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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Amazing book. I will be mulling over its ending for few days now.
Fav quotes:
- “Time only moves in one direction. Remember that. Things always change.”
- “She was struggling against a current that brought her inside of herself.”
- “On street corners, tourists would ask me for directions. I was, in four and a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker.”
- “I remained preoccupied with this matter far longer than I should have, pursuing several possibilities that all assumed as their unconscious starting point that he and I shared a sort of Third World sensibility.”
- “They try to resist change. Power comes from becoming change.”
- “Time only moves in one direction. Remember that. Things always change.”
- “She was struggling against a current that brought her inside of herself.”
- “On street corners, tourists would ask me for directions. I was, in four and a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker.”
- “I remained preoccupied with this matter far longer than I should have, pursuing several possibilities that all assumed as their unconscious starting point that he and I shared a sort of Third World sensibility.”
- “They try to resist change. Power comes from becoming change.”
In The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid delves into the attitudes and prejudices unleashed after September 11, 2001 and their results. As Changez, a Pakistani in Pakistan, tells his story of his time in America before and after September 11th to an uncomfortable American, his person experience demonstrates the changes life circumstances and tradegies can bring to one's life. It also demonstrates that the problems one faces don't disappear in the face of tragedy. As the reader sympathizes with Changez's job troubles, relationship issues, identity crisis, and longing for his home country questions arise about his intentions creating a sense of unease and doubt because Changez is truly likeable. Hamid weaves a tale that will draw the reader into the story, create uncomfortable moments of recognition, and garner a greater understanding that at the end of the day people have more in common than not. Through it all, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is written in a fashion that will leave the reader wanting to discuss it with someone who has also read it.
I intended to give this one 4 stars until I realized that I had set it aside for weeks when I was halfway through.
“The bombing of Afghanistan had already been under way for a fortnight, and I had been avoiding the evening news, preferring not to watch the partisan and sports-event-like coverage given to the mismatch between the American bombers with their twenty-first-century weaponry and the ill-equipped and ill-fed Afghan tribesmen below. On those rare occasions when I did find myself confronted by such programming in a bar, say, or at the entrance to the cable company's offices I was reminded of the film Terminator, but with the roles reversed so that the machines were cast as heroes.”
Since I gave the book 5 stars, I would say I found the book compelling, moving, and memorable. In a spare writing style, the author strikes hard at the American capitalist ethos that causes questionable results. Ivy League colleges--in this book, Princeton-- groom its graduates to join elite firms which offer huge salaries but are capable of destruction of livelihoods, reputations, what have you. At best, the business and finance graduates join companies wherin the top become rich and the bottom--well, you know the story. The irony is that immigrants from poor countries sign on for this ride and feel exultant when they are successful. Often, corporate America is responsible for undermining the economies of the impoverished countries.
This is the general backstory for "Changez"--a Pakistani immigrant-- in "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." Changez does change, and his evolution is the rest of the story.
The questions the book elicits are numerous: 1) what is terrorism 2) who is a threat 3) where is the line drawn between national identity and feelings for one's country's conduct, in other words, when does pride change to disgust?
This is the general backstory for "Changez"--a Pakistani immigrant-- in "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." Changez does change, and his evolution is the rest of the story.
The questions the book elicits are numerous: 1) what is terrorism 2) who is a threat 3) where is the line drawn between national identity and feelings for one's country's conduct, in other words, when does pride change to disgust?
I FINISHED A BOOK!!
if school books even count.
anyway, i looooved the beginning of this book, and then began to hate it once it used its sole female character as a manic pixie dream girl-esque object for the forwarding of the protagonist's character arc, and then continued to hate it (with an ever-growing hatred) once that only became truer.
tragic, because the ending of this was so cool. if only all that sexism didn't get in the way.
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pre-review
of COURSE when I FINALLY have a singular SECOND to read I have to spend it on BOOKS I am ASSIGNED for SCHOOL
if school books even count.
anyway, i looooved the beginning of this book, and then began to hate it once it used its sole female character as a manic pixie dream girl-esque object for the forwarding of the protagonist's character arc, and then continued to hate it (with an ever-growing hatred) once that only became truer.
tragic, because the ending of this was so cool. if only all that sexism didn't get in the way.
------------
pre-review
of COURSE when I FINALLY have a singular SECOND to read I have to spend it on BOOKS I am ASSIGNED for SCHOOL
This story about a Pakistani man narrating the story of how his NYC life is upended after 9/11 is going to draw a range of opinions. The entire novel is a one-sided conversation Changez, the Pakistani man, has with an American abroad as he shares more than the stranger likely wants to hear. I enjoyed Hamid's crisp prose and the way he offers a full story in such a slim novel. I'm excited to read his forthcoming novel, out next month.
So well written. I loved how the narrator weaves his time with the American with his experience living in America. So beautiful. I’ve never devoured a book the way I have this one. Thank so Hamid.
I've had a few weeks to percolate on this text. I still stand by 4 stars but ultimately, I think the text was successful in calling out the racialization of South Asian's post 9/11 and forcing the reader to examine their own racism by providing mirroring techniques every few pages. There are times when Hamid blatantly states the point in the text and they are a but jolting but if you need to wait for those moments to get it, this was written for you.