mizgh 's review for:

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

2.0

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The author's choice to use first person placed the reader in the position of hearing the story as if at a cafe with the main character--although the overall effect of this on the reader is to experience his story "first hand," it also leads to some clunky transitions and awkward passages. It also forces the reader into the position of being presumed (by the main character) to be suspicious and uncomfortable in the setting--a big assumption. The title led me to believe that there would be more discussion of the main character's discontentment and his finding solace in faith, but the story is of the character's eventual dissatisfaction with his lucrative life in America and his return to Pakistan. The allegorical naming is a bit heavy-handed, and the character's "relationship" with a white, upper-class American girl is underdeveloped. The ending was disappointing and over-wrought. His critique of the economic flaws of American may not be off-base, but the lack of development in his alternatives left his pointed feelings feeling more like a rant than a thoughtful critique.