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Description edit
At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting . . . Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
A young Muslim American, Changez is living the American dream, with an education at an Ivy League college, high-sdfasdf job, and romance with Erica, a member of the elite New York social circles, until the events of September 11th turn his life upside down and force him to confront his... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Changez: Pakistani-born New Yorker; returns to Pakistan.
- Erica: Changez's girlfriend.
- The American: The person listening to Changez's story who is implied to be a CIA operative.
- Jim: Changez's mentor and boss at Underwood Samson.
- Chris: Erica's ex-boyfriend.
- Wainwright: Changez's competitor for "most efficient" at Underwood Samson.
- Sherman: Add a description of this character.
Quotes edit
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“In a subway car, my skin would typically fall in the middle of the color spectrum. On street corners, tourists would ask me for directions. I was, in four and a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker.”
Changez -
“Princeton inspired in me the feeling that my life was a film in which I was the star and everything was possible.”
Changez -
“Every fall, Princeton raised her skirt for the corporate recruiters who came onto campus and - as you say in America - showed them some skin.”
Changez -
“We learned to prioritize - to determine the axis on which advancement would be most beneficial - and then to apply ourselves single-mindedly to the achievement of that objective.”
Changez -
“Surely, New York by night must be one of the greatest sights in the world.”
Changez -
“The confession that implicates its audience is - as we say in cricket - a devilishly difficult ball to play.”
Changez -
“Perhaps it was this sense of protectiveness that prevented my attempting to kiss Erica; equally likely, it was the shyness and awe that accompany first love.”
Changez -
“They try to resist change. Power comes from becoming change.”
Changez -
“...and in history, as I suspect you - an American - will agree, it is the thrust of one's narrative that counts, not the accuracy of one's details.”
Changez -
“I felt suddenly very young - or perhaps I felt my age: an almost childlike twenty-two, rather than the permanent middle-age that attaches itself to the man who lives alone and supports himself by wearing a suit in a city not of his birth.”
Changez -
“...it is not always possible to restore one's boundaries after they have been blurred and made permeable by a relationship: try as we might, we cannot reconstitute ourselves as the autonomous beings we previously imagined ourselves to be.”
Changez
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As a society, you were unwilling to reflect upon the shared pain that united you with those who attacked you. You retreated into myths of your own difference, assumptions of your own superiority. And you acted out these beliefs on the stage of the world, so that the entire planet was rocked by the repercussions of your tantrums, not least my family, now facing war thousands of miles away. Such an America had to be stopped in the interests not only of the rest of humanity, but also in your own.
Highlighted by 134 Kindle customers -
I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees.
Highlighted by 124 Kindle customers -
Such journeys have convinced me that it is not always possible to restore one’s boundaries after they have been blurred and made permeable by a relationship: try as we might, we cannot reconstitute ourselves as the autonomous beings we previously imagined ourselves to be. Something of us is now outside, and something of the outside is now within us.
Highlighted by 120 Kindle customers -
I reflected that I had always resented the manner in which America conducted itself in the world; your country’s constant interference in the affairs of others was insufferable.
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“They try to resist change. Power comes from becoming change.”
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A common strand appeared to unite these conflicts, and that was the advancement of a small coterie’s concept of American interests in the guise of the fight against terrorism, which was defined to refer only to the organized and politically motivated killing of civilians by killers not wearing the uniforms of soldiers.
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I recognized that if this was to be the single most important priority of our species, then the lives of those of us who lived in lands in which such killers also lived had no meaning except as collateral damage. This, I reasoned, was why America felt justified in bringing so many deaths to Afghanistan and Iraq, and why America felt justified in risking so many more deaths by tacitly using India to pressure Pakistan.
Highlighted by 95 Kindle customers -
Often, during my stay in your country, such comparisons troubled me. In fact, they did more than trouble me: they made me resentful. Four thousand years ago, we, the people of the Indus River basin, had cities that were laid out on grids and boasted underground sewers, while the ancestors of those who would invade and colonize America were illiterate barbarians. Now our cities were largely unplanned, unsanitary affairs, and America had universities with individual endowments greater than our national budget for education. To be reminded of this vast disparity was, for me, to be ashamed.
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Setting & Locations edit
- New York
- Lahore, Pakistan
- Princeton
- Santorini
- Manila
- India
- Afghanistan
- Manhattan
- Underwood Samson: The company for which Changez works.
- Valparaiso
- Central Park
- New Jersey
- Rhodes
First Sentence edit
Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance?
Glossary edit
- Summa cum laude: with highest distinction
- Bootlegger: illegal manufacturer or seller of goods
- Mr. Palomar: the title of a novel by Italo Calvino (London: Picador, 1986)
- Faiz and Ghalib: famous Urdu poets
- Janissaries: Christian boys taken from their home countries to serve infantry units in the Ottoman Empire
Series & Lists edit
This book is in World Book Night Titles 2011. (authoritative list)
This book is in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Mohsin Hamid (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Harcourt
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harcourt
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 192
Awards edit
- Man Booker Prize (Finalist, 2007: Fiction, shortlist)
- Ambassador Book Award (2008: Fiction)
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (2008)
- Asian American Literary Award (2008)
- Australia-Asia Literary Award (Finalist, 2008)
- International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (Finalist, 2009, Short list)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PS3558.A42169 R45
- Dewey: 813.54
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