'I gained empathy through A Thousand Splendid Suns'

Talking books with Mohammed Fahad, Advertising and PR student at Middlesex University

What are you reading now?
Currently, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It is quite different in terms of narrative, compared to other books I've read.

A book that changed your life and shaped your outlook?
There are three - The first is George Orwell's 1984. The dystopian nature of the story coupled with the news of the NSA spying on everyone (at that time) had me utterly shaken. True privacy really is a thing of the past. The second is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It was the first really sad book that I read and I gained a lot of empathy because not only did it show me an entirely different side of the world, it also showed me how privileged I was. The last one is a biography - Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Not only did it strip me of all the respect I had for him, it also revealed a lot about ethics in business and how friendship, family, and business should never be mixed.

Who would you consider a memorable literary character?
Most definitely Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles. He is one of the most unconventional protagonists I have ever come across, whose flaws are, quite refreshingly, highlighted, as are his failures. A close second would be Piggy from Lord of the Flies, a young kind boy with a very tragic ending.

A book that you believe is underrated?
Definitely Name of the Wind, book one of the Kingkiller Chronicles. It is criminally underrated and is my all-time favourite fantasy book.

Your favourite book quote.
My favourite quote is from an outsider's  perspective that none of us would consider, that of Death- "Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die." The Book Thief is set in World War Two and this quote shows how senseless and brutal humanity can be.
- As told to Maheshpreet Kaur Narula