Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
4.5/5
-->> I was absolutely enamoured by its unique writing style. It is like a conversational style of writing with a cool twist. We encounter two people talking to each other but we are only able to hear one person speak- think of it like you are eavesdropping a phone conversation i.e you are able to only hear the person standing next to you but not able to hear the person who is at the other end of the call.
I might have confused you hence here’s a few extract from the book to give you an idea of what i am trying to say –
“ i spent four and a half years in your country. Where? I worked in new York , and before that attended college in new jersey. Yes, you are right : it was Princeton! Quite a guess, i must say.”
“but what is that? Ah your mobile phone !will you not answer it? i assure you sir, i will do my utmost to avoid eavesdropping on your conversation . but you are opting to write a text message instead; very wise: often a few words are more than sufficient.”
If you are still confused then I apologise for doing a bad job explaining it . you might want to read it to see what I am talking about.
--> it was incredibly fast paced and the impressive writing style helped me power through to the end in no time. Infact, I was taking it slow because I wanted it to last longer but still I managed to finish it in one sitting – that is a true testament to how much I was enjoying it.
-->There was not a single boring instance in the book. I was hooked from start to finish. Each and every chapter felt like a scene in a movie or an episode of a binge worthy tv show.
For most parts of the book, I was sympathetic to changez . he is a flawed character and at times he was ridiculously stubborn. but what i really appreciate is when he admitted that he found a bit of pleasure when he saw 9/11 happen. At first i was creeped out by this revelation but as things started to cool down, i kind of appreciated that the author didnt project his main lead as some kind of a saint .
I also liked the backstory of Erica and the role she played in his life. she is an aspiring author who is sensitive and artistic . she suffers from some kind of trauma in her past for which she is a bit damaged .
-->Covers issues of post 9/11 america especially what it is like to be an immigrant and especially for muslims.
-->Overall it was an absolute engaging read – quite a page turner. I am reluctant to give it a full 5/5 rating because of the open ending. I hate it when i am asked to figure out myself what happens at the end
-->> I was absolutely enamoured by its unique writing style. It is like a conversational style of writing with a cool twist. We encounter two people talking to each other but we are only able to hear one person speak- think of it like you are eavesdropping a phone conversation i.e you are able to only hear the person standing next to you but not able to hear the person who is at the other end of the call.
I might have confused you hence here’s a few extract from the book to give you an idea of what i am trying to say –
“ i spent four and a half years in your country. Where? I worked in new York , and before that attended college in new jersey. Yes, you are right : it was Princeton! Quite a guess, i must say.”
“but what is that? Ah your mobile phone !will you not answer it? i assure you sir, i will do my utmost to avoid eavesdropping on your conversation . but you are opting to write a text message instead; very wise: often a few words are more than sufficient.”
If you are still confused then I apologise for doing a bad job explaining it . you might want to read it to see what I am talking about.
--> it was incredibly fast paced and the impressive writing style helped me power through to the end in no time. Infact, I was taking it slow because I wanted it to last longer but still I managed to finish it in one sitting – that is a true testament to how much I was enjoying it.
-->There was not a single boring instance in the book. I was hooked from start to finish. Each and every chapter felt like a scene in a movie or an episode of a binge worthy tv show.
For most parts of the book, I was sympathetic to changez . he is a flawed character and at times he was ridiculously stubborn. but what i really appreciate is when he admitted that he found a bit of pleasure when he saw 9/11 happen. At first i was creeped out by this revelation but as things started to cool down, i kind of appreciated that the author didnt project his main lead as some kind of a saint .
I also liked the backstory of Erica and the role she played in his life. she is an aspiring author who is sensitive and artistic . she suffers from some kind of trauma in her past for which she is a bit damaged .
-->Covers issues of post 9/11 america especially what it is like to be an immigrant and especially for muslims.
-->Overall it was an absolute engaging read – quite a page turner. I am reluctant to give it a full 5/5 rating because of the open ending. I hate it when i am asked to figure out myself what happens at the end
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The whole 180 page novel is a dramatic monologue, characterizing the listener as well as the speaker. It is well sustained. Yes, the present scene interrupts the narrative, but always briefly. And yes, one does have to accept the improbability of such a long conversation among strangers, but in the end it becomes somewhat plausible.
