Stranger to History: A Son's Journey through Islamic Lands
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Review
'Taseer uses this intensely personal prism to spring a narrative that darts deftly between physical journey and childhood memoir. The paternal relationship he never had becomes the backbone of the book, which is all the better for it. Uncomfortable reading for Daddy, certainly, but gripping for the rest of us.' Literary Review
Product Description
As a child, all Aatish Taseer ever had of his father was his photograph in a browning silver frame. Raised by his Sikh mother in Delhi, his father, a Pakistani Muslim, remained a distant figure. It was a fractured upbringing which left Aatish with many questions about his own identity. Stranger to History is the story of the journey Aatish made to try to understand what it means to be Muslim in the twenty-first century. Starting from Istanbul, Islam's once greatest city, he travels to Mecca, its most holy, and then home through Iran and Pakistan. Ending in Lahore, at his estranged father's home, on the night Benazir Bhutto was killed, it is also the story of Aatish's own divided family over the past fifty years.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this book a page turner. Aatish Taseer is a master of detailed description and of dramatic tension. He sets off on a journey West to East across the Muslim world, looking for a deeper understanding of the faith of a father whom he has hardly ever met. Gradually as we accompany him through his adventures, he tells us about the relationship of his parents and of his own sad attempts to make meaningful contact with his absent father. His account does not claim to be an exhaustive academic study of Islam, based on research. The picture he paints is vivid - far more vivid than tables and pie-charts - but anecdotal. What is revealed by the anecdotes, piled up chapter by chapter, is the extreme diversity and contradictions as well, confusingly, as an underlying unity, contained within what we think of as Islam. It also becomes clear to how great an extent what Aatish Taseer initially calls "culture" is deeply steeped in international politics.
I learnt a good deal about Islam incidentally while driven by curiosity about his quest to find
himself and his father. This drip feeding of information while keeping the reader engrossed by the underlying narrative reminded me of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance`' and of "Sophie's World".
I am sure I am not alone in having to admit to having only superficial knowledge of Islam. This book has provided me, not only with a deeper understanding of its teachings and practices but also reminded me of the perpetually hovering influence of global politics. Whether you classify it as autobiography, travel writing, adventure or politics, it's a good read.
I learnt a good deal about Islam incidentally while driven by curiosity about his quest to find
himself and his father. This drip feeding of information while keeping the reader engrossed by the underlying narrative reminded me of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance`' and of "Sophie's World".
I am sure I am not alone in having to admit to having only superficial knowledge of Islam. This book has provided me, not only with a deeper understanding of its teachings and practices but also reminded me of the perpetually hovering influence of global politics. Whether you classify it as autobiography, travel writing, adventure or politics, it's a good read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
It is a book that manages to grasp a mere shadow of its true potential, and leaves one with an appetite for more, only to find empty, occasionally rambling and pointless prose in place of more meaty words and soul nourishing details and adventures.
This is a story of one man reflecting on his life and travels, one made without the presence of his father, a figure ever present in the books background, but never in actual place, and the places he has sen and been to.
Some descriptions leave you wanting more and are fascinating; For example his trip to the Holy city of Mecca, as well as his brush with Iran's secret police, while others are more ordinary and everyday travel tales and, it has to be said, occasional mind numbing detail as well.
So, in conclusion, interesting, but not the best travel book, and the growing up wthout a father seems somehow squeezed in there simply to be in there... so to speak.
Make your own minds up!
This is a story of one man reflecting on his life and travels, one made without the presence of his father, a figure ever present in the books background, but never in actual place, and the places he has sen and been to.
Some descriptions leave you wanting more and are fascinating; For example his trip to the Holy city of Mecca, as well as his brush with Iran's secret police, while others are more ordinary and everyday travel tales and, it has to be said, occasional mind numbing detail as well.
So, in conclusion, interesting, but not the best travel book, and the growing up wthout a father seems somehow squeezed in there simply to be in there... so to speak.
Make your own minds up!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This is a tough one to review. I really liked the idea of it, and initially I was gripped, but it gradually lost its hold on me till near the end I was reading it in small parts over a long span of time.
