I rarely read books twice, especially novels, but as soon as I finished reading it I started again at page one. One of the best novels I've read in recent memory.

I found this book to be much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The concept was a little difficult at first for me to grasp: a young man, Changez, imposes himself upon an American in a Pakistani cafe, and spends the afternoon/evening in a conversation in which he speaks of how his life has come full circle, from Pakistan to America and back.

Although most seem to pick up hate against the US, I concentrated more on Changez's story and tried to place myself in his shoes. It was interesting to see how he perceived events in his life and he chose to interpret those events in his surroundings. This book gave me much to think on and about.

While I feel the book was good, I think the writing could be improved on, so the reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5. I enjoyed the book, but it's not something a lot of people can read easily.

Mohsin Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" seeks to elucidate the complex emotions successful immigrants into Western society feel about their own ethnicity, culture. identity and place in a superficially welcoming foreign culture. The unnamed tourist Changez addresses himself to in his narrative is merely a literary devise standing for the reader - quite clearly a foreigner - not necessarily but most likely American or European.

The format of this slim yet profound little novella is quite simple. Hamid enters the psyche of Changez, his protagonist who now returned to his own country reflects on the years he had spent in America, the proverbial land of opportunity open to whomsoever had the talent and the determination to make it. And make it he did - until things started to go wrong and then fall apart for him in his private and professional life following the 9/11 incident.

But why doesn't Changez feel unalloyed gratitude to America ? After all, America gave him the chance to elevate himself above the grinding poverty of his motherland and make a better life for himself in a new place. Worse and more puzzling is, why he feels secretly pleased - even if it's for the smallest fraction of a moment - when he learns about the 9/11 attack ? The answers are there on the pages, written between the lines. Admiration for the host country's progressive values, mixed with a secret burning shame from having to subordinate one's own ethnicity simply to be accepted and then finding out that despite making these quiet concessions, one isn't and can never be accepted due to racial and religious differences. The result is a rage difficult to fathom and even more impossible to explain. The sheen of civility that exists between host and guest is shown to be fragile in the best of times. It shatters and then evaporates in an instant under stress.

Hamid has written a wonderful little book. His language is direct and sincere. He makes no apologies for either Changez or his host country. The bitterness and cryptic tone in Changez's voice conveys a disappointment that merely states a fact but doesn't attribute blame. Whether intentionally or not, Hamid made it hard for me to empathize with Changez's girlfriend Erica, her endless pining for her dead fiancé Chris and subsequent mental decline. She knew how Changez felt about her and yet used him - in my view - for a shoulder to cry on. Get over Chris or leave Changez alone. I wanted badly for him to throw her over. Pity he didn't and sadly paid for it. Even Erica's mother's liberalism didn't help me like the family better. Maybe Hamid intended to contrast the sensitive self absorbed individual Western psyche with more pragmatic Eastern concerns. Maybe not.

"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" is a timely reminder that globalisation may make the world flatter but doesn't make all cultures the same. The challenges are great and unless unceasing efforts are made to bridge people across cultures, peace will always be a mirage disrupted by race, language and religion. A wonderful little book. Buy it - you won't be disappointed.

Allegorically interesting, but I didn't quite buy into the point of view -- I found the 1st person "overheard conversation" occasionally both jarring and implausible. Also, I'm afraid I found the ending a bit too clever-clever. I think if the author had tried to tell the tale more simply, he might have come closer to success.

I read this book within a couple of days. Although it's a bit long winded, I was enthralled by this man's story. In a sense he became exactly the same as his beloved Erica which fused his thoughts to become warped. This is not a man who simply condemns America but re-learns to love his own country and return to his roots. Maybe by rejecting his life in the US, he will come to find himself again. So much was happening when his transformation began. I just hope that the ending really isn't what I think it is. I can only hope.

This book is useful as a popularizer of a Pakistani view of America post 9-11. It also provides bits of local color of Princeton, New York, Valparaiso, and Lahore. It was a delightful reading experience and provoked more discussion than time allowed with the book club I attend. Some of the sore spots of America are displayed with a view that is cosmopolitan and post-colonial. My only problem with the novel is that it exploits the reading public's interest in religious fundamentalism with a title that suggests that the book is about a reluctant Muslim fundamentalist when in fact it is about a reluctant financial analyst of the fundamentals of balance sheets who happens to be a Pakistani immigrant to the U.S. To give the author and publisher their due it must be admitted that the title is inventive and market sophisticated. Perhaps it was also meant to suggest that America is basically a fundamentalism of capitalistic opportunism of which the author and main character of the novel come not to share in.

