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A review by larissadistler
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
4.0
I am a librarian in charge of the development of the adult fiction collection. So I ordered this book back in February because it was written by the same man who wrote "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" a book that I know our patrons have read and enjoyed.
However, when I went back through the collection stats for the books I had ordered in February, this book had no checkouts, zero. Determined as I am to get all of my collection to circulate, I checked it out myself, not even reading the jacket flap.
Admittedly, it was a bit disconcerting to dive into a book written in the second person, something I haven't seen since those choose your own adventure Goosebumps books I read so many of in third grade. As I kept reading; however, I found myself quite engrossed.
This is a wonderful book. The more I think on it, the more I am glad I read it. The second person narrative gives the perspective a duality. The main character is a boy, then a man trying to get filthy rich in rising Asia, but it was also me.
Some of the reviewers here seem to be a bit to transfixed on the title and self help frame of the book. Those reviewers are quite frankly missing the point. This book is about empathy, life, death, getting old, and making decisions that shape one's existence. It is at times uncomfortable to read, especially as a second person narrative, but really come on folks. Sometimes life is uncomfortable to live.
However, when I went back through the collection stats for the books I had ordered in February, this book had no checkouts, zero. Determined as I am to get all of my collection to circulate, I checked it out myself, not even reading the jacket flap.
Admittedly, it was a bit disconcerting to dive into a book written in the second person, something I haven't seen since those choose your own adventure Goosebumps books I read so many of in third grade. As I kept reading; however, I found myself quite engrossed.
This is a wonderful book. The more I think on it, the more I am glad I read it. The second person narrative gives the perspective a duality. The main character is a boy, then a man trying to get filthy rich in rising Asia, but it was also me.
Some of the reviewers here seem to be a bit to transfixed on the title and self help frame of the book. Those reviewers are quite frankly missing the point. This book is about empathy, life, death, getting old, and making decisions that shape one's existence. It is at times uncomfortable to read, especially as a second person narrative, but really come on folks. Sometimes life is uncomfortable to live.