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Stranger to History: A Sons Journey through Islamic Lands

Stranger to History: A Sons Journey through Islamic Lands

by Aatish Taseer (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2009

    $5.89
Synopsis

What does it mean to be a young Muslim in the twenty-first century? When Aatish Taseer receives a challenging letter from his estranged father in Pakistan, he decides to set off on an expedition across the Islamic world in search of his own Islamic heritage, as well as to discover how other young people across the Middle East felt about theirs. In a post-9/11 world Aatish is forced to confront himself and his relationship with the religious and secular worlds he moves in, as one of many 'crisis children living on the faultline of Islam and modernity.' He explores issues of identity and religious self-discovery with a fascinating cross-section of people ranging from transvestites in full hijab in Istanbul, and Norwegians considering conversions in Damascus, to Hare Krishnas in Tehran. As he travels, Aatish tells the story of his own family over the past fifty years. It is an absorbing and thought-provoking journey which culminates in an emotional reunion between Aatish and his father in Lahore, on a day that brings home the stark reality of attempts to reconcile old belief systems and liberal reform in a divided region where East meets West.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 336
 Edition: Main
 Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Published: 19 Mar 2009
ISBN 10: 1847670717
ISBN 13: 9781847670717

Media Reviews
A subtle and poignant work by a young writer to watch. -- V.S. Naipaul
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 * *
Probing, exhilarating and shot through with pinpoint observations of people, places and situations. -- Kenny Hodgart * * Herald * *
Engrossing and provocative . . . Part travelogue, part memoir, this honest and revealing book is an attempt to form a better relationship with his father. Throughout, he confronts the concerns of religion and politics head on, unafraid to question the basic principles of faith and the Islamic view of history. -- Duncan Mills * * Traveller Magazine * *
Stranger to History is remarkable. The souks, the landcapes and the people are described in simple, poetic language...Indespensable reading for anyone who wants a wider understanding of the Islamic world, of its history and its politics. -- Emmanuelle Smith * * Financial Times * *
A revealing personal odyssey . . . Illuminating. * * The Bookseller * *
It is a memoir as much as the journal of a fascinating and wholly focused quest . . . The writing is concentrated, absorbed in the tale it is telling, expressing compelling points of view, the author's bemusement, intrigue and confusion as he searches for the treads of his Muslim identity . . . Either story would in themselves have made a wholly absorbing account. Taken together, and woven astutely, they make a memorable read that engages the mind as well as the heart -- Tom Adair * * Scotsman * *
Ultimately, Taseer's travels provide no solution to the 'thinness' of his relationship with his father, but they supply the reader with plenty of food for thought. * * Geographical * *
This is a work that ought to be read by the policy makers in Whitehall and Washington as well as in Islamic countries - for its insights into the thinking of angry young Muslim men. -- Carey Schofield * * Spectator * *
Author Bio
Aatish Taseer was born in 1980 and educated at Amherst College. He worked as a reporter at Time magazine and has written frequently for Time, Sunday Times, and Prospect Magazine. He speaks five languages and currently lives between London and New Delhi. This is his first book.