The title is a double entendre. The protagonist is "reluctant" to work for an American company. And what does the company do? They specialize in using "fundamentals" for valuation analysis. Ha.

This is the ultimate "the philosophy of East versus West" novel and although I was disturbed and, at times, resentful of the portrait of American and Americans as portrayed by the narrator of this tale, I was also enthralled and unable to stop reading.

The story is related in the form of a monologue between the chronicler, Changez, and an anonymous American stranger who he meets quite by chance in a café in Pakistan. His tale commences as he leaves his homeland to pursue an education at Princeton (an opportunity few Americans can afford) and after graduation is hired by a prestigious New York company at a very generous starting salary. He is at first enamored with the American lifestyle, but after 9/11 discovers a feeling of kinship with the perpetrators while becoming more and more critical of his host country.

Author Hamid uses his creation, Changez, to do a bit of finger wagging by having Changez espouses the belief that the U.S. "interferes in the affairs of other countries" while on the other he laments the U.S. résistance to "interfere" in the growing tensions between Pakistan and India. (reminiscent of a teenager who comes to you for financial help but is annoyed when you attempt to provide some guidance to prevent a repeat of their financial woes and who, after accepting your cash, tells you to "stop interfering in their lives".)

Changez observation that America is "giving itself over to dangerous nostalgia" is replayed for the reader in his allegorical retelling of his relationship with Erica, an AmERICAn woman who he loves but who is so resistant to letting go of her memories of her deceased lover that she is unable to accept Changez (changes???) and is ultimately destroyed because of her obsessive love of the past.

I will admit that Hamid is an extraordinary writer whose ability to draw you into the story and hold your attention is undeniable. The subject matter being served in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, however, may not be a dish easily digested nor may it be suitable for every readers' palate. Taste and see for yourself.

I was hooked at the first page. I love the narrator's style: you are the listener and can just imagine sitting opposite Changez in Lahore's Old Anarkali: definitely those who have been, and I hope also those who have not. Since, I believe, this book gives a wonderfully nuanced insight into the beautiful hospitable country Pakistan is and how external events and categorisations trigger in people emotions that are often misunderstood and which trigger further events into a vicious circle.

It is not a pessimistic book, but a personal recount which could lead to breaking the vicious circle of mistrust by bringing better understanding through a beautiful piece of prosa!

This is an engrossing novel that takes place solely in a cafe in Lahore, Pakistan. A young man who attended Princeton and lived in New York City is trying to explain to a reluctant American why he is feeling compelled to... do what?

Interesting view of the U.S. through a fictitious Pakistani's eyes as his spirit deteriorates due to the political and personal events he endures. Periodically, somewhat affected voice due to the style of narration, but a nonetheless quick and compelling read.

I think some reviewer have conflated the narrator's voice with the author's. I doubt very much that Mohsin Hamid agrees with every word he placed in the mouth his narrator's mouth. (This should go without saying, but we live in very literal and very divisive times.) Rather he was showing how the narrator's character change was precipitated by a number events (again both political and personal), which he weathered. In other words, the narrator's anger towards the United States was inextricably wound up with his pain at losing his lover. He was unable to tease these apart and it lead him into a different, more volatile state of mind. The fact that Hamid can demonstrate this unraveling makes him a sensitive writer and a keen observer of the human condition, not an advocate for terrorism. That said, the book does include some pointed and relevant criticism of the U.S. I just think it's an oversimplification to assume Hamid's giving the narrator's point of view a big thumbs up. It's a richer, more sophisticated narrative than that.

I am not shy about criticizing US foreign policy and our nation's hubris. There are many legitimate reasons to dislike the US government. This book is based on none of them. In contrast to millions of people around the world, the protagonist was issued a visa to come to the US, attended one of the top colleges in the US and was selected over hundreds of applicants for a plum US job with a high salary. He is surrounded by people who like him, look out for him and care for him. Yet when the 9/11 attacks happen, he smiles and is pleased. Why? He doesn't really say - it appears to be based on his personal, cultural identity crisis and a reference to American belligerence (which, though true, is not tied in personally to the protagonist at all). He seethes with anger when the US attacks the Taliban in Afghanistan. He apparently but inexplicably sympathizes with his murderous, iron-fisted, women-hating neighbors. This book seems to have been written in a hurry, the author neglecting to provide any legitimate foundation for the protagonist's antipathy to the US. Certainly it could have been done and the reader is truly left wondering why the author chose to omit history in favor of assuming that the reader would agree the protagonist's feelings were justified. It is particularly confusing when told from the viewpoint of a well-educated, supposedly intellectual man who should have seen that hard diplomacy is a much sharper weapon than violence.

