The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.76 You Save: $9.24 (66%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.17 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Book Review: Summing up a life
Summary: 4 Stars
The urge to tell one's life story to a complete stranger is not unusual... although this one is on several levels. Changez, a young Pakistani, expounds on his experiences during his years living in the United States in greater and more intimate detail than one would expect (or be interested in as a listener). His monologue addresses an undefined American, maybe visitor maybe something else, to Lahore as they sip tea, eat dinner and watch the sun set, adding a special glow to the grand square... In between conveying the chapters of his story Changez, sensing an increasing unease in his counterpart, attempts to put his listener at ease: offering to switch tea cups or pre-tasting the food to prove no ill-will on the part of the waiter or anybody else.
Changez - I cannot get away from the `change-ling' association of his name - was an ambitious and evidently successful academic immigrant to the US. Maybe, his success at Princeton and in a top consulting company has been a bit too easy to be believable. He plays the role of the young executive with great style, always fitting in, until the events of 9/11 provoke him into reflections and doubts that will eventually lead him back to Lahore. During his time in New York, he is infatuated by a beautiful blond intelligent woman. He courts her gently and respectfully and takes the role of her confidante. Realistic? I am not sure, but Changez eventually is carried away by his emotions resulting in expected as well as unexpected outcomes.
Mohsin Hamid writes this monologue in a fluid, often beautiful and easygoing style. Much more substance is hinted at than provided, leaving the reader with time and space for reflection on the attitudes of immigrants such as Changez attempting to fit in. Probably the most interesting aspect of the novel is the perspective from the outside looking in on American society and its values. (Friederike Knabe)
Book Review: Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Summary: 4 Stars
Just as with his former novel, Moth Smoke (in my mind, a superior novel), Mohsin Hamid's Reluctant Fundamentalist is crafted to be a real page-turner. I read it in one sitting, and was completely absorbed with the story -- a monologue by a Princeton-educated, former valuation specialist speaking to a jittery American in Pakistan.
Another reviewer mentioned the symbolism of the names, and certainly that is here: our protagonist, Changez, weaves a story about his time in America, including his love affair with (AM)-Erica and her obsession with her dead love Chris (Christ? Christopher Columbus? Both work). The beauty of Erica fades and she becomes more mentally diseased; at the same time, the beauty of America fades for the protagonist.
He is among the best and the brightest. So -- as Mohsin Hamid surely intended -- it is with a feeling of shock when, after the Twin Towers are struck -- "Changez smiled." And herein lies the problem. There is nothing in the pages preceding these two words that indicate that this would be Changez's reaction. He relates that he, indeed, feels at home in New York and loves the city; certainly, he is enamored of one of its inhabitants, and he thrives at his capitalist job.
The slim novel then takes a turn as the protagonist denounces American imperialism. While this denouncement can lead to stimulating (even heated) debate among intelligent and analytical people, a reader must take it in context of the world the author has created. I didn't quite understand THIS character's change of heart.
In the symbolism of the novel, it is no surprise that there must be a double betrayal with a character representing America and one representing Pakistan. I do recommend this novel, particularly for the strong writing of Mohsin Hamid. But I suggest that readers get their hands on "Moth Smoke", which was a better book.
Book Review: Small book that packs a tremendous emotional wallop!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's only 184 pages and a fast read. But don't let the size of this book fool you. It has a tremendous emotional wallop. It pulled me in, turned me inside out and then slammed me down again. It's rare for a book to do that to me.
A bearded Pakistani man, Changez, sits down in a café next to an American in Lahore, Pakistan and begins a monologue that lasts throughout the entire book. He speaks about the food and the sights of the city in between telling his tale of his own life in America. Changez was privileged. He graduated from Princeton and then was hired by a prestigious financial consulting firm. He meets an American girl and falls in love. She still longs for a dead boyfriend and we soon see that nostalgia turning into mental instability. Changez is nostalgic too. He misses his homeland and is lives through a tangle of complex emotions when the World Trade Center is attacked on 9/11. His view of his privileged American life starts to change.
The writer is skilled. The voice of Changez is steady and strong. In between telling his life story, there is a meal being served and there will be a sudden switch in the narrative from his life story as he directs his conversation to the American about the meal for a few sentences. Then he will get back to his story, and, even though his words are always sugar coated polite phrases, at times there is an undercurrent of menace which builds slowly to the conclusion.
I must admit that couldn't stand the tension and read the last page early in my reading but it still didn't stop me from keeping my eyes glued to the fast turning pages with my heart racing.
This book is an exceptional piece of writing. Highly recommended.
Book Review: usa
Summary: 4 Stars
The Reluctant Fundamentalist was a gift from my sister's British in laws; are they trying to tell me something? It's always interesting to get another perspective, and Hamid's isn't very flattering. He offers up two views of America.
The first is of our business culture, through the caricature of Underwood Samson. US gets the best and brightest young adults and turns them into robots sent out to reduce everything to fundamentals, i.e. profit. Type of business, employees' lives, even borders do not matter. They will bow down only to the god of profit, to the point of denying their own countrymen their jobs.
The second view Hamid has of the US is through the character of Erica, a contraction of America. She is effortlessly beautiful, born wealthy, easily commands attention, calls all the shots, knows everybody and everything, and is irresistable to everyone. Only when we get up close and get to know her do we find her hopelessly screwed up. She is living in the past, skating on past glories. She cannot support herself. She is sexually disfunctional, effectively ending her bloodline. Her fate is unclear: does she die or simply disappear?
These perspectives are explained carefully and graciously to an American in Pakistan almost as a justification for the violence aimed at that same American at the end. The book is unsettling. It's almost better not knowing why were hated, especially if the reasons are largely out of the normal citizen's control.
It's hard to quantify why something is hated, but The Reluctant Fundamentalist tries to explain why the parts of the Muslim world hate the US to the point of wanting and trying to destroying our country.
Book Review: Aha, I see that you are reading my review of this book...
Summary: 3 Stars
Would you like to have some tea or coffee before you continue? By all means, please do. I sometimes have hot chocolate, but I cannot tell if you have a reliable source of quality hot chocolate nearby so I will not presume to tell you what you should drink, if anything. Although it is frequently said, where I come from, that we should all be drinking water. "Drink more water" they say. But that makes me pee all the time, so I often don't bother.
Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I forgot - you are busy and you asked me to be brief, so let me cut to the chase, so to speak. My opinion is that the book is a memorable one. The story will surely weave itself as easily into your mind as it did into mine. You might be surprised, as I was, by how clear the characters are drawn given the nauseating form of narrative employed.
Did I really say that? I guess I did. No, no, I didn't mean that you shouldn't read the book, by all means go ahead and read it. Buy it. Read it. Lend it to your friends. Put it on your shelf and pull it down again to read it repeatedly... as you prefer. But really, the second person singular? It's quite trying and a little tiresome.
Oh, you want to give it a chance, you think it can't be all that bad? Well, you're right. It's not all that bad. But it's not all that great either.
Indeed yes, by all means, please read some of the other reviews, I read some of them myself too you know, quite interesting. My hot chocolate? I finished it some time ago and it was quite delicious thank you. No, I don't like marshmellows. Strange that.
Indeed, me too. Bye for now...