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A bargain for £3

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District 9 vibes - less sci-fi/body horror, more the dystopian world used to make a more intimate portrait and statement on racism, this one also a much more hopeful rendition. 1/?

Unexpected, but beautiful, to see the author present not simply the grimmer outcomes of white people confronting their own racism, but also those who could see in a change in skin colour more positive outcomes. Not to exploit minority status, but simply to embrace change and the growth it may offer.

..."the way people act around you, it changes what you are, who you are"...
On the defensive? Social contract? Response to prejudice, peer pressure?
Messaging is often to not care what people think, be yourself, but that always assumes it's safe to be yourself.

An allusion to those algorithms reportedly trained on mostly white faces having trouble recognizing black faces as humans? 🤨

The concept was interesting: a white man wakes up black. The writing was too vague for me to fully engage with the story or characters.

I‘ve been sitting on this review because I‘m sad to say this book was just okay. I‘ve really liked his other books, especially Exit West. The premise of everyone suddenly having black skin was interesting and how they reacted to it, but I felt it didn‘t go deep enough and I found the writing style to be annoying. Hearing this was originally a short story that he expanded to develop into a book made sense. He should have kept it as a short story.

Anders wakes one morning to discover that he has turned brown, and news reports indicate that this is happening all over the world. As more white people lose their whiteness, society erupts in various ways. Hamid focuses more on examining the feelings of his characters than on providing details, leaving the reader to imagine what might happen. A fascinating, thought provoking book.

Told mainly from the perspective of the ‘first white black man‘ Anders,the novel centres around the fantasy of everyone turning black.Hamid published this as a short story in the New Yorker that he then turned into a book-length narrative.Thoughts about racism and identity are presented in an original tone, however, the story is a bit too dragged out& the writing annoyed me at the end which is why I think this works better as a short story.

Not a fan of this style of writing. The sentences were really long, as if the words jest kept coming out, an endless river of thoughts. The plot confuses me a bit, though I did like the premise. The book was mellow all through. Not enough emotional lows to make a grand comeback. Couldn‘t relate to either. The premise does make you think though. Lord of the Flies mentality here. How everyone would riot if there was no border between “us and them”

Hamid‘s books always make me think, question, and imagine myself in the characters‘ place. This was no different, a unique examination of race and its role in society and in how we see ourselves. He manages to build a whole world around a couple in 180 pages. Very well done. And with this one, I reach 278 books read this year and blackout my Dec #BookspinBingo board! @TheAromaofBooks

I liked the idea of seeing how we would treat each other if we were a different race, but could not connect to the plot.

I‘m giving this a pick because I like Hamid‘s writing so much. Like others, though, I was left unsatisfied. Sometimes less is more. In this case, less is just…not enough. Will be surprised if it makes the shortlist.
#ToB2023 #ToB23

Here is my current TBR of #ToB2023 longlist books. I have a few more on hold at the library. Hoping at least a few of them make the shortlist, so I‘ll have a chance at becoming a “completist”. #ToB23

Book 22 from the #ToB23 #ToB2023 long list.

Hamid's book had so much potential to be an amazing read. Instead it presented an intriguing premise with a lackluster ending and underdeveloped characters.

I can see why this book gets praise from others, but personally, I need more than just a good idea and this book needed more "meat" to the story.

#BookReport 47/22

I read these three books. The tagged one was disappointing (for me), the Passage of Tears is good and The Year we Fell Down was delightful and uplifting!

Hamid‘s books are always a hit or miss for me and this one clearly was a miss. I couldn‘t connect to the style of the writing, the endless meandering sentences. And I did not really get the meaning of the book.
A man wakes up and his skin has turned dark and then all pale people turn dark. An interesting starting point for what could have been a poignant novel, but it felt detached and it didn‘t touch me the way it could have.

#ToB23Longlist

Not sure what I think about this. Anyone else read this and what did you think?

One day a caucasian man wakes up and he has transformed into a brown man. Slowly his entire community transforms. Thought provoking and beautiful!

A white man wakes up one morning to discover he is now brown. We then follow his efforts to adjust to this when, eventually, reports emerge of the same thing happening to other people. I really enjoyed most of this exploration of identity and assumptions, but I thought the end was a bit weak and I felt like there were some routes he could have taken to explore further that he didn‘t. Low pick for me.

One of my road trip reads today as we begin to head back north. I loved Exit West and am likening this one so far. Staying in SE Oregon‘s high desert tonight. Few places rejuvenate me more.

This is such an interesting premise. And the book itself is mostly about loss and grief. As always I love Hamid's writing, it is space but impactful.

I think he may have missed the mark a bit on the race issue in this, it didn't feel fully flushed out and I thought he could have gone deeper, but overall a truly gorgeous book.

I am not surprised but saddened at the amount of racist people on GR giving this 1 ⭐ childish and disgusting.

I loved Exit West and this new novel lives up to much of the promise of such a gifted writer. As a concept (the idea of skin colour and identity and relationships) this novel could be contrived and obvious, but Hamid‘s delicate and wonderful prose ensures the novel delves deeply but also soars above the page and lingers in your mind as you read. Heartfelt and genuine, I highly recommend this novel!

Perhaps I went in with too high expectations for Hamid‘s take on The Metamorphosis. I just don‘t think he‘s an author I enjoy, and his flat affect reading the #audiobook didn‘t help. However, he does have a great imagination yet managed to make some very real points about social justice.

Overnight, Ander‘s skin has turned dark. As reports come in of more and more white people turning dark both societal and familial tensions come to a head.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast read, and I liked the concept. Anders is a white man that wakes up one day with dark skin. Eventually, more and more people are waking up with darker complexions. There‘s outrage amongst certain groups, and hate crimes are being committed. There was a lyrical/metaphorical style to the novel (which I didn‘t mind). I enjoyed the moods this book conveyed. It was both mournful & hopeful.

Only 11 pages in, but I like where this is going.

#SundaySentence from Kevin Power‘s review of The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid in the Independent.

This was an intriguing concept: white people wake up to find their hair, skin & eyes have become dark overnight. Unfortunately, the story is told in such a mannered, stylized way that I felt constantly distracted & annoyed. Nearly every paragraph is a long sentence, comma splice after comma splice, ad nauseam. I had to mentally add periods & the occasional semi-colon just to finish it. But it was short, and an interesting idea, so there's that.

Excellent idea for a book. I think Hamid skipped through the middle a little too quickly but I think it‘s because I wanted to read more of his writing ….the premise of people changing color and society‘s reactions, a love story and aging parents that it‘s surprising all that was captured in such a short novel. Great book.

Loved this. Brilliant and emotional and connects in layering ways to much of what society has been going through in recent years (re: race, yes, but other stuff, too). So much to discuss in relatively few pages. Adored the writing style, though I didn‘t know if I would at first. Grateful for a print copy of this from Riverhead, bc I otherwise likely would have tried in audio and am not sure I would have loved it as much that way. Out tomorrow!

This book floored me. It‘s written in this dreamlike way and touches so intimately on what it means to be human, universally. It‘s somehow so incredibly hopeful. It‘s the book we all need right now. I really haven‘t been so moved by a novel in such a long time.

By the author of Exit West - out August 2nd. Stack it. Read it. It‘s incredible.