I found the author's writing style (the protagonist speaking to a man with no voice and no apparent reason to be there other than as an excuse to poke more fun at Americans) annoying and disruptive of what little flow the book had. Another stylistic tool - the dash! - is ubiquitous and entirely distracting. Truly, this book could have been so much more had the author put more time (and perhaps research) into it. It could have been a bridge to explain to a mass audience Muslims' frustration with America. It utterly fails in this regard and in the end I fear it will only be used as fuel by those who believe that Islam is a violent faith.

Best book I've read in ages. Absolutely floored me. I was so into it that I read it at my desk at work because I had to find out what happened next.

Instantly jumps to the top of my list of books I recommend to other people.

This book is absorbing and hard to put down. I read it in one afternoon. The plot is that of a young Pakistani who has gone through Princeton with complete financial aid and, as the author writes, "invited into the ranks of the meritocracy," by being hired by a top notch valuation firm in NYC. At first he fits in beautifully. Or does he? The initial interview with Jim from the firm makes him "uncomfortable," and "puts him off balance." And we find that he's been covering up the fact that he had to hold three jobs at Princeton. And when he's offered the job, he had the sense that perhaps this job would "transform my life." At first it did as he threw himself into it, impressing everyone with his intelligence and energy. But on the first project in Manila, before finding out about the 9/11 events, the narrator finds himself being stared at with hostility by a jitney driver. "...his dislike was so obvious, so intimate, that it got under my skin....I remained preoccupied with this matter far longer than I should have, pursuing several possibilities that all assumed--as their unconscious starting point--that he and I shared a sort of Third world sensibility." He then feels disconnected from his colleagues but again the work takes over and these feelings are forgotten until a day or so later when watching TV he sees the collapse of the WTC buildings. And one could say the life he has been living unravels from there and he ends up back in Pakistan talking to this mysterious American at a cafe in Lahore.

The feelings of alienation and confusion come across strongly in the author's writing. On one level you can read this book as a look at a Muslim experiencing the world after the events on 9/11. This will resonate with some readers and probably alienate others. On another level you can read it as the story of anyone who has moved from one world to another whether by changing countries, social class, or educational levels from the background they come from. Here it leaves the genre of "thriller" and becomes a very human story of one man trying to reconcile competing desires and values in a complex world.

The ending is ambiguous and I appreciated that. There are no cut and dried answers to the issues raised in the course of the evening's discussion.

My only criticism of the story is the almost uni-dimensional character of Erica. The dialogue between the two is often stilted and she basically comes across as not quite there. That's why I gave the book four stars.

A fantastically written book that pulls the reader in emotionally, as if the narrator was a personal aquaintance rather than a fictional character (I found myself wanting to yell "NO!" out loud on more than one occasion). The plot is so real it is still hard for me to believe this is a fictional novel at all.

The entire book is a one-sided conversation between the Pakistani protagonist, Changez, and an American visitor. Changez gives a riveting history of his time in the United States, from his enrollment at Princeton at age 18 to his return to Pakistan at age 22. It is amazing the transformation he goes through in the post-9/11 era. Throughout the novel we also learn of a romance that folds in upon itself.

Overall, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a powerful, emotional read that may just give you a new set of eyes in regard to America's post-9/11 policies.

The pose is gentle and enticing and you are drawn in like a spider wants you to as you walk unaware into its web. That is how I felt as I was reading the book: tentative and wondering as the plot unfolded. I loved the ending: a journey of life's coincidences and sharp turning points that could so easily change our course forever; or is it forever. A touching love story or was it. very enticing and I am sure each reader will get something different from what I got out of the novel. A lot left to the imagination, but I like that a story teller allows the space for you to create your own scene.

Moshin Hamid writes a fictional narrative of an apparently chance encounter between a Pakistani and an American on a market street in Lahore. From there it builds to an interesting conclusion. I found the perspective of middle-eastern politics since and history from a Pakistani writer's viewpoint refreshing and informative. It is a smooth and fast read that manages to keep the pace moving throughout the book.

