Moth Smoke (B) [Paperback] Hamid, Mohsin

First novel by the writer and can't believe the level of imagination he had while writing this. A very nice read. Excellent poise and great profundity

It's a good book, simple language but really gets the message to you

The book is about the fall of the protagonist Darashikoh Shehzad. It gives the reader an idea about the life in Pakistan- life of the Pakistani Youth, Neo-rich classes, Working class. One could clearly feel the similarities and contrasts between life in India and in Pakistan while reading the book. The language used is something fresh, storyline is grabbing.I think it's a must read!:)

It was a good and interesting book

Nice one

Very enjoyable. This is the kind of stuff you need to go back to after working all day long. :)

Very interesting. Expecting more books of this genre. Will be reading his other books in the future. Thank you sir.

best

RAS

Cosa aspettarsi da un autore anglo-pakistano? Gli stereotipi della repubblica islamica asiatica ci porterebbero verso il fondamentalismo religioso, i matrimoni combinati, una concezione strettamente coniugale del sesso. Niente di tutto questo: aspettatevi un incrocio fra Céline, Bukowsky e Hosseini.Hamid ci conduce in una Lahore corrotta, desolante ed individualista, all'interno delle vite delle classi agiate pakistane: titoli di studio americani, ville inespugnabili, macchinoni da ecotassa, droga, alcolici d'importazione. I personaggi sono analizzati al microscopio - quasi come un entomologo con degli insetti - con una lente impietosa che non risparmia niente e nessuno.L'utilizzo della lingua inglese è magistrale: si mescolano registri linguistici da bassi fondi e da Oxford, così come narrazioni in prima persona ad altre in seconda. Nel corso della lettura conoscerete termini come "load-sheeding", "joint" et "pot", con il contrasto nucleare indo-pakistano a fare distrattamente da sfondo.Un reale capolavoro, da leggere tutto d'un fiato e che ti fa venire voglia di cominciare subito i romanzi successivi di Hamid.

Catchy story but with a hard ending. The story of the decadence of a human being. It is very easy to read!

When I read my first Mohsin Hamid novel 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist', I was amazed at his original style; I could not put the book down. I just finished Moth Smoke, and again, I was not to be disappointed. I have spent time in Pakistan, but I do not profess to understanding the society. Whether it accurately describes Pakistan society or not, it is a wonderful read. I could smell the dust before the rain. He is truly a gifted writer. I look forward to reading his new novel.

In Moth Smoke, author Mohsin Hamid offers an intriguing and unique commentary of contemporary Pakistan through the tale of Daru, a young, well to do banker whose gradual descent into poverty and vice critiques the Pakistani middle and upper classes. Set against the historical struggle of succession to the Mughal throne, the characters Aurangzeb, Darashikoh and Murad serve as allegories for the various levels of upper and middle class status, each vying to inherit the "throne" to modern day Pakistan. As the three characters struggle to accumulate wealth and power, they inadvertently reveal that they are all equally unworthy successors. Therefore, Hamid does not confine character to one dimensional, moralistic, but instead skillfully guides his characters through numerous, often conflicting interpretations of Daru's narrative. For example, Daru envies the wealth and status of Aurangzeb, a man whose success derives from nepotism rather than talent. Throughout the novel, Daru decries Aurangzeb as corrupt and murderous while simultaneously portraying himself as superior. As the story progresses however, Daru exemplifies the very traits he condemns in Aurangzeb, resorting to drug dealing, thievery and murder for income. Therefore, while Daru is indeed marginalized at the expense of Aurangzeb, his subsequent behavior calls into question his legitimacy and qualifies his status as "protagonist".Rather than portraying the characters within traditional moral frameworks, Hamid instead creates characters riddled with contradiction and hypocrisy, thereby covering Daru and his peers in layers and layers of ambiguity. The moral indeterminacy of the characters along with the sense of immanence brought about by the threat of nuclear war left me with both a vague frustration as well as a sense of apprehension. This sentiment, I believe, is the greatest achievement of Moth Smoke, as it authentically reflects the atmosphere of a post-colonial country like Pakistan. As in all places, morality, legitimacy, and justice exist in shades of gray, and Moth Smoke does an excellent job highlighting its many nuances within the post-colonial context. While Moth Smoke does a great job in its depiction of characters and themes that do not conform to traditional moral paradigms, it also rejects conformity by tackling issues that are usually regarded as taboo in literature regarding the Middle East. Moth Smoke time and time again diverges from conventional depictions of post-colonial Pakistan by telling a story whose plot and characters do not fit into Western preconceptions of the Middle East/South Asia. While it has become almost a reflex for the West to associate the Muslim world with Islam and fundamentalism, Hamid's characters disassociate themselves with Islam almost entirely, concerning themselves with the more universal themes of greed, status, lust, and pleasure. Daru's life revolves not around religion or ideology, but around money, drugs and sex. When reading the vivid, euphoric sequences of Daru's experiences with ecstasy, marijuana and heroin, or the visceral, shocking scenes of sex and violence, I was shocked to remember that the novel takes place in Pakistan. This, however, is intentional, as Hamid seeks to remind audiences that the themes he tackles are not unique to the West, but present in all societies and individuals. In doing so, he demystifies a lot of the misconceptions that Westerners have about the Middle East, and forces the reader to appreciate Moth Smoke sans Western bias. The moral ambiguity and the rejection of Western stereotypes of the Middle East in Moth Smoke make it an extremely unique and important novel. This, combined with Hamid's unique approach to structure and his evocative prose, make Moth Smoke a dynamic and engaging novel that I highly recommend.