Everyone at book club agreed that Hamid's novel is an absolute work of genius. It is the story of a Pakistani who leaves his country at age 18 to attend Princeton where he excelled in his studies and went on to become a highly competent appraiser of businesses. He struggles with a difficult personal life and with his identity as a Pakistani in America around the time of 9/11.
It's the way the story is told that sucks you in and builds tension. The protagonist is in a cafe in Lahore telling an American the story of his life. His is the only voice we hear. The American's remarks go unrecorded and we have only the responses to them given by the Pakistani narrator. It is evident that the American is uneasy and the reader begins to imagine that he is there to do the Pakistani harm. Or is it the other way around?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment