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A review by palomapepper
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
4.0
Couched as a self-help book (and narrated in the second person), How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia depicts the arc of a man's life, starting with his impoverished childhood in rural Pakistan.
A lot in this book reminded me of Saramago: no names, no specific places, and long, often self-referential sentences flowing easily from one train of thought to another.
Second-person narration can be grating when done unnecessarily or badly, but I think it's used interestingly here: for immediacy and attachment to the main character, but also as a backdrop against which the author-who-is-not-quite-the-author can speak to the reader-who-is-not-quite-you.
A lot in this book reminded me of Saramago: no names, no specific places, and long, often self-referential sentences flowing easily from one train of thought to another.
Second-person narration can be grating when done unnecessarily or badly, but I think it's used interestingly here: for immediacy and attachment to the main character, but also as a backdrop against which the author-who-is-not-quite-the-author can speak to the reader-who-is-not-quite-you.