Firstly let me say - this is not my usual kind of book.. I first read "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by same author (also not my kind of book) which was fantastic. So, got hold of a copy of "Moth Smoke".. What to say about it - this book is extremely powerful, thought provoking and in many ways disturbing. The author paints a graphic picture of a very intelligent young man growing up in Pakistan. Thanks to the patronage of a rich friend of his dead fathers he is educated in the best of schools in Lahore only to find that education is not enough.. he has no money or contacts... Slowly we see his life begin to unravel.. His fight to survive and live within the constrictions of society in Pakistan is both informative and disturbing... Definately a 'must read' in my opinion...

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to aetm as a 'trade' - thanks so much for trading with me - hope you enjoy this book as much as I did....

The book arrived today - perfect and thanks Oppem :)
I have also read The Reluctant Fundamentalist before and enjoyed it so this will be interesting for seeing how his other books are.

I liked The Reluctant Fundamentalist a lot more than this one (but that's me).

From quite early in this book Darashikoh (the protagonist) doesn't seem a person I'd particularly like (I don't think all the protagonists have to be always likable but if they are also too often doing things one doesn't understand that doesn't help either). The friends he hangs out with, 'Ozi' aka Aurangzeb doesn't seem too positive either, and I don't get why they hang out together. For me the pieces start to fall together only around the middle of the story, when Mumtaz tells her story.
Most of the book is written as Darashikoh, but some small chapters are written as a rickshaw driver, as 'Ozi', as Mumtaz, and some in "you" form. There are plenty of times I hated Daru for his stupidity (no money for food but money for drugs; no money for for food or for fixing himself back to health but his windshield in the car is fixed... with what money? the way he treats his servant, and occasionally just the attitude or just about anything). The rickshaw driver is also full of himself and knows perfectly sayings in Latin (sure thing). But the worst of the switching perspectives is the "you" form. I can't read books in that angle so fortunately those chapters are tiny.
What exactly happened and what did Darahshikoh do? Before that gets solved, the story goes further back in time when 'Ozi' and 'Daru' were kids. Who was the 'good one' and who was the 'bad one'? Should I feel bad for not liking really any of the characters? Mumtaz maybe a bit, but even she did act against her inner views and suffered for it.

Time to set it free soon - reserving for a rabck. It will be interesting to see what the next readers think about the book. ---- p.s. Please try to keep this book alive and traveling for Oppem's memory (unfortunately she has passed away since this book started its journey)

Will release to Annelis in Helsinki who will figure how to courier the book to Tarna in Tampere next.
Happy RABCK and reading :)

I already saw this at Länsisatama mini meetup at noon last sunday and then got it on tuesday evening at Kampinhylly micro meetup and now am couriering it to local bookcrossers.

Thank you, aetm! Thanks to the couriers as well.
I've read and liked .The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, so I'm really interested in this one too.

I strongly believe in first novels. They usually are better than the second or even the third one. I really liked The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Thinking of his first novel, I felt somewhat ambiguous. Could Moth Smoke be better than the following novel?
I don't know if it was. It certainly is different, I can't compare the two books.
Moth Smoke is fantastic. The narrative style is great and the story easy to follow. Hamid paints a different kind of picture of an Asian/Islamic society than we are (or I am, at least) used to. He tells about secular class society, young elite, well educated and rich people, people with power and significant social contacts etc. Lahore in Moth Smoke isn't really that much different from any Western city. The book opened my eyes in a way, it widened my view of Pakistan, of Asia and of Muslim countries.
oppem says Moth Smoke is thought provoking and disturbing. I agree. There's a lot I don't understand in this book. I kept thinking the names, for instance, are loaded somehow and I don't see it. I also felt there might be another story between the lines but I couldn't read it. Yet I enjoyed the novel very much. It is one of the best books I've read this year.
Thank you so much for sharing it with me, oppem and aetm! I've got the net reader in my mind. For the time being, Moth Smoke is reserved.

Mohsin Hamid homepage
Mohsin Hamid at Wikipedia

Have great time at the All-Finland Summer Meet-Up in Tampere. Enjoy both the book & summer!

This was one of the many wishlist books Tarna had kindly left for me at the Finnish summer convention. Thank you so much! I feel so spoiled :)

What an interesting, thought-provoking and eye-opening read this was! I could copy Tarna's entry word for word. (I haven't read The Reluctant Fundamentalist yet, though, so I can't compare the two.) This book gave me, too, another, different kind of view into Pakistan - very different from all the other books set in Pakistan I've read. Recommended reading!

***
And next off to soozreader as a wishlist tag game book. Sorry for taking so long!

Thank you very much for this wishlist book! :)

This really wasn't an easy read and because of my own state of mind, at first it was quite difficult for me to get into the story...But this is definitely a worthwhile book to read! I think it was interesting how the story was told from many different perspectives and how it showed that the division between good and evil is not always so straightforward...

The book is on its way to the next reader as a part of the wishlist tag-game! Happy Reading!:)

Thanks a lot, Soozreader!

18.6.2017

Excellent read! And even though taking place in a distant country and in foreign cultures, it is - for a change - not a story about "cultural differencies", but about universal political themes. The text is written with quick wits, but the story is carefully constructed and thought-provoking.

-ruzena

Wishlist hippa!

The book is here, many thanks!!

Nowhere near as good as The Reluctant Fundamentalist (which was probably the reason this book ended up on my wishlist, so perhaps my expectations were a bit too high? This is a debut novel, after all) and practically all of the characters were marvellously unlikeable. Also, it's strange how I frequently find myself reading books about the drug-induced lives of some rich/wanna-be rich/petty criminals even though I'm not remotely interested in them...

Ready to travel to the next reader, hope you'll enjoy it more!

Arrived today, with a beautiful postcard and beautiful stamps on the envelope. Kaunis Suomi! :-)

Thank you so much for sharing.

A book about Pakistani "upper class", corruption, addiction, power. But also about friendship, betrayal and delusion. I truly enjoyed the way we get connected to the book title inside the novel.
This is an easy read, but I guess it won't stay in my memory for a long time.

It will keep on traveling. This time to Greece, to Lubiette's hands, after the wish list tag game.

Book sent to Lubiette today.
Happy readings!

Safe with me, thank you !

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is certainly one of the best books I was given the opportunity to enjoy through bookcrossing, so I was very eager to read the debut novel of Mohsin Hamid. Well, I am happy to say that I have not been disappointed. Atmospheric, original, suspenseful, I just loved it.

To the winner or decoy of the Authors from unusual countries sweepstakes. Happy reading !

I have read and enjoyed The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Looking forward to reading this one too. Thanks.

A really interesting book. Mohsin Hamid’s writing style is easy to read and follow even when talking about societal norms and prejudices.

Thank you for sharing this with me.

reserved for OzVBB

On its way to crimson-tide in WA with a companion book.

It's here! Thanks very much, book-a-neer.