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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
The way the book equates a Western lifestyle with capitalism is interesting and thought provoking. The fictionalized memoir style is a bit distracting at times, "did that really happen?". And there are some bits that I really didn't like but the realizations that the author arrives at are interesting.
Impressive tale of family relationships, exile and the American dream. Embedded within the story of a Pakistani family living in America pre and post 9/11, there is a middle section with insights into financialisation and how it had dominated late stage capitalism to the exclusion of everything else. And how this has taken over the lives of so many people.
A great book that I would have given 5 stars but my engagement with the characters was somehow one step removed - I never got a deep personal connection.
A great book that I would have given 5 stars but my engagement with the characters was somehow one step removed - I never got a deep personal connection.
Homeland Elegies is a book of complicated form; part novel, part social commentary, part biography. I was not prepared for the feeling of reading, let's call it personal non-fiction. As a result this felt like a torturous read, punctuated by highly entertaining vignettes in the life of the author and his father.
I was drawn to the book by its obviously significant ideas on race, Islam in America, and a personal history of 9/11 for an American Muslim. However, these big ideas were lost to me behind the storytelling devices employed. They were indirect, novelized at times, anecdotal in others, and intellectualized in still others. As a result, I mostly failed to connect with them and only enjoyed one or two.
All in all this is a largely a personal rating of my reading this book at this moment in my life. However, the form employed does over-complicate its accessibility and flow. Readers, beware, this is better to approach as non-fiction.
I was drawn to the book by its obviously significant ideas on race, Islam in America, and a personal history of 9/11 for an American Muslim. However, these big ideas were lost to me behind the storytelling devices employed. They were indirect, novelized at times, anecdotal in others, and intellectualized in still others. As a result, I mostly failed to connect with them and only enjoyed one or two.
All in all this is a largely a personal rating of my reading this book at this moment in my life. However, the form employed does over-complicate its accessibility and flow. Readers, beware, this is better to approach as non-fiction.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautifully written and insightful. Love his plays and enjoyed pondering this too. Could have done without a couple of graphic descriptions but a very worthwhile read.
My review can be found here: https://thissideofwest.uvic.ca/homeland-elegies.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit tough to get into at first but Riaz’s story really hooked me. Reading this made me realize i have not consumed much media/art by Muslims. It had been easy to forget how scary it must have been and how much Muslims were mistreated and abused after 9/11. I was young enough that I don’t think I fully understood it at the time, and it had receded enough into “history” as I grew older and more aware. This book reminded me a bit of the depiction of anti-Muslim sentiment in Come From Away, mostly in that both made me realize I was very ignorant / forgetful of the post-9/11 realities that still continue into the present.
When chatting with friends they told me this book was billed as a work of fiction. I had thought it was memoir so now I’m very curious how much is made up and how much is Ayad’s real life and experiences!!
Some quotes that stood out to me:
“That America had begun as a colony and that a colony it remained, that is, a place still defined by its plunder, where enrichment was paramount and civil order was always an afterthought.”
“As ever, interpretation has more to do with the one interpreting than the one being interpreted.”
“If all this sounds somewhat paranoid, i am happy for you. Clearly you have not been beset by daily worries of being perceived - and therefore treated - as a foe of the republic rather than a member of it.”
“The established majority takes its we-image from a minority of its best, and shapes a they-image of the despised outsiders from the minority of their worst.” (Quote attributed to Norbert Elias)
“Money comes with its own point of view; what you own, when you own enough of it, starts making you see the world from its perspective.”
“They call it a melting pot, but it’s not. In chemistry, they have what they call a buffer solution - which keeps things together but always separated. That’s what this country is. A buffer solution.”
When chatting with friends they told me this book was billed as a work of fiction. I had thought it was memoir so now I’m very curious how much is made up and how much is Ayad’s real life and experiences!!
Some quotes that stood out to me:
“That America had begun as a colony and that a colony it remained, that is, a place still defined by its plunder, where enrichment was paramount and civil order was always an afterthought.”
“As ever, interpretation has more to do with the one interpreting than the one being interpreted.”
“If all this sounds somewhat paranoid, i am happy for you. Clearly you have not been beset by daily worries of being perceived - and therefore treated - as a foe of the republic rather than a member of it.”
“The established majority takes its we-image from a minority of its best, and shapes a they-image of the despised outsiders from the minority of their worst.” (Quote attributed to Norbert Elias)
“Money comes with its own point of view; what you own, when you own enough of it, starts making you see the world from its perspective.”
“They call it a melting pot, but it’s not. In chemistry, they have what they call a buffer solution - which keeps things together but always separated. That’s what this country is. A buffer solution.”
I really like this meandering (in a good way) semi-autobiographical tale of family dynamics, cultural identity, and the “American way of life”. It is smart and witty. Eye opening and provocative. On one page, the author is described as possessing “fetching pretension”. This is clearly evidenced by his writing style, from which I got the impression that the author often feels he is the smartest person in the room. While this can be off-putting, it may also be entirely accurate.
How wonderful and sad and hopeful to read this intense book about being “other” in the country of your birth. But that is only one of the myriad themes covered here. Economics, politics, Islam, racism, terrorism, family, love. None of which escapes brutal honesty and dissection of its complexities. Though a novel, this book at various times felt like more of a lecture series, an interwoven short story collection, a memoir, or an intellectual thriller. Where in the world of relationships and ideas would the protagonist land? Of course, he need not land anywhere at all since the journey never ends. And hello out there to anyone who thinks otherwise: the beauty and health and vibrancy of this country rely on the contributions of authors like this one.
PS: With all that is said here of Obama, the fact that this made his short list of favorite books of 2020 just demonstrates once again the incredible grace of the man.
PS: With all that is said here of Obama, the fact that this made his short list of favorite books of 2020 just demonstrates once again the incredible grace of the man.