Attention is kept by an early mention of Changez's having left a high status job after 8 months. One keeps wondering if he left or was fired. Then Erica is introduced, and the attempt at relationship provides additional interest.
It is also a novel about Changez's emerging self awareness. At first he buys into values at Princeton and at his workplace, to seek the financial fundamentals only and to avoid the big picture, which being interpreted becomes look at money values and ignore people values: ignore who will lose a job if a profitable plan is followed, for instance. Looking back Changez realizes he had been aware but suppressed some of the value conflicts, but we see awareness grow through situations like 9/11 and its aftermath, US seeming to side with India in pending potential war between India and Pakistan, and Changez's encounters with the head of a book store being valued by the company for purchase by another company that will most likely drop the trade books because their market is a drag on other publishing. Once aware, he refuses to work on the book publisher job and is subsequently fired. It is such a conscious decision that it seems more his than the company's.
Is Erica there just to provide interest or is there more function to her character? She retreats to an inner world where her first lover, Chris--who has died, is more present that her outer world. Changez has moments of an inner world more real as he "maintains" a relationship with her after she has disappeared. For him this is another form of denial but parallels his denial of values, though the relationship one never seems to be resolved.
The long conversation becomes plausible when the listener's gun-pouch in mentioned (maybe before, but that was when I got it). Changez dismisses the pouch as business-card holder. The same is mentioned at the end. Is this Changez's denial at work again? Or his role playing. He has played the role of New Yorker, of Erica's deal lover, Chris, and of good employee. It can't be ignorance because too often we are told about his ability to read other people.
If Changez knew, why did he play along? Perhaps he had had enough of waiting for the inevitable even though he claimed to be living normally. Perhaps it was his way to suicide.
But we know the listener pulled a gun (that Changez calls business card holder again). We do not hear the shot fired. And the waiter has been following; I will have to reread to be sure which side he was on.
Attention is kept by an early mention of Changez's having left a high status job after 8 months. One keeps wondering if he left or was fired. Then Erica is introduced, and the attempt at relationship provides additional interest.
It is also a novel about Changez's emerging self awareness. At first he buys into values at Princeton and at his workplace, to seek the financial fundamentals only and to avoid the big picture, which being interpreted becomes look at money values and ignore people values: ignore who will lose a job if a profitable plan is followed, for instance. Looking back Changez realizes he had been aware but suppressed some of the value conflicts, but we see awareness grow through situations like 9/11 and its aftermath, US seeming to side with India in pending potential war between India and Pakistan, and Changez's encounters with the head of a book store being valued by the company for purchase by another company that will most likely drop the trade books because their market is a drag on other publishing. Once aware, he refuses to work on the book publisher job and is subsequently fired. It is such a conscious decision that it seems more his than the company's.
Is Erica there just to provide interest or is there more function to her character? She retreats to an inner world where her first lover, Chris--who has died, is more present that her outer world. Changez has moments of an inner world more real as he "maintains" a relationship with her after she has disappeared. For him this is another form of denial but parallels his denial of values, though the relationship one never seems to be resolved.
The long conversation becomes plausible when the listener's gun-pouch in mentioned (maybe before, but that was when I got it). Changez dismisses the pouch as business-card holder. The same is mentioned at the end. Is this Changez's denial at work again? Or his role playing. He has played the role of New Yorker, of Erica's deal lover, Chris, and of good employee. It can't be ignorance because too often we are told about his ability to read other people.
If Changez knew, why did he play along? Perhaps he had had enough of waiting for the inevitable even though he claimed to be living normally. Perhaps it was his way to suicide.
But we know the listener pulled a gun (that Changez calls business card holder again). We do not hear the shot fired. And the waiter has been following; I will have to reread to be sure which side he was on.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
An interesting novel centered around a tense conversation between two men in Pakistan. It certainly plays with narration. There are two parallel stories. Changez as he narrates his life in the USA from 2000 -2002 and the stay at the restaurant with an unnamed American man who is listening to Changez story. the entire things quickly feels like a villain monologe and in the end I am left wondering what really happened
It's thought provoking and unique in style. A quick and pleasant read
It's thought provoking and unique in style. A quick and pleasant read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual violence, War
Moderate: Suicide
The style of the book is notable since the novel is in fact a monologue. The tone is polite and eloquent which taps the reader into Changez's voice. However the parallel story with Erica is neither here nor there and the threats by strangers and the distance from co-workers, post 9/11, was not emphasized much, simply stated as he continued to bring the stranger up to date with his story.
