This book is about five very different characters who come together in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks. There's Marcus, an English doctor who married an Afghani, converting to become a Muslim to do so. She is now dead, killed by the regime. There's Lara, a Russian, trying to discover the fate of her brother. There's Casa, a zealous Muslim jihadist. There's David, an American ex-CIA agent is looking for his son - once he was in love with Marcus' daughter. And there's James, US Special Forces, working against terror in Afghanistan. This disparate band all find themselves living for a while in Marcus house, and we learn to have sympathy with each of them. We learn of the sights, sounds and smells of an Afghanistan which remains beautiful through all the privations and sufferings of war and a punishing regime.

This is a novel to experience rather than simply to read. Its style is poetic, and brings to life the day-to-day reality of harsh and often brutalised lives. I didn't quite believe in the situation which brought these five characters together, but it didn't matter. The story is powerful and affecting in any case. ( )

Actually it was amazing. I'm being mean with the stars. Shall have to digest this book over time. ( )

Very ambitious and a heartbreaking portrait of Afghanistan. It tries awfully hard and the endless storm of metaphors and analogies (and butterflies) are wearying for the reader, at least this one. A noble failure, in some ways, but far preferable to a politically and emotionally simplistic novel like The Kite Runner. The final sentence was astoundingly sad. ( )

This book is so different to Maps for Lost Lovers! The Wasted Vigil is Nadeem Aslam’s third book and it covers completely different territory to its IMPAC shortlisted predecessor.

It’s a love story of sorts set in Afghanistan, traversing its fraught history from the time of the Soviet Occupation to the American so-called War on Terror. There’s an eccentric Englishman called Marcus who lives alone in an outpost of bookish civilisation hoping one day to find his missing grandson; a Russian called Lara whose brother went missing in the Soviet era, a CIA operative called David, and a would-be terrorist called Casa seeking refuge from his compatriots because they think he’s defected to the West.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2010/03/18/the-wasted-vigil-by-nadeem-aslam/ ( )

Such a sad and melancholy story, but the writing was beautiful. I pity those who must live under the shadow of Islamic fundamentalism. ( )