The Reluctant Fundamentalist | 
| Author: Mohsin Hamid
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  100 reviews
Sales Rank: 2602
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0156034026
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780156034029
ASIN: 0156034026
Publication Date: April 14, 2008
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Amazon.com
Mohsin Hamid's first novel, Moth Smoke, dealt with the confluence of personal and political themes, and his second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, revisits that territory in the person of Changez, a young Pakistani. Told in a single monologue, the narrative never flags. Changez is by turns naive, sinister, unctuous, mildly threatening, overbearing, insulting, angry, resentful, and sad. He tells his story to a nameless, mysterious American who sits across from him at a Lahore cafe. Educated at Princeton, employed by a first-rate valuation firm, Changez was living the American dream, earning more money than he thought possible, caught up in the New York social scene and in love with a beautiful, wealthy, damaged girl. The romance is negligible; Erica is emotionally unavailable, endlessly grieving the death of her lifelong friend and boyfriend, Chris. Changez is in Manila on 9/11 and sees the towers come down on TV. He tells the American, "...I smiled. Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased... I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees..." When he returns to New York, there is a palpable change in attitudes toward him, starting right at immigration. His name and his face render him suspect. Ongoing trouble between Pakistan and India urge Changez to return home for a visit, despite his parents' advice to stay where he is. While there, he realizes that he has changed in a way that shames him. "I was struck at first by how shabby our house appeared... I was saddened to find it in such a state... This was where I came from... and it smacked of lowliness." He exorcises that feeling and once again appreciates his home for its "unmistakable personality and idiosyncratic charm." While at home, he lets his beard grow. Advised to shave it, even by his mother, he refuses. It will be his line in the sand, his statement about who he is. His company sends him to Chile for another business valuation; his mind filled with the troubles in Pakistan and the U.S. involvement with India that keeps the pressure on. His work and the money he earns have been overtaken by resentment of the United States and all it stands for. Hamid's prose is filled with insight, subtly delivered: "I felt my age: an almost childlike twenty-two, rather than that permanent middle-age that attaches itself to the man who lives alone and supports himself by wearing a suit in a city not of his birth." In telling of the janissaries, Christian boys captured by Ottomans and trained to be soldiers in the Muslim Army, his Chilean host tells him: "The janissaries were always taken in childhood. It would have been far more difficult to devote themselves to their adopted empire, you see, if they had memories they could not forget." Changez cannot forget, and Hamid makes the reader understand that--and all that follows. --Valerie Ryan
A Conversation with Mohsin Hamid
 Set in modern-day Pakistan, Mohsin Hamid's debut novel, Moth Smoke, went on to win awards and was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His bold new novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is a daring, fast-paced monologue of a young Pakistani man telling his life story to a mysterious American stranger. It's a controversial look at the dark side of the American Dream, exploring the aftermath of 9/11, international unease, and the dangerous pull of nostalgia. Amazon.com senior editor Brad Thomas Parsons shared an e-mail exchange with Mohsin Hamid to talk about his powerful new book
Read the Amazon.com Interview with Mohsin Hamid
Product Description
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER At a cafe table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter . . . Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. But in the wake of september 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 95 more reviews...
 Don't get mired on the surface July 25, 2008
What I liked about this book goes beyond the concrete issues everyone seems to belabor, like the war and the stereotypes of America that Changez constantly refers to. I love the book's (or Hamid's) ideas that transcend these, like the notion of nostalgia, or the analogy of a power having such force that we might, under its wings, turn against our roots. Exeriences like these come in all shapes and levels of complexity, and many of us have had them, whether we know it or not. I also found Hamid's style compelling (although the monologue sometimes felt like a cop-out; I've never been a fan of the second person narration, no matter who the 2nd person is, reader or otherwise). His directness reminded me of Coehlo's in The Alchemist, where the analysis is spelled out in such a way that the reader might not have to think; but, really, we DO think. In fact, the spelling out provokes us to contemplate beyond the page or the story, to a more personal and richer analysis. Changez states clearly that Erica suffered from nostalgia and that he, too, suffers from the same affliction. Juxtapose those feelings with his company's focus on fundamentals. What a great discussion! How does nostalgia inform our present condition? How dangerous is it? How healthy? All sorts of provocative questions and discussions can derive from the simple foundation Hamid lays out for us.
Also, Changez's very sudden change of heart about America and about his homeland is revealed clearly and, for some readers, unrealistically. Changez even comments on his surprise that it took so long for him to get to such a powerful point of perspective. The story line takes us on that same long journey, and just as abruptly as he is, the reader is seized by this change of heart. The mystification in which Changez was paralyzed was created by a greater force that, on realization, was suddenly so obvious to him. It does not matter if his transformation (or change) is realistic or not - what matters is what we, as readers, do with it.
I am curious about a previous reviewer's comment that the story flows and is fun to read (I agree), but that the BOOK is not to be praised as much as the author. I don't agree, but I see the point. Some other, less sophisticated comments suggest that it was a wasteful read, especially after discovering Hamid's purpose for writing. That's sad: good books and good readers need not have the author's personal history or intention in mind to fully embrace an opinion, an analysis, or a likeness of a story, even a National Bestseller.
 Willing Fundamentalist July 17, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
When reviewing a literary work, it is always difficult to decide whether to review the content or the message. Let me confess that this is a review of the message, which I believe is more important in this case.
The book is a semi-autobiographical sketch of a fundamentalist who is only too willing for the cause. For all his sophistication, the author does not even bother to question why his protagonist is supremely hateful of the country of his adoption. The country being the US and the protagonist being a Muslim is considered sufficient explanation for his fundamentalist leanings. His satisfaction on 9/11 and the rationalization of it is chilling. Author does not try to explore why the society that gave the protagonist all the opportunities in life carries no value for him. There is no emotional soul searching or any psychological explanation. It is just assumed that the reader would immediately see the author's point of view simply because the hate object is the West.
Author's attempt to rationalize his point of view by dragging Indo-Pak politics is even more pathetic. There is nothing in the novel or in the realpolitik that would make a Western audience appreciate his world view. Why should a westerner feel any warmth for the protagonist being a Pakistani, when he knows that his country's support was coerced - not freely received?
U.S. at Blame July 17, 2008
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
 strange July 15, 2008
This is a strange book, and I'm not even sure why I finished it, except that it is a short, fast read. The device of having Changez speak the whole time is odd. His love interest is just bizarre. He continues to pursue her, even though she clearly is emotionally unavailable. Finally, I could not figure out what happened at the very end of the book. I would really like to know if anyone thinks they know what happened in the final scene of the book.
Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone July 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
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