The Reluctant Fundamentalist - By Mohsin Hamid
I first happened to read about this book here. I was quite impressed with the interview, so I went ahead and bought it. I have mixed feelings about the book.
The book describes the journey of a young Pakistani man into the harsh realities of conformity to a world that is not his own. He slowly grows uncomfortable with his American surroundings, his discomfort further enhanced by the rejection by his lover. The troubles brewing in his homeland make him restless enough to leave the comforts of a plush and prestigious job and return to his homeland. The education and the liberal thinking do not help in handling the unease he feels when it comes to being a part of a minority community. The book touches upon current issues like US interference in world politics, though not in an in-depth manner. The book also focuses on the Pakistan – India relationship when Indian parliament was attacked, but only as an add-on to the already developed story line.
The writing style is simple and does not require extra effort from the reader's part. The story is gripping; I didn’t want to put it down till I reached the end. The portrayal of the main character 'Changez' is convincingly real. The emotions he goes through, be it during his romance with Erica or in the working environment, can be easily identified with. Initially one might feel the depiction of Erica's character a little fatuous (her longing for her dead lover being so overpowering as to shadow her feelings for Changez) but at a later stage one automatically empathizes and connects with the turmoil she goes through.
The book is written in first person, which is all right, but the setting, where the listener is addressed in the book (an American who is visiting Pakistan) is never involved in the scene, looks pretty artificial. I mean, imagine telling your life story (which is quite eventful and long) continuously without a break. Here is a total stranger (a Pakistani, who with his long beard which looks pretty menacing) who is insisting on spending more time with you in this unknown place where fear is the norm, would you not be fidgeting and itching to get out after half an hour? Yes, there are instances where the narrator acknowledges the listener's discomfort, still it does not sound very convincing.
Overall, a decent book to read up on a weekend.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Jun 22, 2007
Apr 15, 2007
The Ice Cream Maker
The Ice cream Maker by Subir Chowdhury - a small yet powerful book on Quality. The best thing about the book is that it is a tale; it succeeds in retaining the reader's interest. The narration was concise and simple. It made me want read on. For the first time, I did seriously think about my own job, the quality of work I do, we as a team do and the enormous scope that we have for improvement.
To put it simply, the story is about a dairy manager who is facing the threat of closure if he doesn’t turn around the business of ice cream manufacturing. He realizes that employee morale is low, they have already laid off few people, and cash inflow for any improvements is not forthcoming. He needs a sale to Natural Foods, a chain of stores; this new account could be a savior for his company. Once he meets the manager of Natural Foods, an ex-neighbor of distant past, he realizes the various problems his products have - mainly quality. Through continuous interaction with the store manager, he learns the various aspects of quality and tries to implement in his plant. This leads to small but positive changes in the productivity, employee morale, changes in the mindset of the owner, and finally the required sale to Natural Foods.
The story is basically explaining a concept called LEO - Learn, Enrich and Optimize with respect to quality. The idea is to build quality in every aspect, every area and every role in an organization. Make every one feel responsible about ensuring highest quality in the work they do - no matter how big or small the role/work is. The point that has been emphasized in the book is that quality is not a one-time activity - it is continuous and always there is room for improvement.
Well, if we look at it, almost all management books would say pretty much the same thing, but this is a book that makes one 'think' about it after putting it down. To try and see if there is a small chance for us to implement what it says. And, this I think, is a great achievement for a book.
To put it simply, the story is about a dairy manager who is facing the threat of closure if he doesn’t turn around the business of ice cream manufacturing. He realizes that employee morale is low, they have already laid off few people, and cash inflow for any improvements is not forthcoming. He needs a sale to Natural Foods, a chain of stores; this new account could be a savior for his company. Once he meets the manager of Natural Foods, an ex-neighbor of distant past, he realizes the various problems his products have - mainly quality. Through continuous interaction with the store manager, he learns the various aspects of quality and tries to implement in his plant. This leads to small but positive changes in the productivity, employee morale, changes in the mindset of the owner, and finally the required sale to Natural Foods.
The story is basically explaining a concept called LEO - Learn, Enrich and Optimize with respect to quality. The idea is to build quality in every aspect, every area and every role in an organization. Make every one feel responsible about ensuring highest quality in the work they do - no matter how big or small the role/work is. The point that has been emphasized in the book is that quality is not a one-time activity - it is continuous and always there is room for improvement.
Well, if we look at it, almost all management books would say pretty much the same thing, but this is a book that makes one 'think' about it after putting it down. To try and see if there is a small chance for us to implement what it says. And, this I think, is a great achievement for a book.
Apr 11, 2007
Chicken Soup
Just completed 'Chicken soup for the Writer's Soul', one of the chicken soup series books. Yes, earlier I was averse to these feel good, chocolaty sweet motivational stuff, but somehow the 'writer's part caught my fancy. I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
I guess the difference between this and others would be that instead of the usual theme of how the world at large benefits from the insights, here, the individual - the writer benefits from other's experience. The stories were of well known and some lesser known writers as written by them. The one lesson that kept repeating in almost every writer's experience was that of 2Ps - Practice and Perseverance.
I was astonished to see the statistics of many great authors who were rejected repeatedly (some, for years!) and yet bounced back to produce a bestseller.
This only goes to prove that some day... some day I too might have a chance!
But 2P comes first!!
I guess the difference between this and others would be that instead of the usual theme of how the world at large benefits from the insights, here, the individual - the writer benefits from other's experience. The stories were of well known and some lesser known writers as written by them. The one lesson that kept repeating in almost every writer's experience was that of 2Ps - Practice and Perseverance.
I was astonished to see the statistics of many great authors who were rejected repeatedly (some, for years!) and yet bounced back to produce a bestseller.
This only goes to prove that some day... some day I too might have a chance!
But 2P comes first!!
Feb 8, 2007
Five point someone
Today has been no exception – the laziness and the worklessness continues. I am so bored that even all this writing is making me fall asleep.
Yesterday I had borrowed ‘Five point someone - Chetan Bhagat' from S – I had promised her I will get the book today. I stayed late till 2 30 pm and finished the book (yeah, I know, that book does not deserve such attention - but it's the lack of time than anything else that made me do it)
The book is a reflection of what its protagonists were – an under performer. In terms of language, quality and entertainment, it deserves just the ‘five point something’ grade. Potter happened to mention something about ‘dude lit’ (similar to ‘chic lit’). Well, every enthu cutlet wants to write a book... me too!!
Apparently some wiseguy mentioned that it’s the age of mediocrity – well, I guess majority rules!
Yesterday I had borrowed ‘Five point someone - Chetan Bhagat' from S – I had promised her I will get the book today. I stayed late till 2 30 pm and finished the book (yeah, I know, that book does not deserve such attention - but it's the lack of time than anything else that made me do it)
The book is a reflection of what its protagonists were – an under performer. In terms of language, quality and entertainment, it deserves just the ‘five point something’ grade. Potter happened to mention something about ‘dude lit’ (similar to ‘chic lit’). Well, every enthu cutlet wants to write a book... me too!!
Apparently some wiseguy mentioned that it’s the age of mediocrity – well, I guess majority rules!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
