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A review by pgchuis
Discontent and Its Civilizations: Dispatches from Lahore, New York, and London by Mohsin Hamid
3.0
I haven't read any of Hamid's fiction, although I plan to try "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", but the premise of this book interested me. In the end, though, I was disappointed. The section dealing with his life was mildly interesting, but superficial. He identifies with Pakistan as home, but is that mostly because his family lives there? I was hoping for more cross-cultural insights. What makes one country home, even if its language is not your first language? The section on art I found dull.
Finally, the section on politics suffered from being (necessarily) out of date. Although he grouped the articles and thoughts in approximate chronological order, there was no overall coherent time line and no explicit commentary on whether things he had hoped for had indeed occurred. While I am sure no one would disagree that peace in Afghanistan and peace with India are important goals, I was hampered by a lack of in depth knowledge to evaluate his views. He writes as an author living in Pakistan who has lived in the US and UK, which gives him a unique perspective, but I wonder what other "experts" would say on the topics he discusses. The political points he made were all "big picture" points and I found his repeated hopes for Pakistan made me want to tell him to stop writing and go and do something about it.
Finally, the section on politics suffered from being (necessarily) out of date. Although he grouped the articles and thoughts in approximate chronological order, there was no overall coherent time line and no explicit commentary on whether things he had hoped for had indeed occurred. While I am sure no one would disagree that peace in Afghanistan and peace with India are important goals, I was hampered by a lack of in depth knowledge to evaluate his views. He writes as an author living in Pakistan who has lived in the US and UK, which gives him a unique perspective, but I wonder what other "experts" would say on the topics he discusses. The political points he made were all "big picture" points and I found his repeated hopes for Pakistan made me want to tell him to stop writing and go and do something about it.