I’m a bit late to comment, but I really loved The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I listened to the audiobook version, which is read by the author. He has such a beautiful and melodious voice and the narrative structure of the book lends itself to the audio format. I would have still liked the book had I read it in a book format, but I suspect the experience was much enriched by listening to it. I’m going to listen to Exit West next. Moshin Hamid also narrates it.
I somehow really connect with Mohsin Hamid's writing. His books always have a touch of surrealism and a sarcastic bite to them. Exit West is his most ambitious work but I really really like the lesser known Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Asia. Him and David Mitchell are probably my favourite authors. Found your channel through your Number9Dream review and I really like how you express your thoughts. Also like how you breakdown novels critically without becoming too analytical and snobby.
Paul Auster - The New York Trilogy - absolute masterpiece, love Pamuk, genius book after book, will check out Exit West, liked The Reluctant Fundamentalist a great deal. Let the author decide if a book is a novella or a novel, 'The Stranger' is most definitely a novel despite being about 110 pages, for example.
I enjoyed both books. Reluctant fundermentalist really stood out for me. I connected to the text in such a visceral way. I was a little disappointed by exit west perhaps because I had built up Hamids writing in my head but I still feel its a good book, so relevant and I felt he got his message across without being preachy. I compare this book to Jeanine Cummins book American Dirt and felt the message was so much more poignant and powerfully conveyed to me I loved this quote 'To love is to enter into the inevitably of one day not being able to protect what is most valuable to you' I agree with you the Hamid packs so much into such a such a short novel and the book stays in your head for weeks after you have read it! Great review thank you
Now you sold me on the reluctant fundamentalist. I've been meaning to read exit west for quite some time. What got me most curious about it is the great divide between critics and common readers, I wanted to see if it was really a case where a great number of people were missing out on this one.
I read Exit West a while ago, but I didn't think it was particularly great, I lost interest towards the end, but the shorter length made it a somewhat enjoyable read overall. I'm starting The Reluctant Fundamentalist today
Thank you! This was very interesting. And I loved the scientific chart and would like to see more of it. The way you described Exit West's violent outbursts of inhumanity throughout a fairly low-key main narrative and how painful they felt reminded me of the experience I had with Human Acts by Han Kang. Though, obviously it is also very different. It tells about a terrible event in South Korean history, Gwangju Uprising, or, rather, its impact on the lives of several people in six loosely connected chapters. I can only assume how much subtance I missed by knowing little about the Uprising, but in the end as the book was talking about a tragedy on a very personal level I felt there was little necessary context it did not provide. I would honestly recommend it, but with the same caveat that you would want to finish it quickly.
@@TheBookchemist You are welcome. (Love your/Keep up the good) work! Got around to reading The Following Story and Yiddish Policemen's Union - amazing books - because of you.
Interesting . Im Gonna check them out next time im at the bookstore. thanks as always bookchemist. I'm reading only Novellas/shorter novels and story collections right now due to my over abundance of them. Where do you keep all of your books?
In two different countries! (In wardrobes, and on double rows on the shelf. This isn't as impressive as it sounds, considering I haven't read many of them).
The_Bookchemist, you are my #1. I enjoy your videos immensely and you are responsible for introducing me to Thomas Pynchon. For that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you for all you do and please do not stop! That being said, I must throw in my two cents about Exit West. While I admire Mr. Hamid's message and intention here, I felt the novel to be lacking in both substance and direction (although I understand that the lack of direction may be the main idea as I can only imagine the directionless-ness refugees escaping a war must feel like). I love magic doors (black holes, portals, teleportation, etc.), but clearly it takes more than magic doors and an important contemporary issue to write a good novel. The overuse of commas in single sentences fragmented the narrative in a way that detracted from the reading rather than adding a unique spice to it. I caught myself unconsciously holding my breath just trying to make it to the end of the sentences. On top of this, the love story is dull and by the middle of novel, I had no emotional investment in either of the main characters who just didn't seem fleshed out in believable ways. The novel was only 242 pages but the length could be felt for its entirety. It felt like a movie that does everything it can to get an Oscar by trying to pull on the heart strings of it's viewers and while I love my heart strings yanked on I have to be drawn into a story enough for that to happen. Every time I walk into my favorite book stores, I see this book on the best-sellers shelf. It's also one of those darling Goodreads books of the year as well, so it has garnered alot of hype. I just can't see why.
Thank you for your comment - frankly, I find myself agreeing with you very much. The more I think about it, the more I find myself adjusting (although slightly) my opinion of the novel, which might have been influenced, at first, by me getting awed by that Oscar factor you mention. I've recently thought back to the year's best books and while Reluctant Fundalist made the cut, Exit West didn't.
We read the reluctant fundamentalist in school, and although I think that it was written in a very clever way and has a lot of substance, I very much dislkied the book. The writing totally annoyed me, his interactions with Erica were so weirdly described and in my opinion his reaction to 9/11 was exaggerated and not very relatable. The ending was well done though. I understand that it's a great representation of the american dream and the economic and political conditions back then, but still it was a hard time for me reading this novel. My teacher absolutely adores this book and it's quite probable that it will be part of our a-level in english (I'm from germany) and this video was a good reminder for me to actually start revising..😂
I’m a bit late to comment, but I really loved The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I listened to the audiobook version, which is read by the author. He has such a beautiful and melodious voice and the narrative structure of the book lends itself to the audio format. I would have still liked the book had I read it in a book format, but I suspect the experience was much enriched by listening to it. I’m going to listen to Exit West next. Moshin Hamid also narrates it.
