![]() ![]() He writes of the “the bus ride from village to city appears to span millennia”, with buildings that “go from mud to brick to concrete, then shoot up to an unimaginable four stories, even five”. Using his admirably succinct style, Hamid captures the many dynamics emerging countries such as Pakistan, India, Nigeria and many others experience. The lack of providing names of any of the story’s characters (merely called ‘you’, ‘the pretty girl’ or ‘your mother’) or cities lend the book its universal character. While The Great Gatsby may be the quintessential American novel, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is an account of life in the emerging world, marked the tensions generated by urbanization, economic growth, social mobility, inequality, poverty and environmental degradation. The book’s characters enact the life of this nation, or, perhaps more broadly, the transformation that the emerging world is experiencing – not just in Asia, but also in Africa. Mohsin Hamid’s third novel is a 21st-century version of The Great Gatsby, which takes place in an unnamed emerging country that undergoes profound social change. How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, by Mohsin Hamid. ![]()
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