The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The narration is pretty unusual (the speaker is literally telling his story to a listener, who is also the reader), which threw me off at first and I wouldn't say I loved but it was interesting. The events that took place kept my attention for the most part, and the ending was especially curious.

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. I'd say this one was okay.

I adored Mohsin Hamid's most recent novel, Exit West, and this one was just as wonderful. It traces the story of a young Pakistani immigrant, Changez, and the way his relationship to America changes after his attendance at Princeton and acceptance of a fancy analyst job in the wake of both 9/11 and a romance with Erica, a beautiful, troubled classmate. It's told as a dialogue and is just incredibly rendered.

This was a fast, very engaging read. What appealed to me most, I think, is the voice of the narrator, Changez, who is telling his life story to an American visiting Lahore. The story itself is also compelling, about a Pakistani who was working in the US at the time of the 9/11 attacks. I highly recommend this one.

I'm having such a strong reading month and here is yet another very strong contender! This book is phenomenal. The main protagonist is intriguing and deeply layered as the novel develops. His inner conflict between his gratitude and his resentment of America(the land that educated and employed him) in the background of the political and social impact of the war on terror which America declared as a direction response to 9/11 was fascinating. The themes of extremism, ignorance, cultural and religious conflict and identity were so powerfully and beautifully explored in this novel. This novel seems more relevant than ever before and deals with modern day issues between extremism and religious belief(which aren't the same but in the case of Muslim believers often seem to be confused in the wake of current terrorist activity). I love the complexity of the character of Erica. Her descent into madness due to the haunting of her lost love was so intriguing for me and harked back to themes presented in past traditional and classic literature which I enjoyed. Overall a tightly backed novel with much to dig deeper into. A must re-read for me and a must read to everyone else! I will be checking out more work by this author. A highly enjoyable and highly rated book for me!