This is the tale of the failed love affair in the heart of many who have embraced America and felt horrified by its post-9/11 transformation.
Booklist gave it a starred review: Presented in the form of a monologue, which is a difficult technique to manage in a novel because the author has to ensure plausibility while guarding against monotony, Hamid's second novel succeeds so well it begs the question--what other narrative format than a sustained monologue could have been as appropriate? Generally, this is a 9/11 novel or, rather, a post-9/11 one. But to see it on its own terms, which, because of its distinctive scenario, is impossible not to do, it eludes categorization. A young Pakistani man, educated at Princeton and employed in a highly prestigious financial-analysis firm in New York, was about to start a brilliant career and had fallen for a young woman whose commitment to him, it must be admitted, was partial and elusive when the terrorist attacks occurred. Answering to his own conscience, he could not remain in the U.S. By the pull of his true personal identity, he must return to Pakistan, despite his reluctance to leave the enigmatic but beguiling young woman behind. From the perspective of a few years later, the young man relates his American experiences to an American man he meets in a cafe, whose visit to Lahore may or may not have to do with the young man's recent anti-American activities. This novel's firm, steady, even beautiful voice proclaims the completeness of the soul when personal and global issues are conjoined.
It is recently reviewed in Tehelka, "India's leading weekly independent newspaper": Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid’s provocative new novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is as much about America as it is about Islam. It makes one rethink the meaning of fundamentalism, writes Salil Tripathi.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid |
