Broken Thoughts

 



Mohsin Hamid’s third novel “How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” can only be described as one thing: a pseudo self-help book designed to mock everything about getting rich in not so Rising Asia. Chronicling the life of an entrepreneur from his childhood to his death, this novel was more about life than about getting rich.

Mohsin Hamid’s previous novels were remarkable penned masterpieces. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for his third novel. Like “Moth Smoke” and “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”, “How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” also experiments with style and narration. To be very honest, this novel would have come out on top of its predecessors stylistically, if it weren’t for the overt and sometimes forced mentions of sex and sexuality after every two pages.

My feelings were somewhat like this:



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Additionally, I felt there was a lack of emotional connectivity between the characters and reader. The storyline and the concept would have had a greater impact if the reader could connect with the characters; however, the author fails miserably to build such a connection.

Having said that, I will repeat that stylistically Hamid manages to impress as usual! The novel is fashioned as a self-help book which guides the readers on how to get filthy rich, except it doesn’t really guide anyone at all. In its own words, “This book, I must now concede, may not have been the very best of guides to getting filthy rich in rising Asia.” Composed of twelve chapters, the novel begins each chapter with a guideline and moves on to mock it. For example, Chapter two states “Get an education”, while the story within shows that education is nothing more than a morbid affair in so-called “Rising Asia”, focused on increasing conformism and decreasing creative thinking.



The book picks up a subject, which interests everyone in Pakistan: How to Get Richer than Richie Rich, and point out all the many reasons why one cannot hope to achieve this feat in the long run. It is remarkable how Hamid is able to develop a social commentary of this scale in such a brief novel. He questions Pakistan’s educational system, bureaucracy, business ethics, treatment of women, terrorist organisations, gangs and all sorts of mafia, exposing the grim state of affairs at the grass root level. In this respect, “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” can be truly considered a masterpiece!

All of Mohsin Hamid’s fans should definitely get their hands on a copy, because despite its flaws, this book still reeks of Mr. Hamid’s brilliance! =D

Some of my favourite quotes from the book were:

1. “The fruits of labor are delicious, but individually they’re not particularly fattening. So don’t share yours, and much on those of others whenever you can.”

2. “For wealth comes from capital, and capital comes from labor, and labor comes from equilibrium, from calories in chasing calories out, an inherent, in built leanness, the leanness of biological machines that must be bent to your will with some force if you are to loosen your own financial belt and, sighingly, expand.”

3. “No harnessing the state’s might for personal gain is a much more sensible approach. Two related categories of actor have long understood this. Bureaucrats, who wear state uniforms while secretly backing their private interests. And bankers, who wear private uniforms while secretly being backed by the state. You will need the help of both.”

4. “We are all refugees from our childhoods. And so we turn, among other things, to stories. To write a story, to read a story, is to be a refugee from the state of refugees. Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment when anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.”