First of all, I liked the style of this book, and the references to Lahore and New York, and the way the narrator tells the story in some sort of 'you'-perspective. Also it was interesting to hear of the changes in attitude in New York after 9/11 (I also sort of recognised it, in that when I was with my family on Miami Airport for two hours before we went on to some tiny island, my grandfather -who has a moustache and a skin colour that make him look a bit middle eastern- was controlled a lot more at the security point then the rest of us).
But half way, the story becomes rather confusing. I mean, I could sort of follow the fact that Changez smiled at 9/11 (because I can imagine that to anyone from a coutnry that's feeling rather powerless, it would not -at elast not only- be the deaths of many many people, but simply an attack to the most powerful country in the world, and I can imagine that there are quite some people that resent very powerful countries -especially if they also have big armies and nuclear weapons- and thus, sort of enjoy it when that country gets attacked by something, especially if it's something it can't blast a way in a few days) and although I was very much against it, could also stil get the way he treated Erica.
But what I did not understand, was that when he felt so lost, he did not either quit his job just right away, nor just quit whining and did his job. I mean, I do not understand why he has to dupe his company so much, and why he betrays everyone like that, or even why he returns. Also, he jumped to a lot of conclusions rather fast, without explaining how he got to those, and that made me realise that although he (the narrator) had told me a lot about his life, I nevertheless did not know or understand him at all, and what I did get to know of him, I did not like (even though in the beginning, I had been inclined to like him because of the beautiful English). I think the book would have been better if the author had actually given us a main character with a personality, instead of this boring, rather bleak character who just follows along his own voice and whatever the author had in mind at the moment.
Also, I feel like the author started this book with a plan of what he wanted to tell people, then as he went on to write the story, started to like it and went a wholly different way, and then half-way realised he was getting away from his goal, and thus suddenly made a lot of forced changes happen.
Lastly, I did not understand the ending at all (and at least to me it certainly wasn't 'painfully clear' as the back of the book stated): who is really hunting who? Is the American, who is obviously having a gun, someone who has been sent to capture Chavez, or is it that Chavez and the waiter and so are after the American? Or is it something entirely else? I have no clue to this at all, and I find that very unsatisfying, because when I read a book I'd like to a, understand it when I'm finished and b, for it to have ended by the time I've reached the end.
In short, a beautifully written, but confusing and unsatisfying book.

It's only 184 pages and a fast read. But don't let the size of this book fool you. It has a tremendous emotional wallop. It pulled me in, turned me inside out and then slammed me down again. It's rare for a book to do that to me.

A bearded Pakistani man, Changez, sits down in a café next to an American in Lahore, Pakistan and begins a monologue that lasts throughout the entire book. He speaks about the food and the sights of the city in between telling his tale of his own life in America. Changez was privileged. He graduated from Princeton and then was hired by a prestigious financial consulting firm. He meets an American girl and falls in love. She still longs for a dead boyfriend and we soon see that nostalgia turning into mental instability. Changez is nostalgic too. He misses his homeland and is lives through a tangle of complex emotions when the World Trade Center is attacked on 9/11. His view of his privileged American life starts to change.

The writer is skilled. The voice of Changez is steady and strong. In between telling his life story, there is a meal being served and there will be a sudden switch in the narrative from his life story as he directs his conversation to the American about the meal for a few sentences. Then he will get back to his story, and, even though his words are always sugar coated polite phrases, at times there is an undercurrent of menace which builds slowly to the conclusion.

I must admit that couldn't stand the tension and read the last page early in my reading but it still didn't stop me from keeping my eyes glued to the fast turning pages with my heart racing.

This book is an exceptional piece of writing. Highly recommended.

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

The "Reluctant Fundamentalist" fails to deliver on its excellent title. It is brief--too brief, and I read it in a couple of sittings. The first half is good, and the second half God awful! It reads like a senior thesis where the author took a lot of care in the beginning, and then ran out of time and just dashed off the ending in order to graduate. The hatred with which the Muslim protagonist becomes consumed at the end remains unexplained because the author really takes pains in the first half to explain not just how he is treated fairly by the Americans, but how he is handed every advantage on a silver platter upon graduation from college! As far as I could tell the only motive for the protagonist's descent into a personal hell is homesickness for his country and culture. A very unsatisfying book.