I somehow really connect with Mohsin Hamid's writing. His books always have a touch of surrealism and a sarcastic bite to them.
Exit West is his most ambitious work but I really really like the lesser known Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Asia.
Him and David Mitchell are probably my favourite authors.
Found your channel through your Number9Dream review and I really like how you express your thoughts. Also like how you breakdown novels critically without becoming too analytical and snobby.
Paul Auster - The New York Trilogy - absolute masterpiece, love Pamuk, genius book after book, will check out Exit West, liked The Reluctant Fundamentalist a great deal. Let the author decide if a book is a novella or a novel, 'The Stranger' is most definitely a novel despite being about 110 pages, for example.
I enjoyed both books. Reluctant fundermentalist really stood out for me. I connected to the text in such a visceral way. I was a little disappointed by exit west perhaps because I had built up Hamids writing in my head but I still feel its a good book, so relevant and I felt he got his message across without being preachy. I compare this book to Jeanine Cummins book American Dirt and felt the message was so much more poignant and powerfully conveyed to me
I loved this quote 'To love is to enter into the inevitably of one day not being able to protect what is most valuable to you' I agree with you the Hamid packs so much into such a such a short novel and the book stays in your head for weeks after you have read it! Great review thank you
Now you sold me on the reluctant fundamentalist. I've been meaning to read exit west for quite some time. What got me most curious about it is the great divide between critics and common readers, I wanted to see if it was really a case where a great number of people were missing out on this one.
I read Exit West a while ago, but I didn't think it was particularly great, I lost interest towards the end, but the shorter length made it a somewhat enjoyable read overall. I'm starting The Reluctant Fundamentalist today
Thank you! This was very interesting. And I loved the scientific chart and would like to see more of it.
The way you described Exit West's violent outbursts of inhumanity throughout a fairly low-key main narrative and how painful they felt reminded me of the experience I had with Human Acts by Han Kang. Though, obviously it is also very different. It tells about a terrible event in South Korean history, Gwangju Uprising, or, rather, its impact on the lives of several people in six loosely connected chapters. I can only assume how much subtance I missed by knowing little about the Uprising, but in the end as the book was talking about a tragedy on a very personal level I felt there was little necessary context it did not provide. I would honestly recommend it, but with the same caveat that you would want to finish it quickly.
I've heard great things about that one - thank you for the recommendation ;)!
@@TheBookchemist You are welcome. (Love your/Keep up the good) work! Got around to reading The Following Story and Yiddish Policemen's Union - amazing books - because of you.
Too many books, too little time.
Interesting . Im Gonna check them out next time im at the bookstore. thanks as always bookchemist. I'm reading only Novellas/shorter novels and story collections right now due to my over abundance of them. Where do you keep all of your books?
In two different countries! (In wardrobes, and on double rows on the shelf. This isn't as impressive as it sounds, considering I haven't read many of them).
The_Bookchemist, you are my #1. I enjoy your videos immensely and you are responsible for introducing me to Thomas Pynchon. For that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you for all you do and please do not stop!
That being said, I must throw in my two cents about Exit West.
While I admire Mr. Hamid's message and intention here, I felt the novel to be lacking in both substance and direction (although I understand that the lack of direction may be the main idea as I can only imagine the directionless-ness refugees escaping a war must feel like). I love magic doors (black holes, portals, teleportation, etc.), but clearly it takes more than magic doors and an important contemporary issue to write a good novel. The overuse of commas in single sentences fragmented the narrative in a way that detracted from the reading rather than adding a unique spice to it. I caught myself unconsciously holding my breath just trying to make it to the end of the sentences. On top of this, the love story is dull and by the middle of novel, I had no emotional investment in either of the main characters who just didn't seem fleshed out in believable ways. The novel was only 242 pages but the length could be felt for its entirety. It felt like a movie that does everything it can to get an Oscar by trying to pull on the heart strings of it's viewers and while I love my heart strings yanked on I have to be drawn into a story enough for that to happen. Every time I walk into my favorite book stores, I see this book on the best-sellers shelf. It's also one of those darling Goodreads books of the year as well, so it has garnered alot of hype. I just can't see why.
Thank you for your comment - frankly, I find myself agreeing with you very much. The more I think about it, the more I find myself adjusting (although slightly) my opinion of the novel, which might have been influenced, at first, by me getting awed by that Oscar factor you mention. I've recently thought back to the year's best books and while Reluctant Fundalist made the cut, Exit West didn't.
We read the reluctant fundamentalist in school, and although I think that it was written in a very clever way and has a lot of substance, I very much dislkied the book. The writing totally annoyed me, his interactions with Erica were so weirdly described and in my opinion his reaction to 9/11 was exaggerated and not very relatable. The ending was well done though. I understand that it's a great representation of the american dream and the economic and political conditions back then, but still it was a hard time for me reading this novel.
My teacher absolutely adores this book and it's quite probable that it will be part of our a-level in english (I'm from germany) and this video was a good reminder for me to actually start revising..😂
Curiously enough, I also knew a teacher who liked the book ;)
@@TheBookchemist yeah; from a teacher's position, I can understand why it is appealing to read it in school
Reluctant fundamentalist was garbage.