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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Books like this make me feel dumb. It is filled with a lot of symbolism, but I totally missed it. I am a very shallow reader and don't really grasp the deeper meaning of many books.
There are a couple of "sex scenes" that may be a bit uncomfortable for some.
There are a couple of "sex scenes" that may be a bit uncomfortable for some.
I’m basing what I’m about to say on only this and Exit West, but Hamid really struggles with endings. There was so much to love here, but I was frustrated with the haste with which it drew to a close, just as its narrator begins to grapple with his own identity and ideals in a more direct way. But still, so so so good. And if ever a book had a perfect title, it’s this one.
Unique style of narration, as this novel unfolds over the course of a day-long conversation between the protagonist, and you, an American in Lahore. The tension created in this storytelling becomes most apparent in the pages concluding the novel. A short and brilliant examination of love and loss, how identity is shaped by global forces, and the fallout of a media and state-backed effort to vilify Muslims in post-9/11 USA.
I can't remember the last time I was so astonished that I actually threw my hands up in the air after finishing a book.
Probably more like 3 1/2 stars. This first person narrative about a young Pakistani man who comes to America for college and career was compelling from the start. The entire book is him telling his story to a stranger.
I was frustrated by not knowing his connection to the Stranger (I was so sure there would be one) and by the ambiguous ending.
I was frustrated by not knowing his connection to the Stranger (I was so sure there would be one) and by the ambiguous ending.
Very easy read - if I didn't have children I would have finished it in one day. Not easy to put down.
A Pakistani man tells his life story to an unknown Western man over dinner in Lahore. Quick read; tense but not a thriller. Didn't go where I thought it would.
A modern classic for a reason, very readable and a key text which will be studied in 50 years to explain the post-millennial, pre-Covid world of terrorism.
This book was not what I expected (and I don't want to say what I expected for people who have not read this book) and I am so glad I was wrong. I really enjoyed reading this book!
3.5 - 4
I had no difficulties reading this in two hours, except that sometimes it felt like being trapped at a party with someone insistent on telling you a story that you are unsure of. It's not fully clear why you're being held hostage to the tale. But you continue to listen, and soon you are somewhat curious what happens, and you feel some empathy for the characters, and then the person is pulled away before he's able to finish telling you exactly what happened and you wonder about it before being distracted again.
The fact that the characters are representatives of their various nations is clear: Changez, an incredibly bright Pakistani who becomes enamored of the West and its potential for wealth & power, and Erica, a white American who is enthralled by a past trauma she cannot reconcile. Changez only becomes a reluctant fundamentalist after his encounters with Erica do not go as he envisions, and he is introduced to the idea of political subjugation by a South American "revolutionary."
I like the easy tone and the near-supplicatory way in which the author is almost pleading to be understood. However, it's not entirely clear what his fundamentalist views are or who the fundamentalist is: America, or Pakistan.
I had no difficulties reading this in two hours, except that sometimes it felt like being trapped at a party with someone insistent on telling you a story that you are unsure of. It's not fully clear why you're being held hostage to the tale. But you continue to listen, and soon you are somewhat curious what happens, and you feel some empathy for the characters, and then the person is pulled away before he's able to finish telling you exactly what happened and you wonder about it before being distracted again.
The fact that the characters are representatives of their various nations is clear: Changez, an incredibly bright Pakistani who becomes enamored of the West and its potential for wealth & power, and Erica, a white American who is enthralled by a past trauma she cannot reconcile. Changez only becomes a reluctant fundamentalist after his encounters with Erica do not go as he envisions, and he is introduced to the idea of political subjugation by a South American "revolutionary."
I like the easy tone and the near-supplicatory way in which the author is almost pleading to be understood. However, it's not entirely clear what his fundamentalist views are or who the fundamentalist is: America, or Pakistan.