I have been following some of the reviews of this book and am not entirely surprised by a few of the negative comments about it. While the book may have a couple of drawbacks in style and structure it nevertheless delivers an extraordinary insight into the modern Muslim perspective and the dilemma or challenges posed by Western society. Many reviewing the book seemed to want the book to answer the 'problems' about Islam and Muslims rather that provide an analysis of the other side (i.e. the West)so when the the book took this new refreshing angle on the issue the response was to criticize and label the work as an attack on America and also somewhat sympathetic to the Islamic terrorist - a hypocrisy that the book excellently brings out making it uncomfortable reading for many. For those who want their preconceptions and prejudices challenged this is a wonderful read but those looking for the same stale good Muslim /bad Muslim dichotomy are likely to come out confused after reading this book.

This book has pretensions of being oh-so-deep, but it sheds no new light on the topic of Islamic fundamentalism. The narrator is confused, doesn't know who he really is. First he likes his new American identity, then he discovers his "Muslim roots" and decides he too will hate America. In the process he hates himself, or what he has become. So the outer layer of the narrator's identity is American, he peels that off and decides he will identify with his religion. Someone needs to write a deeper novel where the protagonists peels off more than just the top layer of the onion! That is why I say this novel is shallow. I for one would like to know why Pakistanis (like the narrator of this book) are still so loyal to Islam? They aren't even Arab, as the narrator himself points out when he has that confrontation in the parking lot. This book does not explain why South Asians still identify with their Muslim invaders and the religion that was left behind by the Islamic Empire, an empire that was (like the America the narrator hates) the big bad imperialist of its own day. Pakistanis speak Urdu, not Arabic, so why so much sympathy for Afghanistan and none for India? Urdu and Hindi are mutually intelligible languages from what I understand; Arabic and Urdu are not! Language is culture. Religion is tripe!

Of course, I hate that word. It implies something false about Islam, relegating it to the Western understanding of religion, and forcing another culture to conform to the standards of our own. This is why most Islamicists (those who study Islam) prefer the term Islamist rather than Fundamentalist, for Islam is inherently a relgion that turns to the fundamentals. At best, Islamic Fundamentalist is redundant. But sadly, the term Islamist has not yet caught on with the general public, and so we are reduced to using poor terms in order to make ourselves understood.

I've never come across a format quite like this before. It bore certain similarities to the Dear Reader style of the past, recently so well articulated in The City of Dreaming Books. But Hamid had a very unusual twist. Everything is from the first person perspective of the protagonist in the short conversation which frames the book. You really hear no other voice but that of Changez; we only know his thoughts, and only those thoughts that he chooses to express. This is a conversation with only one person.

Far from being a gimick, this approach is central to the novel, and to the amazing ending. We follow the changes in the life of Changez, and more importantly his philosophy of life, and we are gripped from beginning to end. There wasn't a moment when I got bored. There wasn't a line in the novel that I felt misplaced, or where too much was added. The novel weaves between the centerpiece conversation at the cafe and the story of Changez' life, and somehow, Hamid weaves both together as one tapestry.

Changez is sitting in a cafe with a nervous American in Pakistan. Hamid's intricate description of the cafe and surrounding square brought back pesonal memories of Djamma f'naa in Marrakesh, Morocco, and Hamid describes so vividly I felt like I was back in the square, with it's sellers and food vendors. Hamid accurately captures the Middle Eastern ability to observe others intimately, as well as common American misconceptions and misreadings of life around them. (Such as the common perception that Middle Eastern cities are more dangerous than American cities, when the inverse is true, about a hundred times over.) This was a completely believable American, and a completely believable Pakistani.

Changez' backstory is also gripping. I wanted to know what happened next to the characters. I still find it hard to believe that this is a work of fiction- the characters are drawn that real. There was only one moment that was not as believable- that of the sexual relations between Changez and Erica. Until I realized that they accurately modeled the relationship between America and the West that Hamid was trying to illustrate. America can't have a satisfiying relationship with another country. It can only do so if that other country pretends to be something it's not- pretends to be culturally something much closer to the American view of the world. If that other country denies its own culture, than America can deal with it, and happily so.