I understood Changez's discontent but I wanted him to rally. Sure, he could go back home but I wanted him to at least pull it together to not bow out like he did in NY or to at least have been more reflective about it. I didn't feel like Changez grew as a character and that's also fine considering in real life, people are slow to change but it made the novel seem pointless since it didn't properly highlight the main points of conflict.
"The book unfolds as a monologue that Changez delivers to a mysterious American operative over dinner at a Lahore, Pakistan, cafe. Pre-9/11, Princeton graduate Changez is on top of the world: recruited by an elite New York financial company, the 22-year-old quickly earns accolades from his hard-charging supervisor, plunges into Manhattan's hip social whirl and becomes infatuated with Erica, a fellow Princeton graduate pining for her dead boyfriend.
But after the towers fall, Changez is subject to intensified scrutiny and physical threats, and his co-workers become markedly less affable as his beard grows in ("a form of protest," he says). Erica is committed to a mental institution, and Changez, upset by his adopted country's "growing and self-righteous rage," slacks off at work and is fired. Despite his off-putting commentary, the damaged Changez comes off as honest and thoughtful."- Publishers Weekly
Soon after Erica disappears from the mental insitution, Changez heads back to Lahore and becomes a professor where he rallies students who are against the war.
I understood Changez's discontent but I wanted him to rally. Sure, he could go back home but I wanted him to at least pull it together to not bow out like he did in NY or to at least have been more reflective about it. I didn't feel like Changez grew as a character and that's also fine considering in real life, people are slow to change but it made the novel seem pointless since it didn't properly highlight the main points of conflict.
"The book unfolds as a monologue that Changez delivers to a mysterious American operative over dinner at a Lahore, Pakistan, cafe. Pre-9/11, Princeton graduate Changez is on top of the world: recruited by an elite New York financial company, the 22-year-old quickly earns accolades from his hard-charging supervisor, plunges into Manhattan's hip social whirl and becomes infatuated with Erica, a fellow Princeton graduate pining for her dead boyfriend.
But after the towers fall, Changez is subject to intensified scrutiny and physical threats, and his co-workers become markedly less affable as his beard grows in ("a form of protest," he says). Erica is committed to a mental institution, and Changez, upset by his adopted country's "growing and self-righteous rage," slacks off at work and is fired. Despite his off-putting commentary, the damaged Changez comes off as honest and thoughtful."- Publishers Weekly
Soon after Erica disappears from the mental insitution, Changez heads back to Lahore and becomes a professor where he rallies students who are against the war.
3 1/2 stars. I really enjoyed the act of reading this book. The narrative technique that Hamid uses—the narrator telling his story to an unnamed and voiceless stranger, who seems to serve as both a stand-in for the reader and a mysterious third party—is intriguing and enticing. But the story itself lacked the heft necessary for it to remain compelling. The narrator's ethical awakening was well done, but otherwise not much else held my interest. And the final moment to which everything was leading was, for me, too ambiguous and confusing to deliver a satisfying payoff. I do wonder if the book was targeting an American audience, and if I (as a reader, identifying with the voiceless American stranger) would have been left more satisfyingly unnerved by the ending.
On the other hand, it's always enjoyable to read about a country like Pakistan without it being othered, and to have the two nations and two cultures discussed on a more equal footing.
On the other hand, it's always enjoyable to read about a country like Pakistan without it being othered, and to have the two nations and two cultures discussed on a more equal footing.
Ease of Reading: 5✨
Characters: 5✨
Plot: 5✨
Writing: 5✨
Overall: 5✨
I really enjoyed this. It was written in a really easy to read but unique style, with complex multidimensional characters and a character driven plot that is also reactive to the changing political landscape. A great read.
Characters: 5✨
Plot: 5✨
Writing: 5✨
Overall: 5✨
I really enjoyed this. It was written in a really easy to read but unique style, with complex multidimensional characters and a character driven plot that is also reactive to the changing political landscape. A great read.
The writing sucked me in and kept me engaged the whole time. I can't wait to read more from this author!