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synthia02 's review for:
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
The style of the book is notable since the novel is in fact a monologue. The tone is polite and eloquent which taps the reader into Changez's voice. However the parallel story with Erica is neither here nor there and the threats by strangers and the distance from co-workers, post 9/11, was not emphasized much, simply stated as he continued to bring the stranger up to date with his story.
I understood Changez's discontent but I wanted him to rally. Sure, he could go back home but I wanted him to at least pull it together to not bow out like he did in NY or to at least have been more reflective about it. I didn't feel like Changez grew as a character and that's also fine considering in real life, people are slow to change but it made the novel seem pointless since it didn't properly highlight the main points of conflict.
"The book unfolds as a monologue that Changez delivers to a mysterious American operative over dinner at a Lahore, Pakistan, cafe. Pre-9/11, Princeton graduate Changez is on top of the world: recruited by an elite New York financial company, the 22-year-old quickly earns accolades from his hard-charging supervisor, plunges into Manhattan's hip social whirl and becomes infatuated with Erica, a fellow Princeton graduate pining for her dead boyfriend.
But after the towers fall, Changez is subject to intensified scrutiny and physical threats, and his co-workers become markedly less affable as his beard grows in ("a form of protest," he says). Erica is committed to a mental institution, and Changez, upset by his adopted country's "growing and self-righteous rage," slacks off at work and is fired. Despite his off-putting commentary, the damaged Changez comes off as honest and thoughtful."- Publishers Weekly
Soon after Erica disappears from the mental insitution, Changez heads back to Lahore and becomes a professor where he rallies students who are against the war.
I understood Changez's discontent but I wanted him to rally. Sure, he could go back home but I wanted him to at least pull it together to not bow out like he did in NY or to at least have been more reflective about it. I didn't feel like Changez grew as a character and that's also fine considering in real life, people are slow to change but it made the novel seem pointless since it didn't properly highlight the main points of conflict.
"The book unfolds as a monologue that Changez delivers to a mysterious American operative over dinner at a Lahore, Pakistan, cafe. Pre-9/11, Princeton graduate Changez is on top of the world: recruited by an elite New York financial company, the 22-year-old quickly earns accolades from his hard-charging supervisor, plunges into Manhattan's hip social whirl and becomes infatuated with Erica, a fellow Princeton graduate pining for her dead boyfriend.
But after the towers fall, Changez is subject to intensified scrutiny and physical threats, and his co-workers become markedly less affable as his beard grows in ("a form of protest," he says). Erica is committed to a mental institution, and Changez, upset by his adopted country's "growing and self-righteous rage," slacks off at work and is fired. Despite his off-putting commentary, the damaged Changez comes off as honest and thoughtful."- Publishers Weekly
Soon after Erica disappears from the mental insitution, Changez heads back to Lahore and becomes a professor where he rallies students who are against the war.