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John McNair

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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

by Mohsin Hamid

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John McNair said: " This novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Moshin Hamid, was an unusual book. Changez meets an American wandering Lahore, his hometown in Pakistan, he seems like he doesn’t know what he is doing there. Changez invites him to lunch and tells him sto This novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Moshin Hamid, was an unusual book. Changez meets an American wandering Lahore, his hometown in Pakistan, he seems like he doesn’t know what he is doing there. Changez invites him to lunch and tells him stories about his personal experiences in America, specifically about relationships, Princeton College, and Underwood Sampson, the firm he worked for while in America. After I read the back of the book it enticed me, I was eager to read. The back of the book reads, “But in the wake of September 11, Changes finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned and his relationship with Erica shifting. And Changez’s own identity is in a seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.” The main character in the novel, Changez, is a young Pakistani man. Changez went to Princeton school in New Jersey, many students from Princeton apply to an evaluation firm called Underwood Sampson. The firm was very acclaimed and Changez dreamed of working for them, when he got selected to get the job he was living his best life! His crush Erica slowly started fading away, Changez was caught up in the money barely saving any time for himself, his family, or Erica. Changez was very successful at Underwood Sampson for a while making a large salary. His boss, Jim, shared the same mentality as Changez, they were both money driven. On page 97 Jim tells Changez, “Like me. We came from places that were wasting away. They try to resist change. Power comes from becoming change.” Changez is offended by this quote, coming from Pakistan to a different country he believes is far more difficult than staying in the same country. Changez then goes on a business trip where he meets a wise man that changes his outlook on what he is doing by being in America and working for an American evaluation firm. This man influences Changez to do what he feels is right and his life completely changes. The novel was extremely difficult to read because it was hard to tell if they were talking at the lunch table in Lahore or he was explaining dialogue from his experience in America. I enjoyed the challenge and liked the book as a whole. It made me realize how hard Changez had to work being from a different country and the author, Moshin Hamid, did an incredible job making hidden connections. ...more "

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"The ending of the book is very confusing! The switching between the lunch in Lahore and the final stories Changez was telling about Erica was complex. I presume that Erica killed herself because of the crisis with her ex-boyfriends' death, Chris. I don't think Changez was a terrorist I think that he was money focused and self-centered when he came to Underwood Samson and Juan Bautista shifted his mindset in Chile." — Dec 04, 2022 06:00PM

Dec 11, 2022 06:01PM · see review