I came with nothing, I leave with nothing

3. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin


A collection of short stories examining class in Pakistan, this is not an easy book to read. None of the stories end happily, but it is at its core (to me) a warning to carefully consider the goals you think you want because in short order you may see that they aren't what you really wanted after all. This disparity holds true if you are an old beggar man who manipulates a servant job at the big house or the rich landowner around whose family every story orbits. I'll be thinking about this one for a long while.