And this relationship between countries and cultures is of course the underlying theme of Hamid's work. You may not agree with Hamid, or Changez. (For the book has the feel that it is somewhat autobiographical.) You may be intensely patriotic, and ra-ra for America. But this book more than any other I've read helps to explain how someone can become an Islamist, and what leads them to see the U.S. as an enemy of all the values that their own culture holds dear. You may not agree at the end that America is an empire. But you will at least understand how others percieve us in this way. For as I have known too many Americans who act like the American in the cafe in Pakistan, I also have known too many Muslims (and indeed, from many foreign non-Muslims) who have come to the same conclusions as Changez does.

How I wish I could discuss the ending with you. For that ending goes rather to the heart of the issues of what it means to be an Islamist, and what it means to be empire. I will leave you with that thought to contemplate as you close the last page of the book, and consider a brave new world.

Also recommended: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity by Ron Sider, for its description of how America lives off the back of the 2/3rds World.

My book club recently read the book in hopes that it would be provide some real insight from an 'Americanized' Muslim. However we generally agreed 1) the 'fundamentalist' aspect, as in spiritual/religious content or motives, was virtually non existent (unless you count growing a beard); 2) the protagonist's 'rejection of America was flimsy (based on a couple contrived experiences) and motives unconvincing; 3) the device used by the author (revealing his most intimate feelings to an voiceless American stranger in a public cafe) was unrealistic.

On a positive note, the book was a pretty easy read (178 pages) and we learned some of the culture, language, food, and customs of Lahore.

The life one lives is often not the one he chooses but the one that he is comfortable living.

Mr. Hamid is to be commended for writing a page-turning book that engages the reader to finish it one sitting. The sparse wording manages to be very descriptive, and the plot, though far from a thriller, somehow hooks the reader into persistently reading one more page.

However, engaging readability does not excuse content. Perhap the insight is useful, to see how some who came America to drink of her milk and honey were thrilled and pleased that their adopted nation was brought low. I struggle to review a book that contains nauseating perversions of logic, when reading such a book might give insight to those who think in such a manner. It's like trying to give stars to Mein Kampf.

Without getting into political discourse, it's safe to say the book suffers in logic. For examples, the book excoriates America for meddling in every conflict. Within a few paragraphs, it then blames America for not threatening India with retaliation should they attack Pakistan.

The plot also fails in that it blames America for stereotyping a Muslim man who chooses to wear a beard...and then has said bearded Muslim man celebrate 9/11. There are many similar logic discontinuties.

This was a great story but the way it was written (in conversation) was a little confusing and distracting for me. I liked Moth Smoke much better.

I liked the writer's style. The whole book is written as a conversation between a pakistani national and an American tourist, set in Pakistan. It is a very easy read, maybe couple hours, and doesn't get into much details about anything which is good! I was a little disinterested towards the end because I felt the author had some trouble maintaining focus. But overall a decent read.

But I am not particularly appreciative about the way he writes about India being the big bully waiting to wage war against Pakistan. Oh well...

This is an excellent novel about Changez, a Pakistani man who earns his way through an Ivy League school at the side of his more privileged American counterparts. He meets Erica, an American girl that is overwhelmed with her own demons of a betrothed and his untimely death. Changez gains a highly sought after position with a prestigious firm in NYC. He is becoming the "American Dream" during the attacks on the World Trade Towers of September 11, 2001. This is a pivotal point in the book as he realizes that he is quickly becoming that which he has always disliked in the American attitude, while at the same time becoming enemy #1 in the eyes of frightened Americans.

This book sheds light of what it might mean to be to be discriminated against in the new anti-muslim sentiment that runs rampant in our country. It points out some character flaws of America that too many refuse to acknowledge.

Changez "relationship" with America has to come to a close as he tried to love her, but in the end, had to leave her.

The book, this book was as a whole very interesting and intriguing, and I read it in one day (24 hour period). The storytelling brought me into Changez's life and took me to where he was. However, I will warn this is a book where the main character has a chip on his shoulder. Changez is a 22 year old from Pakistan, who graduates from Princeton at the top of his class and gets one of the most coveted jobs in his field. But he becomes disillusioned with his "American Dream" when the twin towers fall and his fears that he does not belong in this enemy nation prevail. The more he is affected by the events of 9-11 he falls deeper and deeper into dislike for America and seemingly everything American.

