The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
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Book Reviews of The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Book Review: The Qualities of Changez
Summary: 4 Stars
I admire Mohsin Hamid for the masterful way he tells the complex life story of Changez through a seamless monologue in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I say complex, but in many ways Changez life contained the typical life hurdles faced by any young man: the innocent pursuit and longing for a love relationship that is not to be; the confusion as the identity instilled in you through family and culture is challenged by new and sparkly things; and the challenges faced when we realize we relate to the view from the outside as we stand amidst the insiders.
Changez seemed to me an actor or fraud in almost all aspects of his life. He seemed a person bent on denying who he was. At college he hid his financial status by working jobs in a neighboring city; at work he hid his family circumstances and his upraising to all but his boss (who identified it for Changez); in his relationship with Erica he willing took the persona of her dead lover to have the opportunity to make love to her; and upon returning to his homeland denied the positives of what he had been given in America. He could have been a powerful positive voice against what he saw as negatives in the Pakistan-United States relationship upon his return. Instead he amplified the negatives. A pity, but so it is.
Throughout the book I also kept thinking that this story could equally be written on a domestic level. An anxious and nervous white man eyes his surroundings as he listens to the story of a kind black man in Harlem, or an anxious and nervous black man eyes his surroundings as he listens to the story by a kind Latino man in East Los Angeles, or an anxious and nervous Latino man eyes his surroundings as he listens to the story of a kind Italian man in Little Italy in any town, and so on. Maybe that's the point, on a micro level we're all the same as on a macro level.
One point did seem a stretch to me in the book. Changez has lived his life as a quiet, respectful man who seldom was the outspoken voice in any situation. Yet, the book is centered on a multi-hour monologue by Changez to a complete stranger. This seemed a stretch to me.
Enjoy the book. It's a great read that has multiple layers.
Book Review: IS AMERICA READY FOR CHANGEZ?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the ultimate "the philosophy of East versus West" novel and although I was disturbed and, at times, resentful of the portrait of America and Americans as portrayed by the narrator of this tale, I was also enthralled and unable to stop reading.
The story is related in the form of a monologue between the chronicler, Changez, and an anonymous American stranger who he meets quite by chance in a café in Pakistan. His tale commences as he leaves his homeland to pursue an education at Princeton (an opportunity few Americans can afford) and after graduation is hired by a prestigious New York company at a very generous starting salary. He is at first enamored with the American lifestyle, but after 9/11 discovers a feeling of kinship with the perpetrators while becoming more and more critical of his host country.
Author Hamid uses his creation, Changez, to do a bit of finger wagging by having Changez espouses the belief that the U.S. "interferes in the affairs of other countries" while on the other he laments the U.S. résistance to "interfere" in the growing tensions between Pakistan and India. (reminiscent of a teenager who comes to you for financial help but is annoyed when you attempt to provide some guidance to prevent a repeat of their financial woes and who, after accepting your cash, tells you to "stop interfering in their lives".)
Changez observation that America is "giving itself over to dangerous nostalgia" is replayed for the reader in his allegorical retelling of his relationship with Erica, an AmERICAn woman who he loves but who is so resistant to letting go of her memories of her deceased lover that she is unable to accept Changez (changes???) and is ultimately destroyed because of her obsessive love of the past.
I will admit that Hamid is an extraordinary writer whose ability to draw you into the story and hold your attention is undeniable. The subject matter being served in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, however, may not be a dish easily digested nor may it be suitable for every readers' palate. Taste and see for yourself.
Book Review: It could have been so much more
Summary: 1 Stars
I am not shy about criticizing US foreign policy and our nation's hubris. There are many legitimate reasons to dislike the US government. This book is based on none of them. In contrast to millions of people around the world, the protagonist was issued a visa to come to the US, attended one of the top colleges in the US and was selected over hundreds of applicants for a plum US job with a high salary. He is surrounded by people who like him, look out for him and care for him. Yet when the 9/11 attacks happen, he smiles and is pleased. Why? He doesn't really say - it appears to be based on his personal, cultural identity crisis and a reference to American belligerence (which, though true, is not tied in personally to the protagonist at all). He seethes with anger when the US attacks the Taliban in Afghanistan. He apparently but inexplicably sympathizes with his murderous, iron-fisted, women-hating neighbors. This book seems to have been written in a hurry, the author neglecting to provide any legitimate foundation for the protagonist's antipathy to the US. Certainly it could have been done and the reader is truly left wondering why the author chose to omit history in favor of assuming that the reader would agree the protagonist's feelings were justified. It is particularly confusing when told from the viewpoint of a well-educated, supposedly intellectual man who should have seen that hard diplomacy is a much sharper weapon than violence.
