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Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'
Discontent and Its Civilizations: Dispatches from Lahore, New York, and London by Mohsin Hamid
2 reviews
discocaptain's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
4.0
what a beautiful collection!! hamid talks at the beginning about the co-creation that happens when reading novels, and about the connection with . really really resonated with "international relations" and "nationalism should retire at 65", especially with my own experiences having trouble with getting visas and border control, and being filipino. reading this made me feel like being uprooted like a lily pad the way i am with my heritage and being an immigrant wasn't an experience singular to me. it meant a lot.
(tangentially; what's been bothering me about this is the way that the phrase "clear-headed" gets thrown around a lot. i think its definitely applicable to hamid and the writers that he cites, its what draws me to this essay collection- it's cool. it feels likes its excising through the thick, complicated emotions around middle eastern/south asian politics, diaspora experiences, but a part of me got righteously pissy. why aren't we allowed to be emotional and angry? why isn't that ever praised as something that stirs something in audiences? can we not speak from a place of passion that isn't carefully metered? i don't know. this isn't a knock at this book, i loved it, but it's aimed at something else. something bigger.
and yet. despite all that. my favorite line, which perfectly juxtaposes against what i just said because it's a silly thing amidst all the difficult things was "hamid to hamster" with regards to his new walking habit. it's just cute. ugh book ever!!! going to read the rest of your novels sir)
(tangentially; what's been bothering me about this is the way that the phrase "clear-headed" gets thrown around a lot. i think its definitely applicable to hamid and the writers that he cites, its what draws me to this essay collection- it's cool. it feels likes its excising through the thick, complicated emotions around middle eastern/south asian politics, diaspora experiences, but a part of me got righteously pissy. why aren't we allowed to be emotional and angry? why isn't that ever praised as something that stirs something in audiences? can we not speak from a place of passion that isn't carefully metered? i don't know. this isn't a knock at this book, i loved it, but it's aimed at something else. something bigger.
and yet. despite all that. my favorite line, which perfectly juxtaposes against what i just said because it's a silly thing amidst all the difficult things was "hamid to hamster" with regards to his new walking habit. it's just cute. ugh book ever!!! going to read the rest of your novels sir)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry, War, Colonisation, Islamophobia, and Racism
lottie1803's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Islamophobia
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