Mohsin Hamid

Changez, a young Pakistani, graduates at the top of his class at Princeton. He is hired by a prestigious corporate valuation firm based in New York City. From there he travels to his engagements, which could be anywhere in the world. Most of these assignments will result in the sale of the client’s company and downsizing of its employees. Changez feels compassion for the people who will lose their jobs due to his valuations, but he is encouraged by Jim, his mentor at the firm, to just show more “focus on the fundamentals,” the data, and the analysis, basically ignoring the human consequences of his work.

I enjoyed the various definitions implied in the word “fundamentalist” – it is used by Jim as a focus for is job, and of course, we are familiar with fundamentalist religious beliefs. I thought it might be about a person becoming a religious fundamentalist, but it is more about a man experiencing inner turmoil by compromising his values in the pursuit of monetary compensation. Changez does not want to lose his sense of compassion, hence he is “reluctant.” This moral quandary will eventually lead to a life-altering decision. In the meantime, he gets involved in a relationship with a woman whose fiancé has died, leaving her bereft and emotionally unstable.

The story is told by Changez to an unnamed American over the course of a meal in Lahore, a few years after 9/11. Changez’s reactions to the terrorist attacks and changes in the way he is treated in the aftermath are part of the thematic content. It is cleverly written. By supplying only one side of the conversation, the reader can easily take the role of the unnamed dinner companion. It tackles some uncomfortable topics, and I found it riveting. It would make a great choice for a book club. I am sure there would be multiple interpretations of the ending.

4.5 show less

Early in Mohsin Hamid’s challenging, sometimes brutal, and often profoundly moving novel, Exit West, as we are getting to know the two main characters Nadia and Saeed, we are abruptly lifted out of their story and taken to Australia, where a woman asleep in her bedroom in a Sydney suburb does not awaken when a man crawls out of her closet, a dark man “with dark skin and dark, woolly hair,” whose emergence suggests a difficult birthing, and who stands and looks around him in perplexity show more and then slips silently out the window and into the night. It is a disorienting moment, not just for the man but for the reader as well, who is being roughly initiated into the world of a novel in which the status quo is crumbling and borders mean little. Nadia and Saeed meet in a night class. Both are living productive lives, employed and with a more-or-less settled sense of who they are and what they want. Saeed, semi-devout, prays fitfully. Nadia, who covers herself with a black robe but does not pray, enjoys playing vinyl records and using mushrooms to get high. Their tragedy is living in a city that is on the brink of war, that is filling with refugees and under threat of insurgency. When the radicals defeat the government forces and take control of the city, and with murderous zeal impose a violent form of religious law on the stricken populace, Nadia and Saeed make the painful decision to leave home and family and go elsewhere. They are not alone: in Hamid’s vividly imagined alternative universe, the world order is being tested by a relentless flow of populations from one place to another by means that can only be described as magical. The remainder of the novel follows Nadia and Saeed as they journey together through stages of intimacy and gradual separation, as they and their circumstances shift and evolve, and as they each arrive at a new understanding of what they want from life that is bittersweet but seemingly inevitable. Hamid’s novel is narrated with plain-spoken yet lilting gravitas, suggesting that we are witness to something elemental and necessary. A quick read, the novel engages the reader with a touching personal story, but its subject is the human condition in a volatile and unpredictable modern world. A highly original treatment of a familiar subject, Exit West gives us much to ponder. show less

How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is an intelligent , insightful and gripping read. In many ways the title and cover of the book are a disservice to this wonderful read. One could be forgiven for assuming that this is a non- fiction book about how to get rich. Instead, this is a story about an a young boy growing up in an impoverished rural family in Pakistan.

The bright, unnamed second person narrator is able to get a basic education unlike most of his peers. As an avid reader a show more particular quotation stood out to me. While watching the credits roll at the end of a TV movie, he realizes " Your mother sees a meaningless stream of hieroglyphs. Your father and and sister make out an occasional number, your brother that and the occasional word. For you alone does this part of the programming make sense. You understand who is responsible for what." p 33

The story follows our narrator from his babyhood, through his ambition and struggle with his integrity to become rich. As readers we are with him even in his old age. Along the way , he encounters gangs, government corruption and violence. But this tale is so much more than an intriguing look at the challenges in life in contemporary Lahore, Pakistan. This is also a romance, and a man struggling with his conscience and obligations to his family.

Tightly written, unsentimental , and well worth the read. Highly recommended.
4. 5 stars show less

This was outstanding. So intricate yet so simple. His writing is eloquent and the magical realism enhanced the story tenfold allowing the author to span periods of time in an instant to focus on the character development and the plot. I am in awe of his ability and completely engrossed in the "comings and goings" of people on this earth. Rather than focusing solely on migration and refugees, he also described the choices to stay or to leave or decide to return. Simply fascinating and show more thought-provoking. show less