I found the author's writing style (the protagonist speaking to a man with no voice and no apparent reason to be there other than as an excuse to poke more fun at Americans) annoying and disruptive of what little flow the book had. Another stylistic tool - the dash! - is ubiquitous and entirely distracting. Truly, this book could have been so much more had the author put more time (and perhaps research) into it. It could have been a bridge to explain to a mass audience Muslims' frustration with America. It utterly fails in this regard and in the end I fear it will only be used as fuel by those who believe that Islam is a violent faith.
Book Review: U.S. at Blame
Summary: 1 Stars
I have finally finished the very short book Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. I plodded through it a few chapters at a time, putting it aside willingly, picking it back up somewhat grudgingly. The novel tries to serve as a mirror to American readers, reflecting the extremely negative qualities of the United States, its people and policies.
Changez, the garrulous narrator, a twenty-five-year-old Pakistani, who seems considerably older, has returned to his native city of Lahore after almost five years in the New Jersey-New York area. He buttonholes an apparent American at an outdoor cafe and, uninvited and unwanted, spiels his life story to the cornered stranger through a non-stop, one-sided dialogue, beginning at afternoon tea time and ending well afer midnight.
The reader soon learns that the immigrant Changez worked his way through Princeton with the help of financial aid, graduating summa cum laude. He became enamoured of Erika, a Princeton alumna, who wasted away mentally and physically in mourning for her deceased lover. He acquired a high-salaried position with a small evaluation firm, projecting the likely profit status of companies facing takeover. At first, he was succesful and well liked by his immediate circle of acquaintances.
After the tragedy of 9-11, the resultant hatred of some Americans expressed toward Muslims, the war in Aghanistan, and the probability of war between India and Pakistan Changez quit his job and returned home. In Lahore, as a university lecturer, he developed an anti-American reputation for his outspoken opinions.
Changez attributes his arrogance, egotism, drive for money and prestige, to the U.S. influence. I readily accept that we in the U.S. are not perfect. Our great ideals are not always fully realized in our actions. We grow from our experiences and encounters with others. Perhaps, Changez will reevaluate his self-absorption and change his attitudes, if he lives long enough. Rosalie L'Ecuyer, Fairbanks, AK
Book Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Summary: 4 Stars
I was actually assigned this novel in my modern Middle Eastern history course, apparently as a fictional reflection of Muslim-Western relations in the aftermath of 9/11. The novel is in the form of a first person narrative, the protagonist being a Pakistani man named Changez. As they sit in a cafe in Lahore, Changez recounts his experiences of living in America to an unknown American. Those experiences consist chiefly of attending Princeton, attaining a position at an elite American firm, and falling in love with a beautiful yet troubled American girl. Changez was living the American dream, or so he thought, until 9/11, the day when everything changed. The attacks caused not only societal tension between Islam and the West, but a deep identity crisis within Changez himself.
On a superficial level, it might seem that this is an anti-American book. Changez obviously becomes embittered with America, and tends to romanticize his native Pakistan in comparison. But I think the author is portraying a more nuanced message, and Changez simply gives voice to the "other side" that many in the West fail to understand. In fact, the book seems to point to a deep misunderstanding between the Islamic world and the West, one in which both sides have become victims of fear and suspicion, thus feeding the cycle of animosity. I would normally refrain from my next comment (for fear of giving too much away), but the author himself says in the Amazon review that this is a story about nostalgia, and the damaging effect it can have when embraced too tightly.
The writing is eloquent and compelling, and I would definitely classify this as a page turner. I can't quite bring myself to call it a home run, but it is quite an intriguing read that provoked some serious thought. That being said, I did feel it was a bit vague and confusing upon reading it, and only with reading the author's interview did I feel I fully comprehended what it was trying to say. For whatever that is worth.