It doesn't seem to be entirely sure what it's about. It's about a son's journey to understand his father and their estrangement, yes, but it also tries to be a travel book and an exploration of religion and how it can be warped, but doesn't fully satisfy any of these angles. As previous reviewers have said, some of the places the author travels to get a lot of book time, others very little or are simply mentioned in passing. The description is often beautifully written, though the transition from travel writing to sudden philosophical musings about what it means to be culturally Muslim, etc, seemed quite jarring.
The author does write negatively of the corruption and misinterpretation of Islamic doctrine in countries such as Iran, though his attack feels somewhat tepid, as if he's afraid of being TOO negative. After reading about how Iran rules its people I was left seething in anger and I wanted to see that reflected by the author.
Despite its flaws, the book is still an intriguing read and I recommend it for those interested in, or trying to learn about, Pakistan and India and Partition. The author's exploration of why Pakistan seems to function worse than India makes for educational and insightful reading. The ending of the book is mildly haunting, though I would've liked to read more about the author's personal experience of being in Pakistan at the time of Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
All in all, a read that might appeal to those interested in India and Pakistan, and Islam and the Middle East, though don't expect a completely satisfying travel book, or a completely satisfying exploration of Islam.
It doesn't seem to be entirely sure what it's about. It's about a son's journey to understand his father and their estrangement, yes, but it also tries to be a travel book and an exploration of religion and how it can be warped, but doesn't fully satisfy any of these angles. As previous reviewers have said, some of the places the author travels to get a lot of book time, others very little or are simply mentioned in passing. The description is often beautifully written, though the transition from travel writing to sudden philosophical musings about what it means to be culturally Muslim, etc, seemed quite jarring.
The author does write negatively of the corruption and misinterpretation of Islamic doctrine in countries such as Iran, though his attack feels somewhat tepid, as if he's afraid of being TOO negative. After reading about how Iran rules its people I was left seething in anger and I wanted to see that reflected by the author.
Despite its flaws, the book is still an intriguing read and I recommend it for those interested in, or trying to learn about, Pakistan and India and Partition. The author's exploration of why Pakistan seems to function worse than India makes for educational and insightful reading. The ending of the book is mildly haunting, though I would've liked to read more about the author's personal experience of being in Pakistan at the time of Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
All in all, a read that might appeal to those interested in India and Pakistan, and Islam and the Middle East, though don't expect a completely satisfying travel book, or a completely satisfying exploration of Islam.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
could be much more interesting
The idea of the book is interesting. It is interesting to discover the religion of your father, which you really did not know. Read more
Published 5 months ago by aya
A pedagogic odyssey
The son of a Sikh woman and a Pakistani man is going to travel through several countries to meet up with a father who became a distant figure. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jose
Stranger to HIstory
Having lived in the Middle East this book brought back some memories - good and bad. Excellent description of living in the Islamic countries. Read more
Published 8 months ago by P. A. A. Acharya
Not my kind of book
I've tried this book a couple of times and have failed.
Sorry - but it was not what I was hoping for - and bears no comparison woth books like the Kite Runner etc. Read more
Sorry - but it was not what I was hoping for - and bears no comparison woth books like the Kite Runner etc. Read more
Published 15 months ago by E. Heckingbottom
Compelling and Moving a Real Insiders Eye
I enjoyed a Journey through Islamic Lands for the strength of the writer's voice and his vivid descriptions of locations in Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Scriber_scouse
Its not about Islam, its about Indian partition
The subtitle proclaims this to be a son's journey through Islamic lands, but it is so in only the very narrowest sense. Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2010 by K. Chase-Rahman
Rambling travelogue...
This is a rambling travelogue that is occasionally offensive, occasionally insightful and is merely interesting rather than insightful. Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2009 by Y. Yearwood
Two Journeys
This book takes the reader through the author's exploration of what it means, as a non-practising Muslim, to be Muslim and, as the son of a Pakistani man and Indian mother, to be... Read more
Published on 29 May 2009 by J. Grundy
Politics & Islam
Aatish Taseer was born to an Indian mother (Sikh) & a Pakistani father (Moslem). He grew up with his mother in India as his father abandoned them when he was 2 & refused to have... Read more
Published on 28 May 2009 by Q
A interesting mix of the personal and political, set in Islamic...
I read this book while on holiday. By the time I'd finished it I felt as if I'd travelled many more miles than I actually had. Read more
Published on 23 May 2009 by S. P. Moses
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