Moth Smoke — Book Review
“Secrets make life more interesting. You can be in a crowded room with someone and touch them without touching, just with a look, because they know a part of you on one else knows. And whenever you’re with them, the two of you are alone, because the you they see no one else can”.
Acclaimed by New York Times as Notable Book of The Year, Mohsin Hamid’s “Moth Smoke” is a novel of scandal and socio-political drama centered around the life of a banker — Darashikoh Shezad, his elite friend who drives around in Pajero — Ozi and Ozi’s wife — Mumtaz Kashmiri. Drawing equivalences between Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and his brother Darashikoh — Mohsin Hamid has established the undeniable fact that he’s a master craftsman when it comes to writing stories. Deeply intense and thrilling, Mohsin takes us through the streets of narcotic Lahore and the parallel posh parties of the elite society.
Dara dreams of a high paying job in an MNC, but is confined to a small time banker’s job. He has fondness for hash and weed. Things get worse when he loses his job and plunges into deep sadness and stress. His best friend, Ozi, arrives from the US at the same time which makes his life more insecure as he sees his friend living a posh life with a beautiful wife. He gets invited to Ozi’s parties where he gets drawn scandalously to Mumtaz. They smoke joints together and develop closeness. Stressed out because of losing his job, and at the same time the nuclear tests India and Pakistan carry out make things worse for him as he doesn’t get a job because of financial tensions in his country. He takes help of his other friend — he starts selling weed to make his ends meet. At the same time, we come to know of Mumtaz’s deep secret and Dara helps her in her endeavours. The flow is intense and dark and will keep you on the edge.
Moth Smoke exposes the class divisions and political insecurities of South Asian states and societies. In Ozi you see a man of elite production but at the same time driven by hate towards the upper class. Daro is an interesting character for whom we feel a tinge of sympathy and empathy as he loses so much and is subjected to trauma for no apparent fault of his. Mumtaz, a secret journalist, addresses the issues of women in general. I loved this book and I’m sure you all would.