As much as I enjoyed reading this book, because the writing of it was fully captivating, I did not like to be schooled and preached at.Much of the novel is Changez retelling his time in America to his American tourist stranger-friend visiting Pakistan, he says: your country this, and you do that (referring to Americans). I think this approach is flawed. I do agree that he would have gone through horrid experiences after the attack of the twin towers, as far as people responding poorly to him, and being very angry at him even though he did nothing. I guess I was in the boat for being compassionate about that, but not for blaming the US for his being in NY and graduating from Princeton...which Changez comes to view as if he had been captured and brought here to be a traitor. .

What I will take from it is this: I loved the writing style Hamin used it kept me interested in the whole story, and his characters were lovable and real and it was easy to become emotionally invested in their lives.
It was extremely difficult for middle eastern folk in the US, especially right after the 9-11 incident. America became sour and angry and channeled their aggressions where it should not have. But, I will not apologize for the brief scene of patriotism that struck after the planes crashed, the flags, the unity, the feelings of brotherhood. Changez was annoyed by this, saying that we to embrace patriotism was to go back in time to WWI, more generalizations. HA!


All in all I would recommend this, but let people know the author is pushy. It is somewhat understandable, but I am not into being shoved either way. I won't be made to hate to hate the US and I won't be made to hate everything unknown. Just be aware of the anti-American sentiment. Some readers will not have a hard time with it at all, as it is the prevalent mentality that you hear around here (liberal northwest)from bums at coffee shops, and even many people of stature in our communities here. However, because it is not my view I felt pushed around, or maybe lumped into a generalization, which is seems hypocritical for the author to do since as far as I can tell that is what he fights against.


The Reluctant Fundamentalist quote:

But as I reacclimatized and my surroundings once again became familiar, it occurred to me that the house had not changed in my absence. I had changed; I was looking about me with the sees of a foreigner, and not just any foreigner, but that particular type of entitled and unsympathetic American who so annoyed me when I encountered him in the classrooms and workplaces of your country's elite. This realization angered me; staring at my reflection in the speckled glass of my bathroom mirror I resolved to exorcise the unwelcome sensibility by which I had become possessed (p. 124).

Instead of dwelling on the plot points of this book, since there seems to be disagreement about what the author was conveying, please read this book because it is beautifully written. The first person narrative is the best I've seen in a long time. Not many authors would choose to write in this style. If you enjoy a well-written book and have an open mind regarding the transformation of Changez, this is one you should not miss.

I saw strong parallels between this book and Greene's "The Quiet American." Greene's book has done so much to explain the underlying forces behind the American folly in South East Asia of 40 years ago; Hamid's book looks at those forces today which are driving the current American folly in South West Asia. There are the same Ivy League educated elite that are blind to the reality of the world outside their privilege; the same CIA operatives devoted to changing the world into America's likeness. In Greene's case, he used a British character named Fowler to serve as a foil to the CIA operative, Pyle. Fowler eventually decided that he must act to stop Pyle's "agenda." Hamid incorporates this essential conflict into his character, the suitably named Changez, who is transformed from one who believes in those Ivy League economic globalization values, and is an active player in their dissemination, to those of Fowler, who decides that something must be done to stop this juggernaut. Most suitably for a book with heavy overtones of the CIA's involvement in other countries, Changez's change in outlook occurs in Chile, and it is a book seller there, Juan-Bautista, who is the catalyst to this change. I'd love to ask Hamid if he was specifically inspired by Greene, has ever read him, or if all of this is mere coincidence since both Greene and Hamid are describing the same imperial reach.

For Americans it is not a flattering description. Greene was banned for a number of years from entering the United States - the immigration authorities never stated a reason, but "The Quiet American" could be a leading contender. A number of reviewers of this book clearly wish to dismiss Hamid's insights. He skillfully interweaves them into his narrative, for example: "What your fellow countrymen longed for was unclear to me - a time of unquestioned dominance? Of safety? Of moral certainty?" (p115) or "... much like the short news items on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, which I had recently begun to read. But his tone- with, if you will forgive me, its typically American undercurrent of condescension- struck a negative chord with me..." (p55), or "... the advancement of a small coterie's concept of American interests in the guise of the fight against terrorism, which was defined to refer only to the organized and politically motivated killing of civilians by killers not wearing the uniforms of soldiers." (p.178).

Hamid's book is an essential read for these rich nuggets of observations. It is a vital read for all Americans, particularly those who yearn for that "unquestioned dominance" of the rest of the world. There are much less exhausting, and more sustainable alternatives.