Just finished reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. A book that tries to understand and give meaning to some extremely complex emotions in confusing times.
It’s the story of Changez, a Pakistani man educated in Princeton who starts work with an elite Valuation company. Success at work and money quickly follows and soon, entry into the hallowed upper echelons of New York society through a budding liaison with Erica, a young, eligible girl of the Manhattan privileged class. How the September 11 attacks change Changez’s life and priorities form the story of the book.
I liked the book for its attempt to address this issue, for being true to the situation it is set in, for trying to give voice to regular people in strange times. But though the attempt is laudable, the output isn’t.
The story comes out maudlin, and the story technique of Changez narrating the whole story to an American he meets at a bazaar in Lahore, though novel in the beginning soon becomes too trying. This techniques forces Hamid to be stilted.
It’s the story of Changez, a Pakistani man educated in Princeton who starts work with an elite Valuation company. Success at work and money quickly follows and soon, entry into the hallowed upper echelons of New York society through a budding liaison with Erica, a young, eligible girl of the Manhattan privileged class. How the September 11 attacks change Changez’s life and priorities form the story of the book.
I liked the book for its attempt to address this issue, for being true to the situation it is set in, for trying to give voice to regular people in strange times. But though the attempt is laudable, the output isn’t.
The story comes out maudlin, and the story technique of Changez narrating the whole story to an American he meets at a bazaar in Lahore, though novel in the beginning soon becomes too trying. This techniques forces Hamid to be stilted.
Occasional sparks in the conversation between Changez and his American guest notwithstanding, the book falls between telling a simple human story and addressing the deeper issues underlying the context against which the story is set. Symbolisms like Erica (did you notice, AmErica) and Changez (notice, Change) just make the work that much more tiresome.
Net, as was said of some other worthy in the past, on the surface this book is very profound, but deep down it’s quite superficial.
Net, as was said of some other worthy in the past, on the surface this book is very profound, but deep down it’s quite superficial.
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