Lowenfels (Da Capo Press, 1960). The line that ends the first section in chapter 31 (see here) is the reverse of one to be found in Mitti ki Kaan by Afzal Ahmed Syed (Aaj Publications, Karachi, 2009). The original reads, ‘Love is not a distinguishing mark, something by which a dead body can be identified.’ (My italics.) The italicised words that end chapter 35 (see here) are by Simone Weil. The lines Mikal remembers in chapter 36 (see here) are by W. B. Yeats. A book I found helpful was The Interrogator’s War by Chris Mackey with Greg Miller (John Murray, 2004). Another was Beslan by Timothy Philips (Granta Books, 2008). An early study for chapter 16 appeared in Granta 116: Ten Years Later. I am grateful to John Freeman and Ellah Allfrey for their advice and kindness.
Thank you Salman Rashid, as always. Lewis Burns. Mrs Shamim Akram. Andrew Wylie, Sarah Chalfant and Charles Buchan. Stephen Page, Lee Brackstone and Angus Cargill in London, and Diana Coglianese and Sonny Mehta in New York.
About the Author
Nadeem Aslam is the author of three previous novels, Season of the Rainbirds (1993), Maps for Lost Lovers (2004) – longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the IMPAC Prize, and awarded the Kiriyama Prize and the Encore Award – and, most recently, The Wasted Vigil, described by A. S. Byatt as ‘unforgettable … tragic and beautifully written’. Born in Pakistan, he now lives in England and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
By the Same Author
SEASON OF THE RAINBIRDS
MAPS FOR LOST LOVERS
THE WASTED VIGIL
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2013
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2013
All rights reserved
© Nadeem Aslam, 2013
The right of Nadeem Aslam to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–28795–6
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
I FOOTNOTES TO DEFEAT
Epigraph
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
II THE BLIND MAN’S GARDEN
Epigraph
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
III EQUAL SONS
Epigraph
36
37
IV ISAIAH
Epigraph
38
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
About the Author
By the Same Author
Copyright
The Blind Man's Garden Page 38